How to Type Faster — Typing Speed Tips & Techniques

Why typing speed matters

The average typing speed sits around 40 WPM. That's functional — it gets emails written and messages sent. But faster typing changes the way you interact with a computer. At 60–80 WPM, your fingers keep up with your thoughts. You spend less time on every email, every document, every chat message. Over weeks and months, the time saved compounds into hours.

Typing speed also matters in gaming. In-game chat, command entry, and any text-based interaction all reward fast, accurate typing. If you're already training your clicking speed and reaction time on this site, typing is the next skill in the stack.

The good news: typing speed is entirely trainable. Unlike clicking speed, which has a genuine physiological ceiling, most people can reach 60–80 WPM with consistent practice regardless of hand size or finger length. The technique is learnable, the progression is predictable, and the results stick.

Step one — learn the home row

Every typing technique starts here. The home row is the middle row of letter keys on your keyboard: A S D F for the left hand, J K L ; for the right hand. Your index fingers rest on F and J — most keyboards have small bumps on these keys so you can find them without looking.

From this position, each finger is responsible for specific keys. Your left index finger handles F and G. Your left middle finger handles D. Your left ring finger handles S. Your left pinky handles A and the keys to its left. The right hand mirrors this: right index on J and H, right middle on K, right ring on L, right pinky on ; and the keys to its right. Thumbs rest on the space bar.

This matters because consistent finger assignment builds muscle memory. When you always press T with your left index finger, your brain maps that letter to a specific motor movement. Random finger assignments force your brain to solve a new problem every time — and that's slow.

If you've never typed with proper home row placement, expect to feel slower at first. That's normal. You're replacing a fast but limited habit with a slower but scalable one. The temporary slowdown typically lasts one to two weeks before you match your old speed, then surpass it.

Step two — stop looking at the keyboard

This is touch typing — typing without looking at your hands. It's the single biggest speed unlock for most people.

When you look at the keyboard, your eyes bounce between screen and keys constantly. Each glance takes 200–400ms and breaks your reading flow. At 40 WPM, you might glance down 5–10 times per sentence. At 70 WPM with touch typing, you never look down at all — your eyes stay on the screen, reading ahead, feeding the next words to your fingers.

The transition is uncomfortable. Cover your keyboard with a cloth or use a blank keyboard cover if you keep cheating. The first few days will feel painfully slow. Push through it. Your fingers already know roughly where the keys are — you just haven't forced them to work without visual confirmation yet.

A middle step: allow yourself to glance down for uncommon keys (numbers, symbols) but commit to typing all 26 letters without looking. Once that's automatic, extend the rule to numbers, then symbols.

Step three — prioritise accuracy over speed

This feels counterintuitive on a page about typing faster, but accuracy comes first. Always.

Every mistyped character costs you time twice: the wrong keystroke plus the correction. Backspace, retype, re-read. A single error in a word can cost 500ms or more. At high speeds, errors compound — one mistake disrupts your rhythm and triggers more mistakes in the following words.

Slow down until you can type with 95% accuracy or better. Then — and only then — gradually increase speed. Clean muscle memory is fast muscle memory. Sloppy muscle memory is a ceiling you'll hit over and over.

Track your accuracy alongside your WPM. A 60 WPM score with 92% accuracy is worse in real-world terms than 50 WPM with 99% accuracy. The 50 WPM typist produces cleaner text faster because they don't spend time fixing mistakes.

Step four — practice in short, focused sessions

Typing speed improves through deliberate practice, not marathon sessions. Ten to fifteen minutes of focused typing practice per day is more effective than an hour of unfocused typing once a week. Your brain consolidates motor skills during rest — short daily sessions give it time to process between each one.

A good daily routine: warm up with one or two minutes of slow, accurate typing. Then run three to five timed tests, focusing on maintaining accuracy while gently pushing speed. Finish by reviewing which words or letter combinations gave you trouble.

Our typing speed test is built for exactly this kind of practice. Words mode gives you common English words for pure speed training. Facts mode gives you real sentences with punctuation and capitals — closer to real-world typing. Alternate between both. Track your scores on the stats page to see your progression over time.

