Type Chinese using Stroke - Simplified on Mac
With the Stroke - Simplified input source, you can enter Simplified Chinese characters based on a combination of five basic strokes. Each stroke is mapped to a key on a numeric keypad or a keyboard.
Stroke | Keypad key | Keyboard key |
|---|---|---|
一 (horizontal) | 1 | J |
丨 (vertical) | 2 | K |
丿 (left curving) | 3 | L |
丶(dot, or right curving) | 4 | U |
乛 (hook) | 5 | I |
Additionally, you can use the * wildcard key (6 or O) when you’re not sure of a stroke. For example, you could type 一一*一* (11616 or JJOJO), then select the character in the Candidate window.
On your Mac, first set up the input source (add Stroke - Simplified and, if desired, Handwriting - Simplified).
Click the Input menu in the menu bar, then do one of the following:
Choose Stroke - Simplified to use the keyboard.
If your Mac has a Touch Bar and you customized the Control Strip to add the Input Sources button
, tap it to select Stroke - Simplified.Choose Handwriting - Simplified to use the trackpad.
If your Mac has a Touch Bar and you customized the Control Strip to add the Handwriting button
, tap it to select Handwriting - Simplified. See Use Trackpad Handwriting to write Chinese.
In an app, do any of the following:
Enter characters using a numeric keypad: Type input codes for the characters you want to use, then choose the characters in the Candidate window. The strokes must be entered in the standard order. This diagram shows how numeric keypad keys are mapped to strokes:
Enter characters using a keyboard: Type input codes for the characters you want to use, then choose the characters in the Candidate window. This diagram shows how keyboard keys are mapped to strokes:
Show the keyboard layout: Click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose Show Keyboard Viewer.
If the menu item isn’t shown, choose Apple menu
> System Preferences, click Keyboard, click Keyboard, then select “Show keyboard and emoji viewers in menu bar.”
You may need to change preferences, for example, to show predictive completions or to change the orientation of the Candidate window.