Simplified-Traditional Chinese Converter
Free online Chinese character converter between Simplified and Traditional, with Taiwan and Hong Kong variants. Phrase-level OpenCC conversion, runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
About this tool
Free online converter between Simplified and Traditional Chinese, with three target variants: Standard Traditional, Taiwan Traditional (with localized vocabulary), and Hong Kong Traditional. Conversion runs locally in your browser in real time — no sign-up, no upload, and long documents convert instantly.
Why character-by-character conversion fails
The engine is built on the OpenCC dictionaries, which convert at the phrase level with context rather than character by character. That matters because the simplification scheme merged several distinct traditional characters into one simplified character — so converting back, a single simplified character may map to two or three traditional ones, and the correct pick depends on the word it appears in. A character-by-character tool has to guess; phrase-level conversion resolves it from context.
| Simplified | Traditional | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 发 | 發／髮 | 出發 (depart)／頭髮 (hair) |
| 干 | 乾／幹／干 | 乾燥 (dry)／幹活 (work)／干預 (interfere) |
| 复 | 復／複 | 恢復 (restore)／複製 (copy) |
| 后 | 后／後 | 皇后 (queen)／以後 (afterwards) |
| 里 | 里／裡 | 公里 (kilometer)／裡面 (inside) |
| 面 | 面／麵 | 面子 (face)／麵條 (noodles) |
These characters appear constantly in ordinary text, so a character-by-character result is typically "mostly right, wrong at the crucial spots" — and proofreading it costs more than doing it properly the first time.
Taiwan vs. Hong Kong vs. Standard Traditional
Standard Traditional converts character shapes only; Taiwan and Hong Kong Traditional also localize the vocabulary. The same simplified sentence comes out differently:
软件 → 軟體 (software)、内存 → 記憶體 (memory)、鼠标 → 滑鼠 (mouse) — Taiwan Traditional
Pick Taiwan Traditional for readers in Taiwan, Hong Kong Traditional for Hong Kong and Macau, and Standard Traditional for general publishing and proofreading.
Is this "translation"?
Not in the linguistic sense. Simplified and Traditional Chinese are two writing systems for the same language — converting between them involves no foreign language. What most people call "converting for Taiwanese readers" is really two steps: script conversion plus vocabulary localization (软件 → 軟體, not just 軟件). The Taiwan Traditional mode in this tool does both in one pass.
Who uses a Simplified-Traditional converter
- Subtitle teams and video creators: converting simplified subtitles for audiences in Taiwan and Hong Kong
- Cross-strait e-commerce sellers: producing simplified and traditional versions of the same product copy
- Publishers and editors: the first conversion pass when a simplified manuscript is licensed for traditional publication
- Students and researchers: unifying the script of documents collected from both sides
- Community managers: publishing the same post in both scripts to reach a wider audience
Should I proofread after converting
Phrase-level conversion handles the vast majority of everyday text, but a few categories deserve a human pass:
- Personal and place names: rare name characters may be converted incorrectly
- Classical Chinese quotes: keep the original author's characters as written
- Domain terminology: a few academic terms differ across the strait (概率／機率 for "probability")
- Punctuation style: quote marks and dashes follow different conventions; this tool focuses on characters
Common uses
- Localizing content for readers in Taiwan or Hong Kong without mainland translation quirks
- Preparing traditional-character versions of simplified documents (manuals, subtitles, product copy)
- Proofreading mixed-script text and normalizing it to one standard
FAQ
Does the converter upload my text?
No. The whole conversion runs locally in your browser — the dictionary is downloaded to your device once and your text never touches any server. That is also why it converts long documents instantly.
What is the difference between Taiwan Traditional and Standard Traditional?
Besides character shapes, Taiwan Traditional also localizes vocabulary: 软件 → 軟體 (software), 内存 → 記憶體 (memory), 鼠标 → 滑鼠 (mouse). Pick it for content aimed at readers in Taiwan; use Standard Traditional for general writing and proofreading.
Is Simplified-to-Traditional a one-to-one mapping?
No. Many simplified characters map to several traditional ones depending on context — 发 → 發/髮, 干 → 乾/幹/干. This tool uses the OpenCC dictionaries with phrase-level context, so common ambiguous cases are resolved automatically — far beyond a character-by-character replacement.
Is there a length limit?
No. Conversion happens on your device, so long documents convert instantly — no queue, no truncation, no sign-up.
Why do some characters look unchanged after conversion?
That is normal. A large share of Chinese characters were never simplified — they are written identically in both systems (我, 你, 好, 的…). A correct conversion leaves them exactly as they are.
Is Singapore Simplified Chinese the same as mainland Simplified?
Essentially yes. Singapore and Malaysia use the same simplification standard as mainland China, so the Traditional output here works for all of them. The differences are mostly vocabulary habits (公交車 vs. 巴士), which you can fine-tune after converting for a local audience.
Can I convert a whole Word or PDF document?
The tool converts text: copy the document content, paste it in, and long text converts instantly in one pass — no batching. Paste the result back into your document and the original layout stays intact.