Typing Speed Test
Pick 1, 3 or 5 minutes, start typing the sentences shown, and the clock begins on your first keystroke. When time is up you get your words per minute, your accuracy and your error count. Free, no sign-up, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
Test duration
01:00
Time left
0
WPM
100%
Accuracy
0
Errors
Pasting is disabled to keep results fair.
How to Use the Typing Speed Test
- 1. Choose a length. Select 1, 3 or 5 minutes. Changing it resets the test with a fresh set of sentences.
- 2. Start typing. Click the box and type the text above it exactly, including capitals, punctuation and the spaces between sentences. Letters turn green when right and red when wrong. The timer starts with your first keystroke.
- 3. Fix mistakes if you like. Backspace works, and a corrected mistake no longer counts as an error, so you choose between fixing and carrying on.
- 4. Read your result. At zero the box locks and Your Results shows words per minute, accuracy, correct characters and errors. Restart with New Sentences reshuffles the text for another go.
How Your WPM Is Calculated
Typing tests count "words" as five characters, spaces and punctuation included, so that long and short words are treated alike. This test counts only the characters that match the prompt, divides by five, and divides by the minutes elapsed:
WPM = (correct characters ÷ 5) ÷ minutes
Example: a 1-minute test
Typed
316 characters, of which 312 match the prompt and 4 do not
Speed
312 ÷ 5 = 62.4 words, over 1 minute, rounds to 62 WPM
Accuracy
312 ÷ 316 = 98.7%, shown as 99%
Errors
4
Because only correct characters count, this is a net speed: the same keystrokes with more mistakes score lower. Accuracy is the share of what is in the box that matches the prompt when the test ends, so errors you backspaced away are not counted against you. Each character is compared with the one in the same position, so a letter you skip or add early makes the rest of that stretch look wrong until you correct it.
What Is a Good Typing Speed?
In the largest study of its kind, Dhakal and colleagues (CHI 2018) analysed 136 million keystrokes from 168,960 volunteers transcribing sentences online. The average was 51.56 WPM with a standard deviation of 20.2, so most people fall roughly between 30 and 70 WPM; the fastest typists reached 120 WPM or more. The average uncorrected error rate was about 1.2%.
Their WPM counts every transcribed character and times from the first to the last keypress, so a score here, which counts only correct characters over the whole test, can read a little lower. Compare your own scores over time on the same duration rather than against another site's number. For schoolwork, accuracy matters as much as speed: a high WPM with many errors costs time in proofreading.
- Use all your fingers. Home-row touch typing is the biggest single change for most people.
- Slow down to speed up. Aim for near-perfect accuracy first; speed follows once the keys are automatic.
- Practise in short bursts. A 1-minute test most days beats one long session a month.
- Look at the text, not the keys. Your eyes should be a few words ahead of your fingers.
Which Tool Do You Need?
| If you want to measure… | Use |
|---|---|
| How fast you type, in WPM and accuracy | This Typing Speed Test |
| How fast you read a passage, with a comprehension check | Reading Speed Test |
| Practice reading at a pace you set | Speed Reading Trainer |
| A count of the words, characters or sentences in your own text | Word Counter |
| Time for any task, with laps | Stopwatch |
Frequently Asked Questions
- How is typing speed (WPM) calculated?
- Correct characters divided by 5, divided by the minutes elapsed. A "word" is any five characters, spaces included, which is the convention in typing research. Only characters that match the prompt count, so mistakes lower your score.
- What is a good typing speed?
- In a 2018 study of 168,960 people the average was about 52 WPM, with most typists between roughly 30 and 70 and the fastest above 120. What matters most is a speed at which your accuracy stays high.
- How is accuracy measured?
- It is the percentage of the characters in the box that match the prompt at the same position, including capitals, spaces and punctuation. Corrected mistakes are not counted, but one extra or missing letter makes the characters after it mismatch until you fix it.
- Do I press Enter between sentences?
- No. The sentences are joined by single spaces, so type a space where the text shows one. Pressing Enter inserts a line break, which does not match the prompt and counts as an error.
- Why can't I paste text into the test?
- Pasting and dropping text into the box are blocked, because the test is meant to measure what you can type. Autocorrect and spell-check are switched off in the box as well.
- Why does my score differ from other typing tests?
- Sites differ in whether they count all keystrokes or only correct ones, whether they penalise errors you corrected, when the clock starts, and which text they use. This test uses net correct characters, with the clock starting on your first keystroke. Compare results from one test over time.
- Is my typing recorded?
- No. Scoring happens in your browser. Nothing you type is stored or sent to a server, and your results disappear when you leave the page.