Format Chinese, Japanese, or Korean text

You can enter text in many different languages, and use several different writing systems for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, using the international keyboards available on your Mac. Numbers provides some language-specific text-formatting features, including emphasis styles, list styles, and phonetic guides.

For best results, use these recommended fonts:

Important: The instructions below assume you set up at least one Chinese, Japanese, or Korean keyboard on your Mac. To set up international keyboards, open System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Input Sources.

Add Chinese, Japanese, or Korean emphasis marks

You can add emphasis marks that are commonly used with Chinese, Japanese, or Korean text. For example, using a Chinese keyboard, you can apply Boten dots below or above the text, or a wavy underline. With Japanese text you can add plain dots or sesame dots.

  1. Switch your keyboard to a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean keyboard.

  2. Select the characters you want to format, then in the Format  sidebar, click the Text tab.

  3. Click the Style button near the top of the sidebar, then click an emphasis mark button.

    The formatting options depend on which keyboards are set up.

Use a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean list style

You can apply Chinese, Japanese, and Korean list styles (specifically, the bullet style or numbering system) to a list written in any language.

  1. Select the list items with the numbering or lettering you want to change.

  2. In the Format  sidebar, click the Text tab, then click the Style button near the top of the sidebar.

  3. Click the disclosure triangle next to Bullets & Lists, then choose Numbers.

  4. Click the pop-up menu above Tiered Numbers, then choose a number or letter sequence.

    The formatting options depend on which keyboards are set up.

See alsoCreate a spreadsheet with the formatting of a different languageChange a spreadsheet’s language and formatting