How to Set Up & Use Chinese Language Input

Options on Different Devices

A Quick Start Guide to Using Pinyin Input for Simplified Chinese

Characters on Non-Chinese Versions of devices.

Windows XP.2-6

Windows 7 and Vista7-11

Windows 812-14

Mac OS15-21

iPhone and iPad22-23

Android24-29

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Chinese Pinyin Setup for Windows XP
(The following information is from the www.pinyinjoe.com)

This page is for anyone who needs the Pinyin input method to type Chinese characters.

To install Simplified Chinese input methods:

1. Click on the Windows start menu to begin.

2. Click on Control Panel

If in Category View ("Pick a Category"), click on Date, Time, Regional and
Language Options, then click Add other languages.
If in Classic View or menu view, click on Regional and Language Options, then
click the Languages tab.

3. Click on the Details button.

The Text Services and Input Languages window will appear.

4. Click on the Add button:

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5. The Add Input Language window will appear.
In the Input language menu, select "Chinese (PRC)"
Click the checkbox next to Keyboard layout/IME.
In the Keyboard layout/IME menu, select "Chinese (Simplified) - Microsoft Pinyin
IME"

6. Click the OK button.

You can click the Add button again to select more input methods. I suggest you
experiment with the "Microsoft Pinyin IME 3.0" (MSPY).

Microsoft includes a user manual for the MSPY input method, in the help file
available by clicking on the "?" in the full Language bar when the input method is
selected. The English is a bit off, and there is at least one feature described that
doesn't actually work for most people, but overall it's a useful guide.

The MSPY method offers some options, including "full Pinyin" (full sentence input)
and "double Pinyin" (abbreviated input), fuzzy lookup and more. You can explore
these via the "Properties" button in the Text Services and Input
Languages window. (We DO NOT recommend you to use "double Pinyin")

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Some people frequently hit a certain key combination by accident and find
themselves typing in another language. Those folks prefer to use the Language
Bar. Others can't stand having the Language Bar in the way and find it too slow,
preferring to memorize shortcuts.

Personally I turned off all the Keyboard shortcuts, as you can see in the list here,
by clicking on "Key Settings" button, and then the "Change Key Sequence" button
in the following dialog box...

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...and unchecking both boxes in the next dialog box:

(Also, if you're working only in text and not using a microphone or any of the speech tools, you
can remove those icons from your Taskbar. (The Language goes to the Taskbar at the bottom of
your Windows desktop when minimized). Just click on the "Language Settings" button, and in
the next dialog box, uncheck "Show additional Language bar icons in the task bar".)

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Then your Taskbar can look nice and clean like this:

To switch languages, just left-click and select. When you need all the language
tools and options, just click on that button again and select "Additional icons in
the task bar" or "Show the Language bar".

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Chinese Pinyin Setup for Windows 7 and Windows Vista
(The following information is all from the www.pinyinjoe.com)

This page is for anyone who needs the Pinyin input method to type Chinese characters.

1. For Simplified characters, set up the "Chinese (Simplified)" "Microsoft Pinyin

IME", also known as "MSPY". Click on the Windows
Start menu button, then click "Control Panel".

2. Then, in Control Panel find "Clock, Language and

Region".
Click on "Change keyboards or other input methods."
(See screen shot below.)

Or, double-click here in if you are in the Control Panel's "Classic View" used by
many after they first upgrade from XP to Vista:

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3. When "Region and Language" appears:
Click the "Change keyboards..." button. (Don't worry, despite the name of this
button your English keyboard will remain available at all times after we're done.)

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4. When "Text Services and Input Languages" appears:
Click on the "Add..." button:

5. When "Add Input Language" appears:

In Vista, scroll down to "Chinese (PRC)".
In Windows 7, this says "Chinese (Simplified, PRC)".
Click on the plus signs there and at "Keyboard".
In Vista, click the checkbox next to "Chinese (Simplified) - Microsoft Pinyin IME". In
Windows 7, it's called "Chinese (Simplified) - Microsoft Pinyin New Experience
Input". You may also select other input methods if you are familiar with them.
Click the "OK" button here and then click "OK" in Region and Language as well.

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Done! MSPY is now ready to use for Simplified character input.

You will now find the Language Bar at the lower-right of your screen, in the
Taskbar.

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When "CH" is selected, if you click the Options icon at the far right, you can click
"Options..." in the menu to adjust this IME's settings. (If that icon is not appearing
on the Taskbar, select "Show the Language bar" for quick access.)

If you install the MSPY 2010 update, this is what your keyboard options will look
like in XP, Vista or Windows 7:

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Chinese Pinyin Setup for Windows 8
(The following information is all from the www.pinyinjoe.com)

1. To open the Control Panel, go to the Desktop,

and if you have a keyboard press <Windows> + I.
You can also hover your pointer over the upper or
lower right corner (1), or if using a tablet swipe
from the right. Then in the Charms panel click or
tap "Settings" (2). Then select "Control Panel" (3).

