Chinese KeyboardType Chinese characters online with pinyin — no install

1. Type the pinyin of a word without tone marks or numbers: xiexie for 谢谢.
2. Pick a character from the list: Space takes the first one, 1–9 take the others. On a phone, just tap it.
3. You can type a whole phrase at once (woxuezhongwen → 我学中文). If the first choice only covers part of it, pick again for the rest.
4. Type v for ü: nv → 女, lvxing → 旅行.
5. Punctuation turns into Chinese punctuation: , → ，and . → 。 (see the table below).
6. Press Copy and paste the text wherever you need it.

Want pinyin with tone marks (nǐ hǎo) instead of characters? Use our Pinyin Keyboard. Have Chinese text and need its pinyin? Use the Pinyin Converter.

There is no keyboard with thousands of keys. Most people in mainland China type with pinyin on an ordinary QWERTY keyboard: you type the sound, and an input method (输入法, shūrùfǎ) shows the characters that match it. Because many characters share the same sound, you choose from a list — just like on this page.

Input methods are fast because they predict whole words and phrases. Many also accept first-letter abbreviations: nh can bring up 你好 and xx can bring up 谢谢 in the list. Popular apps in China include Sogou Pinyin (搜狗输入法), Baidu Input and WeChat's own keyboard; on computers, Microsoft Pinyin and the Mac's built-in Pinyin are common.

Other ways to type Chinese:

• Handwriting — draw the character with a finger or trackpad. Useful when you don't know the pronunciation.
• Voice input — very common on phones in China.
• Zhuyin (Bopomofo) — the phonetic symbols ㄅㄆㄇㄈ used in Taiwan, with its own keyboard layout.
• Cangjie and Wubi — methods based on the shapes of characters. Very fast for experts, but they take months to learn; few learners need them.

Windows 11 and Windows 10 include Microsoft Pinyin; you only need to add the language.

1. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region (Windows 10: Language).
2. Click Add a language.
3. Choose Chinese (Simplified, China) — 中文(中华人民共和国). For traditional characters choose Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan) or (Hong Kong SAR).
4. Click Next, then Install. You don't need the display language or speech packs to type.

Switching: press Windows+Space to change keyboards. Inside Microsoft Pinyin, Shift switches between Chinese (中) and English (英) letters. You can also click the language icon at the right of the taskbar.

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard.
2. Under Text Input, click Edit… next to Input Sources.
3. Click +, choose Chinese, Simplified, then Pinyin – Simplified (or Chinese, Traditional → Pinyin – Traditional), and click Add.

Switching: press Control+Space, or the 🌐 / fn key on newer Macs, or use the input menu in the menu bar. Inside Pinyin, Shift or Caps Lock (depending on your settings) switches between Chinese and English letters.

Handwriting: in the same list, Chinese, Simplified also has Trackpad Handwriting — write characters with your finger on the trackpad.

1. Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards.
2. Tap Add New Keyboard… → Chinese, Simplified (or Chinese, Traditional).
3. Turn on Pinyin – QWERTY, and Handwriting too if you like, then tap Done.

Switching: tap the 🌐 globe key on the keyboard; hold it to choose from a list.

Most Android phones use Gboard, Google's keyboard:

1. Open the keyboard in any app and tap the ⚙️ settings icon (or go to Settings → System → Keyboard → Gboard).
2. Tap Languages → Add keyboard.
3. Choose Chinese (Simplified, China) or Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan), select Pinyin (and Handwriting if you want it), and tap Done.

Switching: tap the 🌐 globe key, or long-press the space bar. On Samsung Keyboard, add the language under Languages and types in its settings, then swipe the space bar to switch.

Chinese uses full-width punctuation: most marks take up the space of one character (the ellipsis and the dash take two). With a Chinese input method on, most keys give you the Chinese mark automatically:

• Learn the pinyin with every new word. You can only type what you can spell — and typing is a great way to remember pinyin.
• Type whole words, not single characters. zhongwen gives 中文 right away; zhong + wen makes you choose twice.
• Use v for ü. 女 is nv, 旅游 is lvyou, 绿 is lv.
• Use an apostrophe when syllables are ambiguous. xi'an gives 西安; xian gives 先, 现 and others.
• Don't worry about tones. Input methods ignore them; you choose the right character from the list.