Translation IME Candidate Bar Missing or Stuck in English?

Both feel like a broken IME, but the fix paths diverge immediately.

Missing candidate bar means Translation IME is selected, yet typing shows no candidate window—as if you are typing raw Latin letters. That is different from “candidates appear but no translation,” which belongs in the engine troubleshooting article.

Cannot switch back to Chinese means you stay on an English keyboard or English mode; Shift, Ctrl+Space, or Win+Space never restore Chinese candidates. Typical causes: deleted input sources, stolen shortcuts, or an app forcing English input.

Spend thirty seconds classifying: open Notepad, select Translation IME, type a short pinyin syllable. No candidate strip at all → candidate path. Candidates exist but you cannot leave/return to Chinese → switching path. Avoid reinstalling for both at once.

Half of “no candidates” cases are simply the wrong active input source.

Check the taskbar language abbreviation. If it shows ENG or Microsoft Pinyin instead of Translation IME, the candidate UI will not follow Translation IME rules. Press Win + Space until Translation IME is active.

If Translation IME is absent from the list: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Chinese → Language options → Add a keyboard. When install finishes but never appears, setup likely skipped “Add to system input methods”—reinstall from the download page and keep that step enabled.

A hidden language bar makes switching guesswork. Turn on the desktop language bar or the taskbar input indicator so you can see the active source. On multi-monitor setups, candidates sometimes draw off-screen—disconnect the secondary display for a quick retest, or follow the multi-monitor candidate position guide.

On Mac, check input sources and the menu bar before blaming the translation engine.

Click the menu bar keyboard icon and confirm Translation IME is selected. If a menu-bar cleaner hid the icon, use Ctrl + Space (or your custom Input Sources shortcut) to cycle sources.

System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources should keep Translation IME plus a Chinese source you can fall back to (Pinyin / ABC is not enough if you deleted every Chinese option). Cleaning the list too aggressively is a common reason people “cannot switch back to Chinese.”

Some apps need Input Monitoring–related permissions after a major macOS update. If Notes works but one Electron app does not, revisit Privacy & Security, then relaunch the target app. Input sources vanishing after an OS update is also common—cross-check the post-update missing IME guide.

A “dead” toggle key is often eaten by another always-on app.

Chinese/English toggle inside Translation IME (often Shift or Ctrl+Space) and system input-source switching (Win+Space / Ctrl+Space) are separate layers. You may be firing only one layer while the other is already claimed.

Quit meeting apps, launchers, Discord/Steam overlays, GPU overlays, and screenshot tools, then retry. If switching returns, remap the conflicting global hotkey—far more effective than reinstalling the IME.

In Translation IME settings, move “Chinese/English” and candidate paging away from your daily screenshot chord. Validate ten toggles in Notepad before testing WeChat or the browser. On remote desktop or VMs, the host may intercept guest keystrokes; remap on both sides or switch via the toolbar icon.

The IME is active, but display or focus rules hide the window.

Fullscreen games, video players, and some Electron apps swallow the candidate UI. Leave fullscreen or use windowed mode. Browser omniboxes, password fields, and secured inputs may block IME candidates by design—reinstall will not override that policy.

Windows display scaling at 125%/150% and scaled macOS resolutions can push the candidate window off-screen. Temporarily use 100% / default resolution to test. Virtual desktops sometimes leave the window on the previous Space—swipe back and look.

If pinyin candidates appear but translated text does not, the candidate bar is fine; move to the “not translating” article instead of chasing display settings.

Reinstalls fix corrupted files; they do not restore deleted input sources or free stolen hotkeys.

Checklist: (1) Translation IME is in the system list; (2) taskbar/menu bar can select it; (3) Notepad shows a candidate bar; (4) your toggle key moves between Chinese and English; (5) the same works in WeChat/browser. Failures in 1–4 → fix sources and shortcuts. Failure only in 5 → app compatibility.

If all five pass and only translation text is missing, switch to engine/network troubleshooting. When you do need a clean reinstall from the download page, export the custom dictionary first and keep at least one system Chinese input source as a fallback.