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Input method (IME) – Google Input Tools
<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="google mmfb" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Product" lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <script nonce="pJDF_fdlfTyxW_qTWVLlTw"> (function(H){H.className=H.className.replace(/\bgoogle\b/,'google-js')})(document.documentElement) </script> <meta content="initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, width=device-width" name="viewport"> <title> Input method (IME) – Google Input Tools </title> <script src="//www.google.com/js/google.js" nonce="pJDF_fdlfTyxW_qTWVLlTw"> </script> <script nonce="pJDF_fdlfTyxW_qTWVLlTw"> new gweb.analytics.AutoTrack({profile:"UA-11950201-6"}); </script> <link href= "//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:300,400,600,700|Product+Sans:400&lang=en" rel= "stylesheet" nonce="pJDF_fdlfTyxW_qTWVLlTw"> <link href="../../../inputtools/css/default.css" rel="stylesheet" nonce="pJDF_fdlfTyxW_qTWVLlTw"> <link href="https://www.google.com/inputtools" rel="canonical"> <meta content="Google Input Tools" itemprop="name"> <meta content="Your words, your language, anywhere" itemprop="description"> <meta content="images/snippet.jpg" itemprop="image"> </head> <body> <div class="maia-header" id="maia-header" role="banner"> <div class="maia-aux"> <h1> <a href="../../../inputtools/"><img alt="Google" src= "//www.google.com/images/branding/googlelogo/1x/googlelogo_color_116x41dp.png" srcset= "//www.google.com/images/branding/googlelogo/2x/googlelogo_color_116x41dp.png 2x"> Input Tools</a> </h1><a class="maia-teleport" href="#content">Skip to content</a> </div> </div> <div class="maia-nav" id="maia-nav-x" role="navigation"> <div class="maia-aux"> <ul> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/">Home</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/try/">Try it out</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/chrome/">On Chrome</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/windows/">On Windows</a> </li> <li class="active"> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/">On Google Services</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="maia-main" role="main"> <div class="maia-nav" id="maia-nav-y" role="navigation"> <ul> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/">Overview</a> </li> <li> <h3> Get started </h3> <ul> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/products/account-central.html">Google Account settings</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/products/gmail.html">Gmail</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/products/drive.html">Google Drive</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/products/translate.html">Google Translate</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/products/search.html">Google Search</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/products/youtube.html">YouTube</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li> <h3> Features </h3> <ul> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/features/">Overview</a> </li> <li> <a href= "../../../inputtools/services/features/transliteration.html">Transliteration</a> </li> <li>Input Method (IME) </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/features/virtual-keyboard.html">Virtual Keyboard</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/features/handwriting.html">Handwriting</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/services/shortcuts.html">Keyboard shortcuts</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="maia-article" role="article"> <div class="maia-teleport" id="content"></div> <h1> Input Method (IME) </h1> <div class="maia-cols"> <div class="maia-col-7"> <p> Input Method Editors (IMEs) convert keystrokes to characters in another language. We offer <a href="../../../inputtools/help/languages.html">a number of IMEs</a>. <a href="../../../inputtools/try/">Try them out</a>. </p> <p> To use an IME, the first step is to enable Input Tools. Follow instructions to enable Input Tools in <a href="products/search.html">Search</a>, <a href= "products/gmail.html">Gmail</a>, <a href="products/drive.html">Google Drive</a>, <a href="products/youtube.html">Youtube</a>, <a href= "products/translate.html">Translate</a>, <a href="chrome/index.html">Chrome</a> and <a href="chrome/chromeos.html">Chrome OS</a>. </p> <p> IME is represented by a character from the language, such as <img alt="" src= "../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-pinyin-off.png">.Clicking on the icon to toggle on/off the current IME or clicking on the arrow next to it to select another