Forum Discussion
Windows 10: IME freezing
Hi Everyone,
In my office, January 6 was the first day back to work from the winter holiday. Multiple "Windows 10 over Citrix" users in our Japan office reported that the Windows Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) was freezing. This freezing does not occur when typing with English keyboard input, but only occurs after switching to Japanese IME. A Windows restart may fix the issue, but the issue returned for some users. Not every user experiences the issue, so it is inconsistent.
A similar issue on Windows 8 with the same symptoms had occurred in the past:
IME freezes for a while when you input text in Windows - Microsoft Support
Has anyone encountered a similar issue recently?
Could a recent Windows update have caused this issue?
UPDATE: I have been informed that Microsoft Support is currently testing a possible fix for the IME freeze/pausing issue with a group of pilot testers. It is likely this fix will be included in a future Windows update.
Thank you for the update, Samsonator. Good to know!
Yes, I have been dealing with the same issues for the last few weeks, and it is giving me a lot of headaches since I work for the Japanese subsidiary. The ability to type Japanese is a necessity!
No, it is working fine in US Houston.
I have been informed that Microsoft Support is aware of this IME freezing issue and it is under investigation. In the meantime, the following workaround was suggested.
WORKAROUND when the IME freezing/pausing occurs:
1) Open Task Manager
2) Kill the process called ctfmon.exeSamsonator. Thanks for the update. So did Microsoft advise this now the preferred temporary fix rather than switching to legacy IME?
This is Microsoft Support's suggested action to work around the IME freezing/pausing issue if it occurs. The term "preferred" was not used.
So, you’re back in the office, and suddenly your Japanese IME decides it needs a vacation. I mean, I get it; the IME is just trying to take a break after a long holiday. “Sorry! No time for kanji today; I’m still recovering from all that eggnog!”
POSSIBLE SOLUTION:
Today, a user reported another case of the Japanese IME freezing issue. Without restarting the user's PC or logging the user out of Windows, the "Use Previous Version of IME" was enabled and the IME freezing stopped. I am continuing to monitor for more cases to see if this solution is consistent.I have been experiencing this problem for several weeks now. I enabled "Use previous version of Microsoft IME" and restarted my machine but the problem persists: my PC freezes whenever I switch to Japanese and begin typing. This is very frustrating because I need to use Japanese input for work but cannot!
Perhaps you can try uninstalled this Windows Update (KB5048652) and see if it helps. I have not tried it myself, but someone in the comments suggested it.
I have the same exact problem, for the first time, since the past few days of Mid-January.
I can switch between keyboards no problem, including to/from the Japanese IME.
I can type on the English keyboard of the Japanese IME without issue.
However, as soon as I try to type Hiragana, everything freezes. So annoying. Please fix... :-)
Edit: I checked the update history and the problem started since the "2024-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5048652)"
Hello,
Please try enabling "Use previous version of Microsoft IME" by following the instructions in this Microsoft Knowledgebase Article:
Revert to a previous version of an IME (Input Method Editor) - Microsoft Support
I have enabled the previous version and waiting to see I experience the Japanese IME freezing issue again.
I wonder why my first comment has been deleted...
I am here again to say that I have the exact same issue. I often go from the French to the Japanese keyboard mapping and it happens quite a lot (once a day at least). Restarting the computer helps but not everytime.
I may have found a solution for the Windows IME issue.
It seems that the Windows IME was recently upgraded to a new version. Microsoft is aware that not all features are compatible with it, so they included a feature that allows the user to enable the previous version of Microsoft IME.
You can enable the previous version of Microsoft IME by following the instructions in his Microsoft Knowledgebase Article:
Revert to a previous version of an IME (Input Method Editor) - Microsoft Support
I have enabled the previous version and waiting to see I experience the IME freezing issue again.Samsonator - Did enabling the previous version of Microsoft IME work for you? A number of Japanese Language Pack users have reported the same issue since the start of this year so 2024-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5048652) seems to be the likely culprit rather than the January update. We have temporarily resolved the issue by removing the Japanese Language pack and re-installing but the issue has returned for some users but not others. Rebooting when there is a delay with typing has fixed it too but some users are having to reboot multiple times a day. We have enabled the previous IME for some users and are awaiting feedback.
Yes, I do have the exact same problem. It happens all of a sudden when going from French to Japanese or any other keyboard mapping to Japanese. I sometimes need to restart Windows. I had a few times where the same issue happened right after restarting. I lose so much time with this issue.
