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How to type in Chinese
You don't need a Chinese keyboard. You type a word's pinyin, without the tones, and pick its characters from a list. Here's how to turn it on.
Typing a word yourself is part of learning it: choosing the right characters from the list is how you start to tell them apart. AnimeLang doesn't transliterate, so this is the first ten minutes of the course.
On a Mac
- Open System Settings › Keyboard, then Text Input › Edit.
- Click +, choose Chinese, Simplified and add Pinyin – Simplified.
- Type putao and 葡萄 is offered. Press the number beside a choice, or Space for the highlighted one. Option-Tab narrows the list by tone.
- Switch with Control-Space, or from the input menu in the menu bar.
On Windows 11
- Open Settings › Time & language › Language & region.
- Next to Preferred languages, choose Add a language, pick Chinese (Simplified, China), then Next and Install. Its keyboard is Microsoft Pinyin.
- Type the pinyin, then Space for the highlighted choice or a number for another.
- Shift switches between Chinese and English, and Windows key + Space switches keyboards.
On an iPhone or iPad
- Go to Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards › Add New Keyboard, choose Chinese, Simplified, then Pinyin – QWERTY.
- To switch, touch and hold the 🌐 key and pick the keyboard.
On Android
- With the keyboard open, tap Settings › Languages › Add keyboard in Gboard, pick Chinese (Simplified) and tap Done.
- To switch, touch and hold the space bar.
Tones and the list
- Leave the tones out: nihao is enough for 你好.
- Type whole words rather than single characters. The list gets much shorter.
From Apple's, Microsoft's and Google's own help: Mac, Windows, iPhone, and Gboard.