Chinese Simplified/Traditional Converter

The Simplified/Traditional Chinese converter turns a piece of Chinese text between Simplified and Traditional characters. Two buttons, 'Simplified → Traditional' and 'Traditional → Simplified', choose the direction; type your text, click 'Convert' and copy the result. The conversion is done by the open-source OpenCC dictionaries (through the opencc-js library), using the mainland Simplified to Taiwan Traditional scheme. By default it converts character forms only and does not swap vocabulary that differs between regions. If you tick the phrases option under the direction buttons, it switches to OpenCC's Taiwan-standard-plus-Taiwan-phrases scheme, so 软件 becomes the Taiwanese term 軟體 (and in the other direction Taiwanese terms are mapped back to mainland usage). Real conversion results below show the difference.

How to use it

1. Pick a direction at the top: 'Simplified → Traditional' or 'Traditional → Simplified'. The active button has a dark background.
2. Optionally tick the phrases option under the direction buttons (off by default, which converts character forms only). When on, Simplified → Traditional also switches to Taiwan phrases, and Traditional → Simplified maps Taiwan terms to mainland terms. Toggling it also clears the old result.
3. Type or paste the text into 'Input text'. The page starts with 汉字简繁转换工具.
4. Click 'Convert'. The result does not update as you type; editing the text or switching direction clears the old result, so click 'Convert' again.
5. Read the output under 'Result' and use the copy button beside it.
6. The first time you click 'Convert', the browser loads the conversion dictionary, so there may be a brief delay. Later conversions are faster.

Real conversion examples

All of these were produced by running the same conversion library the tool uses. Simplified to Traditional: 汉字简繁转换工具 becomes 漢字簡繁轉換工具. 头发 发展 干净 干部 becomes 頭髮 發展 乾淨 幹部, so the same Simplified character 发 turns into 髮 or 發 depending on context, and 干 into 乾 or 幹. 里面 面条 becomes 裡面 麵條. Traditional to Simplified: 漢字簡繁轉換工具 becomes 汉字简繁转换工具, and 頭髮 發展 乾淨 幹部 becomes 头发 发展 干净 干部. Now the vocabulary gap: the Simplified words 软件 打印机 鼠标 内存 信息 网络 convert to 軟件 打印機 鼠標 內存 信息 網絡, with only the character forms changed, and the usual Taiwanese terms 軟體 印表機 滑鼠 記憶體 資訊 網路 do not appear. In the other direction, those Taiwanese terms convert to 软体 印表机 滑鼠 记忆体 资讯 网路, not to the mainland 软件 打印机 鼠标. With the phrases option on, the results differ: the same Simplified words convert to 軟體 印表機 滑鼠 記憶體 資訊 網路, and 服务器 视频 程序 默认 U盘 光盘 硬盘 出租车 becomes 伺服器 影片 程式 預設 隨身碟 光碟 硬碟 計程車. In the other direction, 軟體 印表機 滑鼠 記憶體 資訊 網路 converts to 软件 打印机 鼠标 内存 信息 网络.

What it supports and where it stops

• Without the phrases option it is character conversion only, with no regional vocabulary replacement. With it on, only the Taiwan terms contained in the OpenCC dictionary are replaced; words missing from it stay as they are (for example 质量 still becomes 質量 rather than being split by context). Copy aimed at readers in Taiwan still needs a human review.
• Conversion relies on character tables plus a small amount of word context, so some ambiguous characters may not come out as you expect. For example, when converting Traditional to Simplified, 著名 stays 著名 while 睡著了 becomes 睡着了. Proofread anything important.
• The result does not refresh automatically. Switching direction or editing clears the old result, and the new one appears only after you click 'Convert' again.
• If the input is empty, clicking Convert shows no result block.
• Non-Chinese characters such as Latin letters, digits and punctuation are left as they are.
• Plain text only: no file upload and no formatting is kept. Very long text converts in one go and may be slightly slower.
• Only mainland Simplified and Taiwan Traditional are offered (with or without phrase conversion). There are no options for Hong Kong or Macau forms, or Japanese shinjitai.

FAQ: Why don't the converted words match what people in Taiwan actually say?

Because by default the tool converts characters only. Regional word differences (软件 versus 軟體, 鼠标 versus 滑鼠, 信息 versus 資訊 and so on) are vocabulary localisation: tick the phrases option to enable OpenCC's Taiwan word list. Words missing from that list are still left unchanged, so have someone who knows the local usage review the result.

FAQ: One Simplified character maps to several Traditional ones. Will it get them wrong?

The converter looks at the surrounding characters, and in the examples above 发, 干, 里 and 面 were all handled correctly. No automatic conversion is guaranteed to be perfect, though, and rare characters, personal names, classical texts, poems and proper nouns in particular need a manual check.

FAQ: Is my text uploaded?

No. Conversion runs locally in your browser. The dictionary ships with the page's own code and is loaded on demand the first time you click 'Convert'; once loaded, your text is not sent to any server.

FAQ: Can I use the output directly in publishing or official documents?

That isn't advised without review. Converted text should be read through by someone who knows how the target readers write, especially for legal, medical, contract or printed material.

Privacy and processing

Your text is only held in browser memory while it is being converted. No network request carries it, it is not stored, and reloading the page restores the default text. The conversion dictionary is part of the site's own code and is fetched from this site on first use, so no outside conversion service is involved.