Free typing speed test
Check how fast you type, in words per minute, and how accurately. The test runs in your browser for free, with no sign-up. Pick common English words, the same words with punctuation and numbers, or paragraphs from classic novels, and a time from 15 seconds to 2 minutes. Your results and history stay on your own device.
How to take the test
- Choose the words and the time: 15, 30, 60 or 120 seconds. Common 200 and Common 1000 are the most frequent English words; Passages are paragraphs from classic novels. Punctuation and numbers adds capitals, commas, periods and numbers to the common words.
- Click or tap the text and start typing. The clock starts with your first letter.
- Press space after each word. Backspace fixes the word you’re on, but you can’t go back to one you’ve finished.
- When the time is up, you see your speed, your accuracy and how your speed changed second by second.
How WPM is calculated
A word is counted as five characters, spaces included, so long and short words weigh the same. That’s the usual convention for typing tests, and it means a result here measures characters, not how many dictionary words you happened to get.
Net WPM counts the characters of the words you typed right, plus the space after each, and the right letters at the start of the word you were on when time ran out. A word with a mistake left in it doesn’t count at all. Say that in a 60-second run the words you got right add up to 250 characters: that’s 250 ÷ 5 = 50 words in one minute, or 50 net WPM. The same 250 characters in a 30-second run would be 100 WPM.
Raw WPM counts everything you typed, right or wrong, the same way. The gap between raw and net is what your mistakes cost you.
Accuracy is the share of your keystrokes that were right when you typed them, spaces included. Fixing a mistake doesn’t erase it: the wrong letter still counts as a wrong keystroke, even though the fixed word counts toward net WPM.
A result with accuracy under 50% is saved in your history but never counts as a best. If you switch tabs or windows during a run, it stops and nothing is saved, because a pause would change the times.
Typing tips
- Rest your fingers on the home row: A, S, D and F for the left hand, J, K, L and ; for the right. On most keyboards F and J have a small bump, so you can find them without looking.
- Keep your eyes on the text, not on your hands. It feels slower at first.
- Go for accuracy first. A mistake costs twice: the word doesn’t count, and fixing it takes time.
- Keep a steady rhythm rather than bursts and pauses. Read a word or two ahead while you type.
- Practise little and often: a few short runs a day, rather than one long one.
Where the words come from
The word lists are our own count of the most frequent words in thirteen novels published between 1892 and 1925, such as The Great Gatsby, Anne of Green Gables and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, leaving out names and words that would be out of place. Passages are paragraphs from the same books, all in the public domain, with their curly quotes and dashes turned into characters you can type. Under each passage you see which book it comes from.
Phones and keyboards
Typing on a phone isn’t comparable with a physical keyboard, so their results and bests are kept apart. A tablet usually counts as a touch screen, even with a keyboard attached. The test assumes an English keyboard with Latin letters.
Keyboard
| Space | Finish the word and move to the next |
|---|---|
| Backspace | Delete in the current word |
| Escape | Restart with new words |
Your results
After each run you see your best for the same words, time and kind of input, a chart of your net WPM over your recent runs, and a table of them. Results with punctuation and passages are kept apart from plain words. Results stay in this browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Questions
What is a good typing speed?
This page doesn’t compare you with other people. Speeds depend on the words, the length of the test and the keyboard, and figures from elsewhere were measured in other ways, so they wouldn’t match. What you can compare is your own results over time, with the same settings.
Why is my net WPM lower than my raw WPM?
Raw WPM counts everything you typed; net WPM counts only the words you got right. The difference is the words with a mistake left in them.
Does fixing a mistake count against me?
In accuracy, yes: the wrong letter was a wrong keystroke. In net WPM, only the time it took: once fixed, the word counts.
Why can’t I go back to a word I’ve finished?
Space moves you on for good, so every result is measured the same way. Check each word before you press space.
Why does each time have its own best?
A 15-second run and a 2-minute run test different things: a short burst, or keeping it up. Your speed can differ between them, so they’re never compared.
Why did the test stop?
Switching to another tab or window, or clicking outside the text, stops a run, and nothing is saved. Press Restart or Escape to try again.
Can I take it on my phone?
Yes. Tap the words to bring up the keyboard. Phone results are kept apart from keyboard ones.
Other languages and layouts?
Not yet: the words are English, and the test assumes a keyboard with Latin letters.
Where are my results kept?
Only in this browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, and clearing your browser’s site data removes them.
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