input tool. When IME is toggled on, the button becomes a darker grey <img alt="" src= "../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-pinyin-on.png">. </p> </div> <div class="maia-col-3"> <p> <img alt="" src="../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-menu.png"> </p> </div> </div> <div class="gweb-tabset gweb-tabset-y"> <div class="gweb-tabset-nav"> <ul> <li> <a href="#pinyin">Pinyin</a> </li> <li> <a href="#wubi">Wubi</a> </li> <li> <a href="#zhuyin">Zhuyin</a> </li> <li> <a href="#cangjie">Cangjie</a> </li> <li> <a href="#cantonese">Cantonese</a> </li> <li> <a href="#latin">Latin</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="gweb-tabset-contents"> <div class="gweb-tabset-content" id="pinyin"> <h2> Pinyin IME for Simplified and Traditional Chinese </h2> <p> <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E6%8B%BC%E9%9F%B3">Pinyin IME</a> is a phonetic input method. </p> <p> As you type pinyin, e.g., “hao”, you'll see a list of candidate characters that map to your input. </p> <p> <img alt="" src="../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-pinyin-candidates.png"> </p> <p> You can choose a candidate from the list by taking any of the following actions: </p> <ul> <li>Press <kbd>SPACE</kbd> to select the highlighted candidate, </li> <li>Click on it, </li> <li>Type the number next to the word, </li> <li>Navigate the list of candidates in a page with <kbd>LEFT</kbd>/<kbd>RIGHT</kbd> arrow keys. Flip pages with <kbd>UP</kbd> and <kbd>DOWN</kbd> or <kbd>,</kbd> and <kbd>.</kbd> or <kbd>-</kbd> and <kbd>=</kbd> keys. </li> </ul> <p> Press <kbd>ENTER</kbd> to type in English (i.e., the letters you type). </p> </div> <div class="gweb-tabset-content" id="wubi"> <h2> Wubi IME for Chinese </h2> <p> <a href= "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%94%E7%AC%94%E5%AD%97%E5%9E%8B%E8%BE%93%E5%85%A5%E6%B3%95"> Wubi</a> is a radical based input method. </p> <p> As you type pinyin, you’ll see a list of word candidates that map to your input. </p> <p> <img alt="" src="../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-wubi-candidates.png"> </p> <p> To choose a candidate: </p> <ul> <li>Press <kbd>SPACE</kbd>, </li> <li>Click on it, </li> <li>Type the number next to the word, or </li> <li>Navigate the list of candidates in a page with <kbd>LEFT</kbd>/<kbd>RIGHT</kbd> arrow keys. </li> </ul> <p> Press <kbd>ENTER</kbd> to type in English. </p> </div> <div class="gweb-tabset-content" id="zhuyin"> <h2> Zhuyin IME for Traditional Chinese </h2> <p> <a href= "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B3%A8%E9%9F%B3%E8%BC%B8%E5%85%A5%E6%B3%95">Zhuyin IME</a> is a phonetic input method. </p> <p> After you type in Zhuyin of a character, e.g., “vul ”, you will see a character that maps to your input: </p> <p> <img alt="" src="../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-zhuyin.png"> </p> <p> Press <kbd>ENTER</kbd> to choose the character. To see more candidate words, which have the same pronunciation, press <kbd>DOWN</kbd> arrow or <kbd>SPACE</kbd> key. </p> <p> <img alt="" src="../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-zhuyin-candidates.png"> </p> <p> To choose a word from the list: </p> <ul> <li>Press <kbd>ENTER</kbd> to select the highlighted candidate, </li> <li>Click on it, </li> <li>Type the number next to the word, or </li> <li>Navigate the list of candidates in a page with <kbd>LEFT</kbd>/<kbd>RIGHT</kbd> arrow keys. Flip pages with <kbd>UP</kbd>/<kbd>DOWN</kbd> arrow keys. </li> </ul> </div> <div class="gweb-tabset-content" id="cangjie"> <h2> Cangjie IME for Traditional Chinese </h2> <p> <a href= "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BB%93%E9%A2%89%E8%BE%93%E5%85%A5%E6%B3%95">Cangjie IME</a> is a graphological based input method. </p> <p> As you type, e.g., “oiar”, you’ll see the word(s) mapping to your input. </p> <p> <img alt="" src="../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-cangjie.png"> </p> <p> Press <kbd>SPACE</kbd> to select the word. To select a word from multiple candidates,you can take any of the following actions: </p> <ul> <li>Press <kbd>SPACE</kbd> </li> <li>Click on it, </li> <li>Type the number next to the word, </li> <li>Navigate the list of candidates in a page with <kbd>LEFT</kbd>/<kbd>RIGHT</kbd> arrow keys. Flip pages with <kbd>UP</kbd>/<kbd>DOWN</kbd> keys. </li> </ul> </div> <div class="gweb-tabset-content" id="cantonese"> <h2> Cantonese IME </h2> <p> Cantonese does not have a widely used romanization standard. With this Cantonese IME, you simply type how you think the word sounds in English letters. The IME will attempt to find out words that match those sounds. For example, you