Chinese Pinyin Keyboard: key facts
- Script: Chinese (Hanzi), used across China, Taiwan & Singapore.
- Writing direction: left to right.
- Layout: 34 keys, 34 base characters, 34 on Shift.
- Typing: direct key mode with Shift and AltGr layers.
- Variants: 2 (Simplifié, Traditionnel).
- Native name: 中文键盘; speech synthesis locale: zh-CN.
Chinese Pinyin Keyboard in detail
Type Chinese: enter pinyin and pick the character, or click the virtual keys. Simplified and traditional characters supported. The Chinese Pinyin Keyboard (中文键盘) covers the Chinese (Hanzi) script as used across China, Taiwan & Singapore. Text flows left to right in the editor, and every character below belongs to the authentic Chinese (Hanzi) repertoire — no transliterated approximations once you use the virtual keys.
The pinyin engine maps romanized syllables — with or without tone numbers — to the most common Chinese characters, in simplified and traditional forms.
The page ships 2 built-in variants — Simplifié (Simplified Chinese characters (default).); Traditionnel (Traditional Chinese characters where available.) — switchable without reloading. Your text never leaves the browser: copy it to any app, export it, listen to it with the zh-CN speech voice, or send it to Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, Translate, DuckDuckGo.
Every key on the Chinese Pinyin Keyboard
The layout holds 34 character keys: 34 distinct base characters, 34 Shift variants. The table below maps each physical position to the characters it produces, so you can learn the layout or verify coverage of a rare letter before you start typing.
| Position | Base | Shift | AltGr |
|---|
| Row 1, key 2 | q | Q | — |
| Row 1, key 3 | w | W | — |
| Row 1, key 4 | e | E | — |
| Row 1, key 5 | r | R | — |
| Row 1, key 6 | t | T | — |
| Row 1, key 7 | y | Y | — |
| Row 1, key 8 | u | U | — |
| Row 1, key 9 | i | I | — |
| Row 1, key 10 | o | O | — |
| Row 1, key 11 | p | P | — |
| Row 1, key 12 | [ | { | — |
| Row 1, key 13 | ] | } | — |
| Row 1, key 14 | \ | | | — |
| Row 2, key 2 | a | A | — |
| Row 2, key 3 | s | S | — |
| Row 2, key 4 | d | D | — |
| Row 2, key 5 | f | F | — |
| Row 2, key 6 | g | G | — |
| Row 2, key 7 | h | H | — |
| Row 2, key 8 | j | J | — |
| Row 2, key 9 | k | K | — |
| Row 2, key 10 | l | L | — |
| Row 2, key 11 | ; | : | — |
| Row 2, key 12 | ' | " | — |
| Row 3, key 2 | z | Z | — |
| Row 3, key 3 | x | X | — |
| Row 3, key 4 | c | C | — |
| Row 3, key 5 | v | V | — |
| Row 3, key 6 | b | B | — |
| Row 3, key 7 | n | N | — |
| Row 3, key 8 | m | M | — |
| Row 3, key 9 | , | < | — |
| Row 3, key 10 | . | > | — |
| Row 3, key 11 | / | ? | — |
Direct typing with Shift and AltGr
This keyboard has no phonetic engine, and that is deliberate: Chinese (Hanzi) spelling maps cleanly onto its own keys. Click a key — or press its physical counterpart with the hardware toggle on — and the exact character appears. Capitals and common variants live on Shift (34 characters), extended and rare forms on AltGr (0 characters).
Dead keys are enabled, so accents compose naturally: press the accent, then the vowel. On mobile, everything is tappable at full key size, and the editor keeps left to right ordering correct even when you mix Chinese (Hanzi) with Latin words or digits in the same sentence.
Getting the most out of this keyboard
Start with the Simplifié variant if you are unsure: Simplified Chinese characters (default). You can switch variants mid-text without losing what you typed.
Chinese (Hanzi) runs left to right, so mixing it with in-line Latin terms, brand names or URLs just works: the editor keeps each run in its own direction without manual markers.
For pronunciation, press the speaker button: the zh-CN voice reads exactly what is in the editor, which makes this page a practical dictation and shadowing tool. Export the text first if you want to rehearse offline.
Preferred typefaces here are Noto Sans SC, Microsoft YaHei, SimSun (fallback Noto Sans SC). If a character shows as a box on your device, switch fonts in the toolbar — complex-script shaping varies between systems, especially on older phones.
Hidden characters tour
Beyond the base alphabet, this keyboard hides real value on its upper layers. On Shift: Q W E R T Y U I O P { } | A S D F G H J K L : " …. On AltGr: . Hold the on-screen Shift or AltGr key (or your physical one in hardware mode) to reach them, exactly like a desktop layout.
Dictionaries and resources for Chinese Pinyin Keyboard
Below the keyboard, the resource hub gathers 11 hand-picked links for Chinese Pinyin Keyboard: 4 monolingual dictionaries (including Lexilogos — dictionnaire, MDBG — 汉英词典, Dict.cn — 海词词典, Wiktionary (zh)), 2 bilingual translators, 1 grammar and conjugation reference, 1 vocabulary and phrase guide, and 3 encyclopedias, newspapers and general resources. Type a word in the editor first and the links marked with an arrow receive it automatically — look up a definition, a conjugation or a translation without retyping.
Keep exploring
If this is not quite your language, the closest alternatives each have their own virtual keyboard, transliteration engine and dictionary hub, so switching costs one click. The method guides embed the same keyboard, so you can practise while you learn.
- Japanese Keyboard (Kana): Type Japanese with the romaji engine: “konnichiwa” becomes こんにちは. Kana layout and vocabulary resources included.…
- Korean Hangul Keyboard (Hangul): Type Korean Hangul with smart jamo composition: “annyeong” becomes 안녕 automatically as you type.…
- Vietnamese Keyboard (Latin + diacritics): Type Vietnamese with Telex, VNI and plain modes: “xin chào” is produced from “xin chao” + s as you type.…
- Arabic Keyboard (Arabic): Type Arabic with smart transliteration: “marhaba” becomes مرحبا as you type. Click the virtual keys or use your own keyboard.…
- Method guides: “Type Chinese with pinyin: how-to”, “Type Japanese: romaji → hiragana, katakana, kanji”, “Type Korean (Hangul): automatic composition”.