Typing Speed Test
One minute, real sentences. You get gross speed, accuracy and the net figure that actually counts, because typing fast and typing wrong is not typing fast.
How typing speed is measured
A "word" in typing measurement is five characters, including spaces and punctuation. That convention exists so that typing "extraordinary" and typing "cat dog" are scored fairly against each other, rather than rewarding whoever happens to get short words.
Net WPM = (correct characters ÷ 5) ÷ minutes elapsed
Net is the number that matters. Typing at 90 words per minute with 80 percent accuracy is worse than 65 with 99 percent, because every error has to be found and fixed, and finding it costs more than the keystroke saved.
What the numbers mean
| Net WPM | Where that sits |
|---|---|
| Under 25 | Hunt and peck, looking at the keyboard |
| 30 to 40 | Average for someone who types regularly |
| 50 to 60 | Comfortable touch typing, typical office proficiency |
| 70 to 90 | Fast. Enough that typing stops being the bottleneck. |
| Above 100 | Genuinely quick, usually years of touch typing |
Most professional roles that specify a requirement ask for somewhere around 40 to 50 with high accuracy. Speed beyond about 80 rarely changes how much work you get done, because thinking becomes the limit rather than typing.
Getting faster, in the order that works
- Stop looking at the keyboard. This is the whole game. It will be slower and more frustrating for about two weeks, and then it will be permanently faster. Every hour spent looking down is an hour of practice that does not compound.
- Learn the home row and stay anchored to it. Index fingers on F and J, which have the raised bumps for exactly this reason. Each finger owns its own columns.
- Slow down until you are accurate. Accuracy first, always. Speed built on top of sloppy habits plateaus early, and the errors are much harder to unlearn than to avoid.
- Practise real sentences, not random words. Common letter pairs and word endings are what you actually type, and drilling them is what transfers.
- Fifteen minutes a day beats two hours on Sunday. Motor skills consolidate with sleep between sessions.
Posture, briefly
Wrists floating rather than resting on the desk edge, forearms roughly level, shoulders down, screen at eye height. Typing quickly with bad wrist position for years is how people acquire injuries that end up limiting them far more than a slow typing speed ever would.
Common questions
Why is a word counted as five characters?
It is the standard convention in typing measurement, and it exists so that text with long words is not scored unfairly against text with short ones. Spaces and punctuation are included in the count.
What is the difference between gross and net WPM?
Gross counts everything you typed. Net counts only the characters that were correct. Net is the meaningful figure, because incorrect text has to be found and fixed, which costs more time than it saved.
What is a good typing speed?
Around 40 words per minute with high accuracy covers most office requirements. 60 to 70 is comfortably fast. Beyond about 80, typing usually stops being what limits your output.
Does this work on a phone?
It will run, but the results are not comparable to a physical keyboard, and touch typing measurement really assumes one. Use a laptop or desktop for a figure that means anything.
Is my typing recorded?
No. Everything happens in your browser. Nothing is transmitted or stored, and refreshing the page clears it entirely.