Chinese Input Methods: A Practical Setup Guide

Chinese input is the step where most new Ubuntu users get stuck, and the usual failure is not “no input method installed” — it is installed but never enabled. This page goes from “make it type” to “make it pleasant”.

What 26.04 actually ships

Measured on a Chinese-language 26.04 desktop:

dpkg -l | awk '/^ii/ && $2 ~ /ibus-libpinyin|fcitx5/ {print $2, $3}'

So the framework and the engines are already there. What is missing is registering Chinese as an input source:

gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.input-sources sources

If that prints only [('xkb', 'us')], you are in the classic “cannot type Chinese” state — the system has no Chinese input source at all.

Step 1: add the Chinese input source

Open Settings → Keyboard and find the Input Sources section. On a fresh install it lists only English:

Click + Add Input Source, type chinese in the search box, and pick Chinese (Intelligent Pinyin). The same list also offers m17n engines (pinyin, bopomofo, cangjie, quick) — most people only need the first one.

After adding, the list has two entries and an input-source indicator appears in the top bar (en / 中).

Step 2: prove it works

Open any text field and press Super + Space until the indicator changes, then type nihao:

Common operations:

Tuning the dictionary

The Pinyin preferences are not in Settings; run:

ibus-setup

or right-click the indicator → Preferences. The settings worth touching:

• Fuzzy pinyin — turn it on if you mix up zh/z, ch/c, sh/s or the -n/-ng endings; first-candidate accuracy improves noticeably
• Traditional/Simplified conversion — needed only if you type traditional
• Cloud input — better coverage, but it sends what you type to a server; leave it off if that matters
• Candidates per page — default 5, 7–9 is comfortable

Advanced: the fcitx5 route

If you need Shuangpin, Wubi, Zhengma, RIME or a nicer candidate window, fcitx5 is the alternative framework.

It is already installed but not started

26.04 ships fcitx5 5.1.19 with fcitx5-chinese-addons 5.1.12, but nothing runs it — the desktop uses IBus.

im-config -n fcitx5 does not work under Wayland

This is measured, and it matters because many guides still recommend it:

im-config -n fcitx5      # writes ~/.xinputrc

After logging out and back in, IBus is still running and fcitx5 never starts:

systemctl --user show-environment | grep -E 'IM_MODULE|XMODIFIERS'
# QT_IM_MODULE=ibus
# XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus     ← still ibus
pgrep -a fcitx5            # nothing

The reason: ~/.xinputrc is only read by X11 sessions. A GNOME Wayland session lets GNOME Shell own input handling (its built-in IBus integration) and never consults that file.

The way that works

All three pieces are required:

1. Environment variables — without them applications never load the fcitx frontend

mkdir -p ~/.config/environment.d
cat > ~/.config/environment.d/90-ime.conf <<'EOF'
GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx
EOF

2. Autostart — otherwise the daemon never runs

mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
cat > ~/.config/autostart/fcitx5.desktop <<'EOF'
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Fcitx 5
Exec=fcitx5 -d
X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase=Applications
EOF

3. Log out and back in, then verify:

fcitx5-remote          # any output means the daemon is up

Adding the Pinyin engine

The configuration tool is fcitx5-config-qt — note that the package fcitx5-configtool does not exist in the archive, which is why copying old guides fails with “package not found”:

sudo apt install fcitx5-config-qt
fcitx5-config-qt

In the Input Method tab, pick Pinyin (or Shuangpin, Wubi, Zhengma…) from Available Input Methods → Chinese (China) and move it to the left:

Do not ignore the hint at the bottom: the first input method is treated as inactive, so put “Keyboard — English (US)” first and Pinyin second.

Optional engines

Third-party input methods

Sogou Pinyin for Linux

The official download page (pinyin.sogou.com/linux/) serves sogoupinyin_4.2.1.145 in amd64, arm64, mips64el and loongarch64 builds.

Honest status: the official CDN returned 403 to every download attempt from this network (ime-sec.gtimg.com), so we could not complete an install test. What we can give you is the check that settles it in two seconds:

# Which framework does the package depend on? fcitx = fcitx4, fcitx5 = new framework
dpkg-deb -I sogoupinyin_*.deb | grep Depends
 
# Are both frameworks available here? (measured on 26.04)
apt-cache policy fcitx fcitx5

26.04 reality (measured):

fcitx      candidate: 1:4.2.9.9-2.1     ← fcitx4 still exists
fcitx5     candidate: 5.1.19-1          ← fcitx5 also present

Both frameworks survive in 26.04, so a package depending on fcitx4 can in principle be installed — but note:

• fcitx4 and fcitx5 cannot both be the active framework; stop fcitx5 before installing a Sogou build that needs fcitx4
• fcitx4-only input methods often show the candidate window in the wrong place under Wayland; switching to an Xorg session is the usual workaround
• re-run im-config and log out afterwards, or the environment still points at the old framework

The alternatives

Baidu, iFlytek and WeChat keyboard have no official Linux desktop build; what circulates as a “Linux version” is usually an Android port or a repack, not something to put on a machine you rely on.

FAQ

The Chinese language pack is installed but I still cannot type

A language pack (language-pack-zh-hans) provides translations and fonts, not an input method. Go back to Step 1 and add the input source — that is the answer nine times out of ten.

No candidate window, or it does not follow the cursor

Check in order:

# 1. is Chinese actually registered?
gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.input-sources sources
 
# 2. is the daemon alive?
pgrep -a ibus-daemon
 
# 3. is it an Electron app (VS Code, Discord…)?

Electron apps do not use the Wayland IME protocol by default; launch them with:

code --enable-wayland-ime

or run them under XWayland with --ozone-platform-hint=auto.

Only Pinyin, no Wubi

The Wubi engine (ibus-table-wubi) is installed but never appears automatically. Add it the same way as Step 1, choosing Chinese (Wubi) or Chinese (Wubi Pinyin) from the Chinese list.

Removing extra input sources

Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources, click the ⋮ on the row → Remove. Keep at least one English layout, otherwise some password prompts become impossible to fill.

The switch shortcut conflicts with something

Change it under Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → View and Customize Shortcuts → Input Sources. Ctrl + Space or Super + \ are common replacements.

Related

• GNOME 50 desktop tour — where the indicator sits
• GNOME extensions and customisation — theming the candidate window
• China setup — timezone, mirrors and the rest