Typing Speed Test
Type a passage, see your words-per-minute and accuracy.
Test your typing speed and accuracy against a random passage — see your live words-per-minute (WPM) and accuracy percentage as you type.
Typing speed benchmarks
| WPM | Level |
|---|---|
| Under 30 | Beginner — still looking at the keys |
| 30–44 | Average |
| 45–59 | Above average — fine for most office jobs |
| 60–79 | Fast |
| 80+ | Very fast — professional typists and transcriptionists |
Speed only counts if it's accurate. Many employers that test typing look for 40–60 WPM at 95% accuracy or better, so aim to raise accuracy first and speed second.
How your score is calculated
One "word" is counted as 5 characters, including spaces, so long and short words even out. If you type 1,000 characters in 4 minutes, that's 1,000 ÷ 5 ÷ 4 = 50 WPM. Accuracy is the share of characters that match the passage exactly — 970 correct out of 1,000 typed is 97%.
How to type faster
- Learn home row position. Rest your fingers on A S D F and J K L ; and reach from there, using all ten fingers.
- Don't look at the keyboard. It slows you down at first, but it's the fastest way to build lasting speed.
- Slow down to get it right. Fixing mistakes costs more time than typing a little slower.
- Practice little and often. Ten minutes a day beats an hour once a week. Use "Use my own text" to practice with the kind of writing you do at work or school.
Frequently asked questions
How is WPM calculated?
Words per minute is calculated as (total characters typed ÷ 5) ÷ minutes elapsed — 5 characters is the standard convention for one "word," regardless of the actual words used.
What counts toward accuracy?
Each character you type is compared to the same position in the target passage — accuracy is the percentage that matched exactly.
What's a good typing speed?
Average typists reach 35-45 WPM. 60+ WPM is considered fast, and professional typists often exceed 80-100 WPM.
Is 40 WPM good?
Yes. 40 WPM is around average for adults and is enough for most everyday computer work. Many office and data-entry jobs ask for 40–60 WPM.
Do mistakes lower my WPM?
This test counts every character you type toward speed and shows accuracy separately. Some typing tests subtract errors to give a "net" WPM, so your score there may be a little lower if your accuracy is under 100%.