If you are learning Chinese and want to write Chinese characters on a computer, you have come to the right place. This article is an introduction on how to input Chinese on a computer.

But before we begin let us see if you can read Chinese on your computer. For browsing online, you need a browser that can display Chinese characters. If you are sure that you can read Chinese online, you can skip this section. If you are not sure, please follow the steps listed below:
  (1) Browse our web site to test whether Chinese characters are displayed correctly. If yes, skip this section.
  (2) If not, the simplest solution is to upgrade your browsers (e g., Internet Explorer or Firefox) to the most recent versions.
  (3) If browsers are current, you probably have been prompted to download Chinese fonts. For Internet Explorer you will probably be asked to install Microsoft Global IME (Input Method Editor). Microsoft Global IME is also needed for inputting Chinese, which we shall explain later.
  (4) Most recent browsers can switch automatically language settings to display different languages. If there is a mix up, you may go to the View -> Character Encoding under your browser's menu to manual select the correct language display.

To input Chinese, we need additional software or settings. Note Chinese are not Romanized alphabet; the additional software is needed for coding the keystrokes to display Chinese characters on a computer. The coding can be done at two levels: The first is at the system level, for example, by installing a Chinese operating system. An alternative system level approach is the Microsoft Global IME, which enables users to input Chinese in most software such as web browsers, word processing software, and email software. The second approach is to provide input methods for only a specific piece of software. Examples are Chinese word processing software and Chinese web input software. Special functions such as Chinese-English dictionary are integrated, as a result they are usually easier to use.

The methods used for coding keystrokes to Chinese characters are numerous. They are basically three classes: pronunciation (Pinyin) based, character-structure based, and coding Chinese with English. These different methods of input will be explained in later sections.