How to fix bash: warning: setlocale: LC_COLLATE: cannot change locale (en_US.UTF-8): No such file or directory

 It is a very common error faced on Arch Linx , here are easy steps to fix it 

Check Available Locales

locale -a

Generate the Locale

• Edit /etc/locale.gen:

  sudo geany /etc/locale.gen

• Uncomment the line:

  en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8

• Save the file and run command

  sudo locale-gen

---

3. Set System-Wide Locale

• Edit /etc/locale.conf:

  sudo geany /etc/locale.conf

• Add the following (adjust if needed):

  LANG=en_US.UTF-8
  LC_COLLATE=en_US.UTF-8
  LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8
  LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

• Save the file.

---

4. Check User-Specific Configuration

Ensure no conflicting locale settings exist in your shell config files (e.g., ~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile, ~/.profile). Remove or comment out lines like:

export LC_ALL="en_US.UTF-8"

export LANG="en_US.UTF-8"

---

5. Apply Changes

• Log out and log back in, or reboot:

  reboot

   

  Example .profile file  

  
  

  # ~/.profile: Executed by Bourne-compatible login shells
  
  # Add user-specific binaries to PATH
  if [ -d "$HOME/bin" ] ; then
      PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"
  fi
  
  # Set default editor (change to your preference)
  export QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=qt5ct
  export EDITOR=geany
  export BROWSER=firefox
  export VISUAL=nano
  
  # Set pager with colors
  export PAGER="less -R"
  
  # For Xorg: Start your window manager/DE from login shell
  if [ -z "$DISPLAY" ] && [ "$(tty)" = "/dev/tty1" ]; then
      exec startx
  fi
  
  # Source bashrc if using bash (optional)
  # [ -n "$BASH_VERSION" ] && . "$HOME/.bashrc"
  
  export LC_ALL="en_US.UTF-8"
  export LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
  

  
  

  set its permissions to 

  
  

  chmod 644 ~/.profile  # -rw-r--r-- in linux terminal