How to play Typing Speed Test

Typing Speed Test measures your typing speed in words per minute and your accuracy, using the same definitions as the best-known typing tests, so the numbers can be compared.

How a test works

Choose a length, fifteen, thirty or sixty seconds, and a word list. A line of random words appears, and nothing happens until you type the first letter, so there is no rush to get your hands on the keys. From then on the clock runs. Type each word and press space to move to the next one. Letters you get right turn white, letters you get wrong turn red, and if you type more letters than the word has, the extras appear in dark red at the end of it.

When you press space on a word that is wrong, it is underlined and stays that way. You can go back to fix it: press Backspace when the next word is still empty and the caret steps back into the wrong word. A word you typed correctly is locked, as in every typing test, because otherwise the fastest strategy would be to keep fixing earlier words forever.

The test ends when the time runs out, wherever you are.

What WPM means

A "word" in typing speed is five characters, including spaces, not a dictionary word, so a test full of short words and a test full of long words measure the same thing. Your WPM counts the characters of every word you typed completely correctly, plus the space after each one, divides by five, and divides by the minutes of the test. A word with a single wrong letter contributes nothing, which is why accuracy matters as much as raw finger speed.

Raw WPM counts every character you typed, right or wrong, the same way. The gap between raw and real WPM is what your mistakes cost you.

What accuracy means

Accuracy is the share of your keystrokes that were correct at the moment you typed them. If you type a wrong letter and fix it, the final word may be right, but the wrong keystroke still counts against your accuracy. That is deliberate: a typist who never makes the mistake is more accurate than one who keeps correcting it.

The results also show your characters as four numbers: correct, incorrect, extra and missed, where missed letters are the ones you skipped by pressing space early.

The word lists

Common 200 draws from the two hundred most frequent words in English. They are short and familiar, which makes this the list for measuring pure speed. English 1k uses a thousand everyday words including many longer ones, which is slower and closer to real writing. Every list was reviewed by hand to remove names, web jargon and anything awkward.

The daily test

Once a day there is a sixty-second test on English 1k with the same words, in the same order, for everybody. You can take it as many times as you like and your best result of the day is the one kept. Finishing at least one daily test on consecutive days builds a streak, and the share button gives you a short result to post so friends can try the same words.

Getting faster

Speed follows accuracy. Most people who plateau are typing fast enough but losing whole words to single mistakes. Slow down until you are above ninety-five percent accuracy, keep your eyes on the words ahead rather than on your fingers, and the speed comes back on its own. Typing with all ten fingers from the home row is the biggest single improvement for anybody who still types with two.