2. On the Control Panel, under "Clock, Language and Region" select "Add
a language":

If you are using a tablet and find this difficult, it does get easier in the next panel.
But if you have already completed Windows 8 setup on another PC or tablet, you
can sync language preferences to your new device. Here's the official Microsoft
page on syncing Windows 8 settings.

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3. The Language panel is more finger-friendly in Windows 8, but there are still a
few text links to poke at when adjusting various options. When the panel opens
for the first time, you'll probably see only one language.
Select "Add a language" (yes, again) to go to the next step:

4. This is where setup gets truly different from older versions of Windows: big
square buttons to tap on, instead of long lists of little checkboxes. Scroll down to
the Chinese IMEs, then double-click or tap "Chinese (Simplified)" and/or "Chinese
(Traditional)".

Chinese (Simplified) and Chinese (Traditional) have lines on their right, to indicate
you have multiple choices inside. And indeed, you can select more than one
"regional variant".

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5. Select "Add an input method":

6. In the last screen shot here, you

see the IME menu from the Desktop
Taskbar. Notice now that you've
enabled more than one language,
you can open the Language control
panel from the "Language
preferences" link at the bottom of
this menu.

Tips: The usual language-switching hotkeys like <Alt>+<Shift> also work, and
Windows 8 adds a new hotkey that pops up this menu higher on your screen:
<Windows>+<Shift>
(Hitting the <Windows> key alone will take you back to the Start screen. Hit it
again to go back to the Desktop.)

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Chinese Pinyin Setup for Mac OS
(The following information is all from the pinpinchinese.com)

Note: This post has been updated for Mac OS X Yosemite.

1. First, open your System Preferences from the Apple menu.

2. Then, select Language & Region

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3. Click the + button under the Preferred languages list.

4. Find - Chinese, Simplified and/or - Chinese, Traditional in

the list that pops up. Select the one you prefer to use then click Add.

Tip: You can repeat these last couple steps to add both Simplified and Traditional Chinese input
methods if youd like.

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5. After youve added your preferred method(s), you will see your preferred input
methods in the list on the left.

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6. Select Keyboard Preferences near the bottom of the window.

7. Make sure Show Input menu in menu bar is checked (near the bottom of the
window) so you can see which input method is currently selected by looking at
the menu bar.

8. Switching between input methods

Tapping on said menu bar item will reveal the input menu. You can switch back
and forth between input methods by selecting the method of choice here.

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9. Using keyboard shortcuts to switch between input methods
When typing, youll often need to switch between English and Chinese. So, lets
set up keyboard shortcuts to quickly switch between English and Chinese Pinyin
input methods.

In the same Keyboard Preferences window, select the Shortcuts tab. Then,
select Input Sources in the left column. This will reveal the option for Select the
previous input source. Clicking near the right edge of this row will highlight the
current shortcut. When highlighted, hold the control key down and press the
spacebar. Afterwards, you should see that the shortcut has been set to ^ Space.

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From this point on, you can type control-space to toggle between input methods.
You can also hold the control key down and tap space (without letting go of the
control key!) to reveal a handle input selector.

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Note: on Mac OS X Yosemite, the input selector will only appear when using the Select the
previous input source option and does not appear for the Select next input source option.

Give typing in Chinese a try

Now that youre all set up, open up your favorite text editor and try typing
Chinese!

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Chinese Pinyin Setup for Apple iPhone & iPad
(The following information is all from the www.pinyinjoe.com)

Since the release of OS version 2.0 on the iPhone 3G

in 2008, Chinese input methods and fonts have been
preinstalled. The fonts show up right out of the box,
but you must turn on Chinese input under Settings >
General > Keyboard > International Keyboards. Then
you can enter Chinese anytime by pressing a little
world globe icon at the bottom of the keyboard.

iOS Chinese input methods include Hanyu Pinyin for

simplified and traditional characters. There is also a
stroke input keypad, and of course there are many
additional input methods free and for sale in the App
Store.

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Building on Apple's Multi-Touch technology, the
iPhone also offers one of the best Chinese
handwriting recognition features.

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Chinese Pinyin Setup for Android
(The following information is all from the pinpinchinese.com)

To enable Chinese pinyin input on your Android phone / tablet, start by

downloading the Google Pinyin Input app.

Once downloaded, open Settings and tap Language & keyboard. Finally, under
Keyboard and input methods, make sure that Google Pinyin Input is turned On.

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1. Download Google Pinyin Input from Google play

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2. In Settings, select Language & keyboard

3. Turn on Google Pinyin Input

After completing these steps, youre all ready to start typing Chinese on your
Android phone / tablet!

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4. Switching between input methods

How you actually change input modes varies a little by device. For example, on
HTC devices running Jelly Bean, you can access your android pinyin method from
the notifications drop down window (shown below on the left).

However, on many other Android devices you will have a #12 key or Globe key
next to the space bar that allows you to switch to Chinese Pinyin and other input
methods (shown below on the right).

a. Switching input via the notifications drop down

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b. Input selection after tapping the 12# key
Either way, you will be provided with a short tutorial the first time you select the
Chinese Pinyin / Google Pinyin Input method that will walk you through a few
more details.

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