Vietnamese IME
If you need to enter some text in Vietnamese, the Vietnamese Telex Input Method Editor and the Vietnamese Number Key-based Input Method Editor (IME) for Windows lets you enter text using the Vietnamese alphabet while using a typical keyboard with 101-105 keys. Using either IME doesn't require changing your current Windows display language.
Add support for Vietnamese input
To add support for Vietnamese input to Windows:
- Open Settings and select Time & language > Language & region.
- Select Add a language. Select Vietnamese from the list and select Next.
- Consider if you need any of the Optional language features. If you want to enter Vietnamese text while keeping your current Windows display language, none of them are necessary. When you're happy with your choices, select Install.
By default, Vietnamese support is installed with the Vietnamese Telex IME. To install the Vietnamese Number Key-based IME:
- On the Language & region page, select the Options (…) icon next to Vietnamese and select Language options.
- Select Add a keyboard and select Vietnamese Number Key-based.
Type Vietnamese text
The Windows system tray shows which keyboard layout is currently active, for example, ENG. You can switch between installed layouts (layouts in the Preferred languages list in Settings) by selecting the Windows logo key + Spacebar.
If you prefer, you can also change the layout by selecting the system tray icon and selecting the layout from the list. This method can be faster if you have more than two languages installed.
If multiple IME/keyboards are installed for a given language, the list and the tray icon will show a combination of language and layout.
The Vietnamese alphabet is based on the Latin script, but it has some extra letters and doesn't use f, j, w, and z from the Latin alphabet. It uses digraphs and diacritics to mark tones and some phonemes. The IMEs helps you to enter these letters and diacritics quickly and correctly.
The extra letters of the alphabet are:
| Vietnamese letter | Telex shortcut | Number key-based shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| ă | aw | a8 |
| â | aa | a6 |
| đ | dd | d9 |
| ê | ee | e6 |
| ô | oo | o6 |
| ơ | ow | o7 |
| ư | uw | u7 |
Additionally, you can add diacritics to letters using one extra keystroke:
| Diacritic | Telex shortcut | Number key-based shortcut | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acute accent | as | a1 | á |
| Grave accent | af | a2 | à |
| Hook above | ar | a3 | ả |
| Tilde | ax | a4 | ã |
| Dot below | aj | a5 | ạ |
Diacritics can be combined with the Vietnamese letters. For example, using the Vietnamese Telex IME you can type ofw or owf with the Vietnamese Telex IME to produce ờ.
Example
The Vietnamese word for garden is vườn.
Type using the Vietnamese Telex IME
Select Vietnamese Telex. The system tray now shows VIE instead of ENG indicating that you can now type in Vietnamese.
Type vuwofwn with the English keys:
- v
- uw – ư
- ofw – ờ
- n
Type using the Vietnamese Number Key-based IME
Select Vietnamese Number Key-based. The system tray now shows VIE instead of ENG indicating that you can now type in Vietnamese.
When using the Vietnamese Number Key-based IME, you can use the number keys at any time while typing the word. The IME will add the diacritical marks at the appropriate location. The typical order of entry is the base letters of the word followed by the number keys for the diacritics. For example, to type vườn, type vuon72. Other options for typing vườn are:
- vu7o27n
- vu7o72n
- vuo72n
When you're finished typing, select Enter to select the Vietnamese word.