For most people the quickest route is touch typing: fingers resting on the home row, each finger responsible for its own keys, eyes on the screen. Practise 10 to 20 minutes a day and aim for accuracy before speed.
How fast is fast?
In one of the largest studies of typing, researchers at Aalto University analysed 136 million keystrokes from 168,000 volunteers. The average was about 52 words per minute, and the faster typists also made fewer mistakes (Dhakal and colleagues, CHI 2018). If you are below that and still look at the keys, touch typing is where the biggest gain is.
What a speed test leaves out
A typing test measures a minute or two of copying a short text. Real writing is longer and messier. In a long email or an assignment, every typo means stopping, finding it, fixing it and reading the sentence again to pick up the thread. Over a whole text, that adds up to much more than the words-per-minute number shows.
Speed testOne minute, a short text
All of it counts in WPMA long emailWith typos along the way
WPM only sees the green- Typing
- Fixing mistakes
- Reading it again
- Finding the thread
It also costs attention. Each correction pulls you out of what you were trying to say, and getting back into the thought takes a moment. With fewer mistakes there are fewer interruptions, and it is easier to think clearly when you are not constantly fixing things. That is why accuracy is worth as much as speed when you practise: the gain shows up in the whole piece of work.
Where the time goes
- Looking down. Every glance at the keyboard means finding your place in the text again afterwards.
- Backspace. One typo costs the wrong key, the backspace and the right key: three keystrokes for one letter.
- A handful of keys. Most of the lost time comes from a few keys and letter pairs you hesitate on.
- Random fingers. If any finger can hit any key, there is no pattern for your hands to remember.
What to practise
- Rest your index fingers on F and J. The small bumps on those keys let you find them without looking.
- Give each finger its own column of keys and use it every time, even when another finger would be quicker right now.
- Slow down until you rarely press backspace. The speed comes back on its own.
- Spend a few minutes on the keys you miss most, rather than typing the same easy words again.
Keeping it up outside practice
Practice sessions are rarely the problem. The problem is the next email, when you are in a hurry and the old habit is faster. Tactomo is built for that moment. It shows a keyboard with animated hands next to whatever you are typing in, lights up the right finger for each key and keeps a live words-per-minute counter on screen. The statistics heatmap shows which keys slow you down, and the practice hub has a drill that targets exactly those.
Questions, answered
What is a good typing speed?
The Aalto University study found an average of about 52 words per minute. If you are above that with few mistakes, typing is unlikely to be what slows you down. Accuracy matters as much as the number.
Do I have to learn touch typing to get faster?
No, some people type quickly with fewer fingers. But if you need to look at the keyboard to do it, you will keep running into a limit. Touch typing removes the need to look.
How can I check my typing speed on a Mac?
Any typing test website will do. Tactomo also has a timed test in its practice hub and a small speedometer that shows your live speed while you type in other apps.