type “failok” to get “快樂”. </p> <p> Quickly learn Cantonese IME in the video. </p> <div class="maia-aside video"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" src= "//www.youtube.com/embed/Vwp5TwYGsnw/?showinfo=0&autohide=1"></iframe> </div> <p> <a href= "/intl/zh-HK/inputtools/services/features/input-method.html#tab=cantonese">觀看廣東話版</a> </p> <p> Cantonese IME supports fuzzy phonetic mapping. There is no fixed rule to spell pronunciation. For example, you can type “lay”, “nay”, or “lei” to get “你”. </p> <p> The intelligent guessing works best when you enter two or more Cantonese characters so don’t stop after the first one. Try type “我想食叉燒包” with “ngoshuengsikchasiubao”. </p> <p> While typing, you will see a list of candidates matching the sounds of your input. </p> <p> Choose a candidate by taking any of the following actions: </p> <p> <img alt="" src="../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-cantonese-candidates.png"> </p> <ul> <li>Press <kbd>SPACE</kbd> to select the highlighted candidate, </li> <li>Click on it, </li> <li>Type the number next to the word, </li> <li>Navigate the list of candidates in a page with <kbd>UP</kbd>/<kbd>DOWN</kbd> arrow keys. Flip pages with <kbd>LEFT</kbd> and <kbd>RIGHT</kbd> or <kbd>,</kbd> and <kbd>.</kbd> or <kbd>-</kbd> and <kbd>=</kbd> keys. </li> </ul> <p> You can use <kbd>'</kbd> to explicitly separates pronunciation of two characters. For example, "long" can be interpreted into "long" or "lo-ng", while "lo'ng" will only be interpreted into "lo-ng". </p> <p> Press <kbd>ENTER</kbd> to type in English (i.e., the letters you type). </p> <p> Related Google blog posts: </p> <ul> <li> <cite><a href="https://googlechinablog.blogspot.com/2013/05/google.html">Google Cantonese IME</a></cite> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="gweb-tabset-content" id="latin"> <h2> Latin IMEs </h2> <p> Latin IMEs aim to help people type in Latin-script languages (e.g., French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch) using the US keyboard. Features include automatic diacritics, spell correction, and prefix completion. </p> <p> To use Latin IMEs, type unaccented letters, and the correct word with diacritics will be suggested. For example, in French, as you type ‘franca’, you will see a prefix-completion candidate. </p> <p> <img alt="" src="../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-latin.png"> </p> <p> Press <kbd>TAB</kbd> to commit the candidate “français”. At this time, press <kbd>SPACE</kbd>/<kbd>ENTER</kbd> to commit the source text “franca”. </p> <p> While continuously typing “francais”, the candidate on stage becomes an auto-diacritic candidate. Press <kbd>SPACE</kbd>/<kbd>ENTER</kbd> to commit the candidate “français”. </p> <p> To fetch more candidates, press <kbd>BACKSPACE</kbd>, and you will see all the candidates. </p> <p> <img alt="" src="../../../inputtools/images/features/ime-latin-candidates.png"> </p> <p> The first candidate is the high-confident auto-diacritic candidate, which will be automatically highlighted. The second candidate is the source text. The third and fourth candidates are prefix-completion candidates. The 5th and 6th candidates are spelling-correction candidates. </p> <p> To select a word from multiple candidates,take any of the following actions: </p> <ul> <li>Press <kbd>SPACE</kbd>/<kbd>ENTER</kbd> to select the highlighted candidate, </li> <li>Click on it, </li> <li>Type the number next to the word, </li> <li>Navigate the list of candidates in a page with <kbd>UP</kbd>/<kbd>DOWN</kbd> keys. Flip pages with <kbd>UP</kbd>/<kbd>DOWN</kbd> keys. </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="maia-signature"></div> <div class="maia-footer" id="maia-footer"> <div id="maia-footer-local"> <div class="maia-aux"> <div class="maia-cols"> <div class="maia-col-6"> <p> Input methods in other languages: </p> <ul class="xlink"> <li class="xlink-ja"> <a href="https://www.google.com/intl/ja/ime/">日本語入力</a> </li> <li class="xlink-py"> <a href="https://www.google.com/intl/zh-CN/ime/pinyin/">拼音输入法</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="maia-col-6" id="footer-feedback"> <ul> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/help/languages.html">Supported languages</a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../inputtools/help/attribution.html">Content attribution</a> </li> </ul> <p> Let us know what you think – <a href= "mailto:transliteration-support+ime@google.com">submit feedback</a>. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="maia-footer-global"> <div class="maia-aux"> <div class="maia-locales"> <label><span>Change 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