How to Type Faster
The habits that reliably raise typing speed — and the shortcuts that don't.
Accuracy comes before speed
The single most common mistake is chasing raw speed. Every error you make has to be noticed, deleted, and retyped, which costs far more time than typing the character correctly the first time. Fast, sloppy typing is usually slower than steady, clean typing once you account for corrections.
Practice at a pace where you make very few mistakes. Only push faster once accuracy is comfortable. Your effective speed — the speed that counts after fixing errors — rises fastest this way.
Learn touch typing
Touch typing means typing without looking at the keyboard, using all ten fingers from the home row. It feels slower at first, but it removes the constant glance-down that caps hunt-and-peck typists, and it lets your eyes stay on the text.
- Rest your left fingers on a, s, d, f and your right on j, k, l, semicolon.
- Feel for the small bumps on f and j to find home position without looking.
- Return every finger to home after each reach.
Build an even rhythm
Fast typists aren't just quick — they're even. Aim for a steady cadence where each keystroke lands at roughly the same interval, rather than bursting and stalling. Reading a word or two ahead keeps your hands supplied so they never wait on your eyes.
Practice your weak spots
General practice plateaus. To keep improving, find the specific keys and letter combinations you miss most and drill those. Our tests analyze your mistakes in your browser and can build targeted practice around them.