Use the Pinyin - Simplified input source
With the Pinyin - Simplified input source, you can enter Simplified Chinese characters using Pinyin phonetic input codes.
Trending Chinese words and phrases, which appear as typing suggestions in the candidate window (and the Touch Bar, if you have one) as you type, are regularly updated automatically in the background.
Enable and switch to Pinyin
Enable Pinyin: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Input Sources. Next click the Add button
, select “Chinese, Simplified,” select Pinyin - Simplified, then click Add.Switch to Pinyin: Choose it from the Input menu in the menu bar.
Note: If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can customize the Control Strip by adding the Input Sources button
and the Handwriting button 
. For more information, see Customize the Touch Bar.Show the Pinyin keyboard layout: Choose Show Keyboard Viewer from the Input menu.
If the command isn’t shown, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, click Keyboard, then select “Show keyboard and emoji viewers in menu bar.”
Set preferences
Click the Input menu in the menu bar, choose Open Pinyin - Simplified Preferences, then set the following options, as needed:
Type using the last used Latin keyboard layout: Enable this option to use the most recent Latin keyboard layout (such as French or Japanese) instead of the standard ABC (QWERTY) keyboard layout.
This option appears only when you add more than one Latin input source.
Candidate window: Specify the orientation (horizontal or vertical) and font size to use in the Candidate window.
Show predictive completions: Show predictive completions in the Candidate window as you type. The predictive completion appears as the second or third candidate in the window.
Correct spelling: Automatically correct spelling errors as you type.
Correct fuzzy pinyin: Enable spelling variations (called fuzzy pinyin). To customize fuzzy pinyin, click Advanced.
Adjust word frequency: Make the most frequently used candidates appear first in the Candidate window. For example, if you type “putao”, the first option in the Candidate window is 葡萄. If you choose 蒲桃 in the Candidate window and type “putao” again, the first option in the Candidate window is 蒲桃.
Insert spaces between Latin and Chinese text: Automatically insert spaces between Latin and Chinese characters when you type them together. If you don’t want spaces inserted, deselect the checkbox.
Use halfwidth punctuation: Automatically use half-width spacing whenever possible.
Show traditional and rare characters: Show Traditional Chinese characters and infrequently used Chinese characters in the candidate list.
Enter characters
Make sure Pinyin - Simplified is selected in the Input menu in the menu bar.
Note: If your Mac has a Touch Bar and you customized the Control Strip to add the Input Sources button , tap it to select Pinyin - Simplified.
Pinyin: Type the input codes for the characters you want to use, then select the characters in the Candidate window. For example, to enter 苹, type “ping”, then select 苹 in the window.
Full Pinyin (Quanpin): Type the input codes for the characters you want to use, then select the characters in the Candidate window. For example, to enter 西安, type “xi’an”, then select 西安 in the window.
Use an apostrophe to separate syllables that have ambiguous parsings. Full Pinyin has modifications that make typing more convenient; for example, “v” is used to replace “ü” (so to enter 绿, you would type “lv”).
Abbreviated Pinyin (Jianpin): Type the consonant of each syllable in an input code, then select characters in the Candidate window. For example, to enter 计算机, type “jsj” (the input code is “jisuanji”).
You can use both full and abbreviated Pinyin in the same conversion. For example, if you type “pingguogs” with “gongsi” abbreviated to “gs”, the result is still “苹果公司”.
Structural Pinyin (Chaizi): Type a Chaizi input code with two or more syllables, then press Shift-Space bar. For example, type “jiji”, then press Shift-Space bar. The Candidate window opens, and the first candidates shown in the Composition pane are 喆, 兓, and 旣.
With structural Pinyin, each syllable of the input sequence is treated as the Pinyin for one of the components in the character (in order from left to right and top to bottom).
Enter numbers or capital letters while converting text
Type an input code.
In the Candidate window, enter the numbers (press and hold Option and the number keys) or letters (press and hold Shift and the letter keys) that you want to appear in your document.
Select a candidate in the Candidate window.
If there are no additional candidates, press Return or the Space bar to enter the word.
The numbers or letters that you entered appear after the candidate in your document.
Reenter words
Type an input code. For example, type “chenzhengxi”.
In the Candidate window, select candidates to create the word you want to enter. For example, select 陈, 政, and 熙 to enter 陈政熙 in your document.
Type the input code again.
The word you previously selected appears first in the Candidate window.
If you select different characters for the same input code, they appear as choices in the Candidate window.
Use Stroke within Pinyin
You can use a prefix key (u), followed (without a space) by the stroke input code for a character. For example, you can type the following:
Stroke within Pinyin
Keyboard key
一
H
丨
S
丿
P
丶(乀)
N
乛(乙)
Z
*wildcard
X
If you type “unnzzsh”, you get 字 as the first candidate.
Use predictive completions
If you set the preference for predictive completions, the Candidate window displays predictive completions as you type.
Type an input code, then select a predictive completion, if available. It appears as the second or third candidate in the window.
Edit and use your user dictionary
You can add and remove words from your user dictionary. To use a word you added, just type its code.
Click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose Edit Text Substitutions.
The Text pane of Keyboard preferences is displayed. You can also open the Text pane by choosing Apple menu > System Preferences, clicking Keyboard, then clicking Text.
Do one of the following in the Text pane:
Add a word: Click the Add button
. In the Replace field, enter the word you want to add to the user dictionary, then in the With field, enter the text substitution.Remove a word you added: Select the word in the list, then click the Remove button
.
When you’re signed in to iCloud on your Mac and other devices using the same Apple ID, your user dictionary is automatically updated and available on all your devices. To see your dictionary on iOS devices, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.