Ctfmon is the Microsoft process that controls Alternative User Input Text Input Processor (TIP) and the Office Language bar. It’s how you can control the computer via speech or a pen tablet, or using the onscreen keyboard inputs for asian languages.
It starts the Language Bar component (in the Systray) and remains running in the background, even after you quit an Office program.It also starts, each time Windows is started, and remains in the background, regardless of whether an Office program is started.
Ctfmon is needed, only if you use any of the above mentioned functionalities. If not, it can be safely disabled.However removing the Ctfmon.exe is not recommended as it might cause problematic behavior in your Office programs.
How to disable Ctfmon in Windows XP?
Ctfmon can be disabled in Windows XP by following the steps mentioned below.
Uninstall Alternative User Input:
- Close all Office programs
- Click Start >> Control Panel
- Click Add or Remove Programs
- In the Currently installed programs list, select Microsoft Office product and Click Change
- In the Maintenance Mode Options dialog box, select Add or Remove Features, and then click Next. This displays the Choose installation options for all Office applications and tools dialog box
- Click the plus sign (+) next to Office Shared Features
- Click the icon next to Alternative User Input, and then select Not Available
- Click Update
If you have multiple Office products installed, you must repeat the preceding steps for each installed product.
Remove Alternative User Input Services from Text Services:
- Click Start >> Control Panel
- click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options
- Click Regional and Language Options
- On the Languages tab, click Details under Text Services and Input Languages
- Under Installed Services, on the Settings Tab, select each input item that is listed, and click Remove to remove the item. All items must be removed, one by one, except the following input service, namely, English (United States)- default Keyboard United States 101
- On the Advanced Tab, you can choose to “Turn off advanced text services“, to immediately close ctfmon
Run Regsvr32 /U on the Msimtf.dll and Msctf.dll Files:
- Click Start >> Run
- In the Run dialog box, type Regsvr32.exe /u msimtf.dll
- Click OK
- Again click Start >> Run
- In the Run dialog box, type Regsvr32.exe /u Msctf.dll
- Click OK
Remove Ctfmon.exe from Windows Startup:
- Click Start >> Run
- In the Run dialog box, type msconfig.exe
- In Startup Tab, find ctfmon in the list and disable it by unchecking the box against it
How to disable Ctfmon in Windows vista?
- Click Start >> Control Panel
- Choose Regional and Language Options and find “Change keyboards or other input methods”
- On the Keyboards and Languages tab, Select Change keyboards
- Under Installed Services, on the General Tab, select each input item that is listed, and click Remove to remove the item. All items must be removed, one by one, except the following input service, namely, English (United States)- default Keyboard United States 101
Finally remove Ctfmon.exe from Windows Vista Startup. The steps are similar to what has been mentioned for windows XP above.
