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Typing Speed Test

Measure your WPM, accuracy and CPM — with multiple levels and custom text

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WPM Rankings

  • Under 20 — Beginner
  • 20–40 — Average
  • 40–60 — Intermediate
  • 60–80 — Good
  • 80–100 — Advanced
  • 100+ — Professional
  • 120+ — Expert
  • 150+ — Extraordinary

Improvement Tips

  • Use all 10 fingers
  • Look at screen, not keys
  • Accuracy first, speed second
  • Practice daily 15 minutes
  • Learn touch typing positions
  • Relax your hands and wrists

Free Typing Speed Test — WPM & Accuracy

Measure your typing speed in Words Per Minute (WPM), Characters Per Minute (CPM) and accuracy percentage with multiple difficulty levels and content types. Track your progress over sessions, challenge yourself with code snippets or punctuation-heavy text, and receive a performance grade from E to S+.

Features

Real WPM Measurement

Calculates WPM using typed correct words, not raw characters, for an accurate professional metric.

Accuracy Tracking

Real-time accuracy percentage based on correct versus total keystrokes.

4 Difficulty Levels

Easy (common words) → Medium (sentences) → Hard (technical text) → Custom (your own text).

Flexible Duration

Test for 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes or type the full text.

Grade System

Performance grades from E (beginner) through S (expert) to S+ (extraordinary, 120+ WPM).

Multiple Content Types

English words, numbers, punctuation-heavy text and code snippets for targeted practice.

Who Uses This Tool?

General UsersEstablish your baseline typing speed and track improvement over time.
Job SeekersMany roles require 40–60 WPM minimum. Practice to meet employer typing requirements.
ProgrammersImprove code-typing speed with the code snippets mode for real-world practice.
StudentsIncrease typing efficiency for academic writing, essays and research papers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is considered a good typing speed?
Average typist: 40 WPM. Good: 60–80 WPM. Professional (data entry, secretary): 80–100 WPM. Expert (transcriptionist): 100–120 WPM. World record: over 200 WPM.
What is the difference between WPM and CPM?
WPM counts the number of 5-character groups typed per minute (the standard word). CPM counts individual characters. A typist at 60 WPM is typically around 300 CPM. CPM is more granular for measuring improvement.
How can I improve my typing speed quickly?
Focus on accuracy first — speed follows naturally. Learn touch typing (not looking at keys), use all 10 fingers, and practise daily for 15–20 minutes. Consistent daily practice is more effective than long occasional sessions.
Why does my WPM drop when I try to go faster?
Speed without accuracy isn't real speed — errors must be corrected, slowing you down. Focus on maintaining 95%+ accuracy at your current comfortable speed, then gradually push the boundary.

Pro Tip

The fastest path to improvement is daily 15-minute practice sessions focused on accuracy, not speed. Use the "Hard" difficulty level for targeted challenge. Most typists see a 10–20% speed improvement within two weeks of consistent daily practice.

Did You Know?

216 WPM
Fastest Typist Ever Recorded
Barbara Blackburn of the US set the record for sustained typing speed at 212 WPM using a Dvorak keyboard in 2005. The highest single-minute speed ever recorded is 216 WPM. She started typing at age 50 after switching from QWERTY.
1873
QWERTY Keyboard Designed
QWERTY was designed by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1873 to reduce mechanical typewriter jams by placing commonly paired letters apart. Despite no longer being necessary, it remains the global standard over 150 years later.
40%
Improvement in 4 Weeks
Research shows that dedicated daily practice of 15–20 minutes can improve typing speed by 40–60% within 4 weeks, especially when switching to proper touch-typing technique from hunt-and-peck.

Typing Speed Benchmarks

WPM RangeLevelPercentileTypical User
0–20 WPMBeginnerBottom 10%Hunt-and-peck, new typists
21–40 WPMBelow average10–35%Irregular typists, self-taught
41–60 WPMAverage35–65%Most office workers
61–80 WPMAbove average65–85%Practiced touch typists
81–100 WPMFast85–95%Professional typists, developers
101–120 WPMVery fast95–99%Expert typists, power users
120+ WPMEliteTop 1%Competitive typists, stenographers

More Questions

What is the difference between WPM, CPM and KPH?
WPM (Words Per Minute) counts 5-character groups as one "word" — the industry standard. CPM (Characters Per Minute) counts every character. KPH (Keystrokes Per Hour) is 60× CPM, used in data entry. To convert: WPM × 5 = CPM; CPM × 60 = KPH. A typist at 60 WPM is at 300 CPM or 18,000 KPH.
Is the Dvorak keyboard layout actually faster?
Studies are mixed. Dvorak places the most common letters on the home row, theoretically reducing finger travel by 70% vs QWERTY. Some studies show 4–7% speed improvement after full adaptation, but the transition period is painful. Most touch typists on QWERTY exceed 80 WPM comfortably. The benefit may not justify switching costs for most people.
What typing speed is required for different jobs?
General office work: 40 WPM minimum. Administrative assistant: 50–60 WPM. Secretary/receptionist: 65+ WPM. Data entry clerk: 70–100+ WPM. Medical transcriptionist: 80–100 WPM. Court reporter: 225 WPM (stenotype machine). Programmer: varies — accuracy matters more than speed for code.

Common Mistakes

Prioritising speed over accuracy
Errors require correction time that negates speed gains. A typist at 80 WPM with 98% accuracy is faster than one at 100 WPM with 90% accuracy in real-world output.
Aim for 98%+ accuracy at your current speed, then gradually increase pace.
Looking at the keyboard while typing
Looking down breaks your reading flow, forces context switching, and prevents building muscle memory. Most people who "can't type fast" are hunt-and-peck typists.
Cover the keyboard, keep eyes on screen — discomfort lasts 2–3 weeks; the habit lasts a lifetime.
Inconsistent practice sessions
Typing speed is a motor skill — it requires consistent repetition to build neural pathways. Occasional long sessions are less effective than daily short ones.
15–20 minutes daily beats 2 hours once a week. Consistency is everything.