Step five — master problem keys

Everyone has keys that slow them down. The most common problem keys are B, Y, P, Q, Z, and X — they're far from the home row and require awkward finger stretches. B is particularly tricky because it sits on the boundary between left and right index finger territory.

Identify your problem keys by paying attention to where you hesitate or mistype. Then practice words heavy in those letters. If P slows you down, practice typing "people", "purple", "property", "apping" until the reach feels automatic.

Common letter combinations matter too. TH, ER, and IN appear in thousands of English words. If you can type these pairs as a single fluid motion rather than two separate keystrokes, your effective speed increases across almost everything you type. Practice them as units: "the", "there", "other", "er", "in", "thing", "interesting".

Step six — improve your rhythm

Fast typists don't type in bursts. They type at a steady, consistent tempo — like a drummer keeping time. Burst typing (fast-slow-fast-slow) is less efficient than a steady pace because each slowdown and speed-up costs mental energy and introduces errors at the transitions.

Try this exercise: set a metronome (any free phone app works) to a comfortable tempo and type one keystroke per beat. Start slow — 120 BPM if needed. The goal is evenness, not speed. Once you can maintain a consistent rhythm at that tempo for a full minute without errors, increase by 10 BPM. Repeat.

Reading ahead helps rhythm. Instead of reading one word at a time and typing it, try to read two or three words ahead of what your fingers are currently typing. This creates a buffer that smooths out your keystroke timing — your fingers always know what's coming next.

Step seven — optimise your setup

Your physical setup has a direct impact on typing speed and comfort, especially over longer sessions.

Chair height: Your elbows should be at roughly desk height, forming a 90-degree angle. Reaching up to a desk that's too high creates shoulder tension. Typing on a desk that's too low forces your wrists to bend upward. Both slow you down and increase strain.

Keyboard position: Centre the letter keys (not the whole keyboard) in front of your body. Most keyboards have the number pad on the right, which shifts the letter section to the left. Adjust so B and N are directly in front of you. Your wrists should be straight, not angled inward or outward.

Screen distance: Your monitor should be roughly an arm's length away, with the top of the screen at or slightly below eye level. If you're squinting or leaning forward to read, you'll tense your neck and shoulders — and that tension travels down to your hands.

Mechanical keyboards: Not required, but popular for a reason. Mechanical keyboards provide consistent tactile feedback on every keystroke, which helps build accurate muscle memory. The key travel is predictable — you learn exactly how far to press each key. Cherry MX Brown and Red switches are common choices for typing speed. Browns give a tactile bump without being loud; Reds are linear and light, good for fast typists who don't need the bump.

Common mistakes to avoid

Skipping the basics. Jumping straight to speed drills without learning proper home row placement is like sprinting before you can walk. You'll develop fast but incorrect habits that become harder to fix the longer you practice them. Learn proper finger placement first, even if it means typing slowly for a week or two.

Practising when tired. Typing practice when you're fatigued trains sloppy muscle memory. Your error rate climbs, your fingers take shortcuts, and you reinforce bad habits. If your accuracy drops below 90% during a session, stop. Rest. Come back tomorrow.

Comparing yourself to others. Someone posting 120 WPM on their first try has been typing properly for years — they just haven't tested formally before. Your starting point doesn't determine your ceiling. Track your own progress, not someone else's highlight reel.

Only practising in short bursts. Five-second and fifteen-second tests are good for measuring peak speed, but real typing happens in sustained sessions. Include longer practice runs — sixty seconds or more — to build the endurance and consistency that actually matter when you're writing an email or a document.

Typing speed benchmarks at a glance

For a detailed breakdown of what counts as a good typing speed across different use cases and skill levels, check out our complete guide to good WPM scores.

Start practising now

The best way to get faster is to start. Pick one tip from this guide and apply it in your next typing session.

Take the typing speed test to establish your baseline WPM. Then come back tomorrow and test again. Track your progress, focus on accuracy, and let the speed follow.

If you're training multiple skills, combine your typing practice with our other tests: CPS test for click speed, reaction time test for reflexes, and aim trainer for mouse precision. And if you haven't already, read our guide on how to click faster — many of the same principles of deliberate practice apply.

Looking to improve your thumb typing speed on mobile? Our mobile typing test is coming soon.