FAQ: MS Word's Phonetic Guide Not Displaying Pinyin or Zhuyin Ruby Text
Getting Chinese to Work in Windows Shouldn't Be This Hard... 
MS Word's Phonetic Guide, which adds ruby characters above selected text, should automatically offer Pinyin for any Chinese character. But the Pinyin is not appearing in the dialog box. Am I doing something wrong?
No, you're not doing anything wrong! I have heard from people all over the world wondering why this does not work for them. There is an easy way to fix this, by installing the free PRC MSPY 2010 IME and Taiwan Office IME 2010 updates.
After selecting some Chinese characters and bringing up the Phonetic Guide dialog box, you should expect to see Pinyin (or Zhuyin as appropriate) automatically showing up in the fields I've circled on this screen shot:
So where is the Pinyin? It's not you, it's Windows. Something for this feature doesn't install right sometimes. Microsoft long ago released a very specific fix for the Zhuyin version of the same problem (see below), but for Pinyin they fixed it "accidentally" by releasing the latest Pinyin input method as a free separate upgrade. You can install one of these over your existing IME with no harm done and the problem will be solved.
When I reported the Pinyin version of this problem to Microsoft they confirmed that the bug is not in Word, it is in the Windows Registry, but they offered no help and just told me to wait for an update...but refused to explain whether it was going to be an automatic update, or if not where I was supposed to find it. Eventually with the help of a loyal reader I was able to find where to download this update.
If Pinyin is missing in XP, Vista or Win 7 as described above, see my instructions for installing the PRC IME MSPY 2010 update. You can also fix this by installing the IME updates included with Office Language Packs' Proofing Tools, but the free MSPY download from Microsoft is essentially the same IME update and you don't have to buy anything.
If Zhuyin is missing, try installing the Taiwan IME Office IME 2010 update, which does not require any verision of Office despite its name. If that doesn't work, please see the Microsoft knowledge base article "Ruby text is not displayed in the Phonetic Guide"  . Note that whoever wrote that article was incorrect in saying "You do not experience this in Office 2007"...just go ahead install in XP, Vista or Windows 7.
Above you can see Pinyin appearing in my Phonetic Guide after installation of the update. I still think this feature is lousy and prefer fonts with ruby text included, because to get the Preview text you see here I had to manually tweak the font, alignment and spacing and it's still ugly...but it is free and now it works!
Other tips:
For those of you who don't know where to find the Phonetic Guide feature, see this other FAQ on the location of the Phonetic Guide.
If you're getting Zhuyin when you want Pinyin, or vice versa, see this FAQ on reformatting languages.
...and if you're sick of struggling with Phonetic Guide, see my short article on the alternative: a font package including Pinyin and Zhuyin ruby text already matched to simplified and traditional hanzi, plus 25 other excellent fonts as well for only $50. (I own this but have no connection with the company.)
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