How to type faster: 15 tips that actually work

You cannot improve what you do not measure. Take a 1 minute test and a 3 minute test and write down two numbers: your WPM (words per minute) and your accuracy. The 3 minute result is the more honest one, because it includes the moment your focus drops.

Repeat the same test once a week, at about the same time of day. Daily scores jump around; weekly scores show the real trend. If you are unsure what a good score looks like, see our average typing speed chart.

Touch typing means typing without looking at the keyboard, using all ten fingers, each responsible for its own group of keys. Most people who look at the keys plateau somewhere between 30 and 45 WPM, because every glance down costs time and breaks the flow of reading.

Your fingers start on the home row: left hand on A S D F, right hand on J K L ;, thumbs on the space bar. Feel for the small bumps on F and J; they are there so you can find home without looking. Our free typing lessons teach the whole keyboard one or two keys at a time, starting from the home row.

Expect to get slower for a week or two while you switch. That is normal. People who push through usually pass their old speed within three to four weeks and keep climbing long after.

Each finger owns a column of keys. The index fingers do the most work: the left one covers R, T, F, G, V and B, the right one covers Y, U, H, J, N and M. The pinkies handle the edges, including Shift, Enter and Backspace.

If you have been typing with two or three fingers, this feels awkward at first. Stick with it. Using the correct finger means every key is a short, predictable movement from home, which is exactly what lets your speed grow. Our practice mode shows which finger each key belongs to while you type.

Every mistake costs you three times: the wrong key, the Backspace, and the right key again. On top of that, you lose your rhythm. That is why someone typing carefully at 95% accuracy often beats someone rushing at 85%.

Aim for 95% accuracy or better in every session. If you drop below that, slow down until it comes back. Speed follows accuracy, not the other way round. Your net WPM (speed after errors) is the number that counts, and it is the one employers measure.

• Sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor.
• Elbows at roughly 90 degrees, close to your sides.
• Wrists straight and floating just above the keyboard, not resting on the desk while you type.
• The top of the screen at about eye level, an arm's length away.
• The keyboard centred on the B key, so both hands reach the same distance.

A comfortable setup lets you practise longer without tension, and tension in the shoulders and wrists is one of the most common hidden speed limits.

The habit of glancing down is hard to break, so make it impossible: put a light cloth over your hands for a few sessions, or simply decide that when you lose your place, you find it again by touch (the F and J bumps), not by looking. Within a week your fingers will know where they are. Watching the text instead of the keys also lets you read ahead, which is the next tip.

Fast typists do not read letter by letter. Their eyes are already on the next word while their fingers finish the current one. Practise this deliberately on easy text: as you start typing a word, look at the one after it. It feels strange for a few days, then it becomes automatic and removes the small pause between words.

Short bursts followed by pauses feel fast but are slow on the clock. A steady, even rhythm, like a metronome, is quicker and makes far fewer errors. Hard letters set the pace; let the easy ones wait for them.

Our typing test shows a consistency score after each run. If it is low, slow down slightly and aim for evenness; your average speed will usually go up.

Almost everyone has a handful of keys that slow them down: often B, Y, Q, Z, X, or the number row. General practice spends most of its time on keys you already know. Targeted drills fix the real bottleneck. Smart practice tracks every key you press, finds your slowest and most mistyped keys, and builds drills around them automatically.

A small set of words makes up a large share of everything we write: the, and, to, of, that, is, with, for. Common letter pairs and endings (th, he, in, er, ing, tion) repeat constantly too. When these become one smooth motion instead of separate letters, your speed rises across everything you type. Short drills of the most common words are the fastest way to get there.

Motor skills consolidate between sessions, especially during sleep. That is why 15 to 20 minutes every day beats two hours once a week. Short sessions also keep your focus high, so you practise good habits instead of tired ones. Put it on a schedule: before work, after lunch, or as a warm-up before email.

Real text is full of capitals, commas, apostrophes and digits, and these are where many typists still look down. Use the Shift key on the opposite hand to the letter (right Shift for A, left Shift for L), and practise the number row until you can reach it without looking. Our lessons cover capitals, numbers and punctuation step by step.

Once your accuracy is consistently above 95%, add a little overspeed training: one or two 30 second sprints a session at a pace slightly faster than comfortable. You will make more mistakes, and that is fine for these sprints only. Then go straight back to a normal, accurate pace. The sprint teaches your fingers that faster is possible; the slower work locks it in.

Motivation runs out before skill does, so mix in something enjoyable. Typing games such as Mountain Climb or Word Sprint use the same skills as a test but feel like play, and a typing race against rivals at your speed adds just enough pressure. Kids learn faster with games too, which is why our kids zone is built around them.

Set targets in small steps: +5 WPM, then +5 again. Early on, many learners gain a few words per minute each week; later the gains slow down, which is normal. Your progress page keeps your history, best scores and weakest keys in one place, so you can see the trend instead of guessing.

• Week 1: take the 1 and 3 minute tests. Then 15 minutes a day of home row lessons. No looking at the keys.
• Week 2: top and bottom row lessons. Keep accuracy above 95% even if you feel slow.
• Week 3: capitals, numbers and punctuation lessons, plus 5 minutes of weak-key practice each day.
• Week 4: real text. Alternate practice paragraphs with one game or race a day, add two 30 second speed sprints, and retest at the end of the week.

Compare your week 4 result with week 1. Most people see a clear jump in both speed and accuracy, and the habits keep paying off for years.