How to Change Your Language in WeChat

Evan Gower April 23, 2021

WeChat, a Chinese social network app, is becoming a hit all over the world. In China, everybody’s using it as their number one social network, mainly because it does much more than WhatsApp. That said, knowing how to change the WeChat interface language can’t hurt.

Additionally, since the millions upon millions of Chinese use it, you might need to translate your messages now and then, or on the other side, write in Chinese on your Android or iOS device. Read on to see how to change the language on WeChat.

Changing the Language in WeChat if Stuck in Chinese

If the app is in Chinese, it might be a bit harder to change the language, but it becomes drastically easier if you know which menus to open.

Open the WeChat app and go to the “Me” tab found in the bottom-right corner of the screen. It reads “我” in Chinese.
Go to the “Settings.” Look for “设置.”
Select “General” or “通用.”
Tap on “Language.” It is labeled “多语言” in Chinese.
Find and choose “English” from the list. Don’t forget to tap the “Done” button right after to save the changes. It’s the green button in the top-right corner.

Use WeChat Translation Feature for Messages

As a multicultural app, WeChat also lets you translate messages to your language, no matter what language was initially used.

Open the WeChat app and go to the “Chats” tab.
Tap on the chat you want to translate.
To translate a message, tap on it and hold until a menu pops up.
Choosing the “Translate” option will convert the message to your phone’s selected language.

Using Chinese Keyboard for WeChat on an iOS Device

iPhone and iPad have a Chinese (Pinyin) keyboard built-in, which lets you type in Chinese on WeChat.

Go to your iOS device’s “Settings” app.
Choose “General.”
Enter the “Keyboard” menu.
Open the first option, “Keyboards.”
Tap on the “Add New Keyboard…” button.
Scroll down until you find the Chinese keyboards. There will be two, “Chinese (Simplified)” and “Chinese (Traditional).” It is recommended to go with the first option since most Chinese citizens use the modern, simplified version of the Hanzi script.
Having chosen the preferred keyboard, select the keyboard layout. You can choose between “QUERTY,” “AZERTY,” and “10 Key.” Tap the one you wish to use.
After selecting it, tap on the “Done” button in the top-right corner.
Press the “Home” button to exit the Settings, going back to the Home screen.
Open the “WeChat” app.
Head to the “Chat” tab in the bottom-left corner, and then open the desired thread.
Tap on the “message box” to reveal the keyboard.
Tap and hold down the “globe” button at the bottom-left corner of the keyboard. This action opens a list of available keyboards.
Choose the “Chinese” keyboard. Use the same method to revert to “English.”

Typing in Chinese on an Android Device

Android may not have a built-in Chinese keyboard, but you can easily download one from Google Play.

Enter the “Google Play” app.
Tap on the search bar near the top of the screen to look up an app.
Type “pinyin” in the search bar and select the “magnifying glass” button in the bottom-right corner.
Open “Google Pinyin Input.” It should be the first app on the list.
Tap on the “Install” button to download it.
When the app finishes installing, open the WeChat app and go to the “Chat” tab in the bottom-left corner.
Tap on a chat you want to open.
Tap on the message box to reveal the keyboard.
Swipe down from the top of the screen to open the Notifications bar.
Tap on the one that lets you choose the keyboard, usually labeled “Change keyboard.”
Select “Chinese Pinyin.”

In China, WeChat is more than just a social network. People use it for so much more than socializing. They order food and products, access developers, manage invoices, and much more. If you have a Chinese friend, you can even surprise them with a message in their native language if that is genuinely their native tongue. After all, you wouldn’t want to offend anyone by making assumptions! We are a multi-cultural world these days, and WeChat keeps that in mind with the benefits and features it incorporates.