Typing tests

Typing speed is counted in words per minute. A word is always counted as five letters, so a long word counts for more than a short one, and your result does not depend on which words you were given. Mistakes count too, because a fast result full of mistakes is not really a fast result.

The clock starts with your first key press, not when the page opens, so you can take a moment to get ready.

Typing on a phone is not like typing on a keyboard, because of autocorrect, suggestions and swiping. When the phone's keyboard changes your words for you, the result is saved but not compared with others, because it would no longer be your own typing.

For the clearest picture, type with a keyboard and with both hands. A result from a phone is still a fine way to follow your own progress.

Typing improves with short, regular practice more than with one long session. Look at the screen and not at your hands, keep your wrists relaxed and aim for a steady rhythm before you aim for speed.

Take a test now and then, always on the same keyboard, and look at how your own results change. That is a fairer comparison than any average.

Start with a short typing test: it is quick enough to repeat and long enough to show your usual speed. If you want to see how you hold up when you get tired, choose a longer one. Whatever you pick, type the words as they come and do not stop to fix every slip, because the test looks at both your speed and your accuracy.

The largest study of keyboard typing, 168,960 volunteers copying sentences online, found an average of 51.6 words per minute^[1]; a study of 37,370 people on phones found 36.2^[2]. Silent reading is far faster, about 238 words per minute for non-fiction^[3]. Our Facts articles cover typing speed by age and the fastest typists and reading speed.