Typing Practice

2026-10-12

Learn to touch type on a US QWERTY keyboard with 30 short lessons. An on-screen keyboard shows the next key and names the finger for it, speed and accuracy are measured as you type, and extra drills are built from the keys you miss most.

How to use the typing practice

1. Rest your fingers on the home row: left hand on A S D F, right hand on J K L ;, thumbs over the space bar.
2. Lesson 1 is ready when the page opens. Click the text, or simply press a key, and type what you see. The clock starts with your first character.
3. Follow the on-screen keyboard: the next key is highlighted and the line above it names the finger to use.
4. After a wrong key the character is marked and the cursor waits for the right one. Nothing has to be erased.
5. Read the result panel: net and gross speed, accuracy, time and the keys you missed most. A lesson is passed at 95% accuracy or better. Press Enter for the next lesson, or repeat the same one.
6. Use Practise my weak keys for a drill built from your own mistakes, and Free practice for random common words or a text you paste in.

Esc pauses the exercise. It also pauses by itself when you switch to another tab or click outside the text.

How it works

The page compares every character you type with the next character of the exercise. Time is measured with the browser's high-resolution timer from your first key press to your last one, and the clock stops while the exercise is paused.

Typing speed is given in words per minute (WPM). So that long and short words count the same, one “word” is fixed at five characters, spaces and punctuation included:

gross WPM = (characters / 5) / minutes
net WPM = (characters / 5 − errors) / minutes
accuracy = correct key presses / all key presses × 100%

Here characters is the number of characters of the text you have completed, minutes is the measured time in seconds divided by 60, and errors is the number of wrong key presses. Gross speed tells you how quickly you moved through the text. Net speed takes one whole word off for every error, a long-established convention in typing tests; it is never shown below zero. “All key presses” means correct plus wrong ones; Backspace is not counted. Results are rounded to one decimal place, and the live counter shows the net speed as a whole number.

For every key the page stores how often you typed it, how often you pressed something else instead, and how long it took. The weak-keys drill uses the keys with the highest error rate, plus keys that take you at least 25% longer than your average.

Examples

Example 1 – a clean run. A 250-character text in exactly 60 seconds without an error: gross = (250 / 5) / 1 = 50 WPM. The net speed is also 50 WPM and the accuracy is 100%.

Example 2 – a few slips. 300 characters in 120 seconds with 6 wrong key presses: gross = (300 / 5) / 2 = 30 WPM, net = (60 − 6) / 2 = 27 WPM, accuracy = 300 / 306 × 100 = 98%.

Example 3 – just below the pass mark. 150 characters in 90 seconds with 8 wrong key presses: gross = 30 / 1.5 = 20 WPM, net = (30 − 8) / 1.5 = 14.7 WPM, accuracy = 150 / 158 × 100 = 94.9%. That is under 95%, so the target is not met.

Example 4 – exactly on the pass mark. 95 correct key presses and 5 wrong ones: accuracy = 95 / 100 × 100 = 95%. The target is met.

Finger placement and the home row

Touch typing means that every finger is responsible for a fixed group of keys, so you find each key by feel instead of by sight. The starting position is the home row. The left little finger rests on A, the ring finger on S, the middle finger on D and the index finger on F. The right index finger rests on J, the middle finger on K, the ring finger on L and the little finger on the semicolon. Most keyboards have a small raised bump on F and J to help you find them without looking.

Each finger reaches up and down from its home key and returns after every stroke. The index fingers also cover the two middle columns: R, T, F, G, V and B on the left, and Y, U, H, J, N and M on the right. The thumbs press the space bar. A capital letter is typed with the Shift key of the opposite hand: for a capital J, the left little finger holds the left Shift while the right index finger presses J.

The lessons follow this order: home row, top row, bottom row, capitals, digits, punctuation and symbols. Each one mixes a few new keys with those you already know.

Typical speeds and how much to practise

Figures differ between sources, tests and texts, so treat these as rough guides. People who type with a few fingers while looking at the keys typically manage about 20 to 35 WPM. The average for adults is usually quoted at around 40 WPM. Practised touch typists commonly reach 50 to 70 WPM, and 80 WPM or more is fast by any standard.

Expect to be slower than before during your first weeks of touch typing; that is normal while the new habits form. Short, regular sessions work better than rare long ones: 10 to 20 minutes a day is a common recommendation. Learning all the letter keys by touch typically takes a few weeks of daily practice. Speed comes afterwards, mostly from everyday use.

Common mistakes

• Looking at the keyboard. It feels faster today, but it stops the key positions from being memorised. Use the on-screen keyboard instead.
• Chasing speed. Errors cost more time than typing a little slower. Stay at a pace where you reach at least 95% accuracy.
• Not returning to the home row. Without a fixed starting point the fingers drift and hit neighbouring keys.
• Using Caps Lock for single capitals. Use the opposite-hand Shift; the page warns you when Caps Lock is on.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good typing speed?

About 40 WPM is average and 50 to 70 WPM is comfortable for everyday work. Accuracy matters more than the raw number.

What is the difference between gross and net WPM?

Gross WPM is how fast you moved through the text. Net WPM subtracts one word for every error. With no errors the two are equal.

How long does it take to learn touch typing?

It varies widely. With short daily sessions, learners typically know the letter keys by touch after a few weeks. Getting past your old speed usually takes longer.

Does it work on a phone or with another keyboard layout?

You can type with an on-screen keyboard, but finger hints only make sense on a physical one, so the keyboard picture is hidden on touch screens. The lessons assume the US QWERTY layout; on other layouts some symbols sit on different keys.

Is what I type sent anywhere?

No. Everything runs in your browser. Lesson results, key statistics and your own practice text are saved only in this browser's local storage, and “Reset progress” deletes the results and statistics.

Related tools

• Typing Speed Test — a timed test that measures your speed and accuracy.
• Typing Game — type the falling words before they reach the bottom.
• Reaction Time Test — measure how quickly you respond to a signal.
• Word Counter — count the words and characters of a text.
• Voice Dictation — turn speech into text when you would rather not type.