Typing test: check your WPM and accuracy

How this typing test works

The test shows a block of text with a blinking caret on the first letter. As you type, correct letters turn black and fly into the combo counter as green sparks; a wrong letter turns red and shatters. Keep a streak going and the combo climbs through Rolling, Blazing and On fire. The text scrolls up so the line you're on stays near the top, and a thin bar under the text shows how far you've come.

The timer starts on your first keystroke, not when the page loads, so take a breath and put your fingers on the home row first. When time runs out, the letters you typed tumble into a pile and your results slide in. If you prefer less motion, turn on "reduce motion" in your device settings; the colors and results stay, and the animation stops.

You can type anywhere on the page to start, or click the text. On a tablet or phone, tap the text to open the on-screen keyboard. It works, but touch typing is a keyboard skill, so your score on glass will be lower than on a real keyboard.

Words per minute, explained

Typing speed is measured in words per minute (WPM), where one "word" is any five characters, spaces and punctuation included. Typing "the cat sat." is 12 characters, or 2.4 words. Using a fixed five-character word means a test full of short words and a test full of long words give comparable scores.

Your results show two speeds:

If your raw WPM is well above your WPM, you're losing time to mistakes. Slowing down a little almost always raises your real score. Researchers at Aalto University who analyzed 136 million keystrokes from 168,000 volunteers found that faster typists also tend to make fewer mistakes, and slower typists spend longer finding and fixing theirs.

What is a good typing speed?

In that Aalto study, the average volunteer typed about 52 WPM. Because people chose to take the test, the true average is probably lower. Professionally trained typists studied in the 1970s and 1980s typically reached 60 to 90 WPM.

Kids are a different story. There is no national standard, but a common rule of thumb in US schools is about 5 WPM per grade starting in 3rd grade. Typing.com's guidelines, for example, are about 15 WPM in 3rd grade, 20 in 4th, 25 in 5th and 30 in 6th, with 85 to 100 percent accuracy. In kindergarten through 2nd grade the goal is learning where the keys are, not speed. Our average typing speed guide has the full chart by age and grade, with sources.

Choosing the right test

• 15 or 30 seconds: a quick warm-up or a check on a new skill. Short tests reward bursts, so scores run high.
• 1 minute: the standard. Most score charts and school benchmarks assume one minute. Try the 1 minute typing test.
• 3 or 5 minutes: stamina. Some job and class tests use these lengths, and your speed will usually drop a little as you tire. Try the 3 minute or 5 minute typing test.

Pick the text to match the goal. Passages are short, original nonfiction and stories written for each grade band, so kids type real sentences at their reading level. Common words uses the 200 most frequent English words, the classic speed-test setup. Sentences mixes short complete sentences. Numbers and punctuation adds digits, prices, times, commas and quotation marks, the characters most typists find hardest.

For younger children, the typing test for kids starts with grade-level passages and bigger text.

How to get faster

1. Fix the keys you miss. The heatmap shows which keys trip you up. Drill those rows in typing practice for kids, which works for adults too.
2. Look at the screen, not your hands. Touch typing feels slower at first and becomes much faster within a few weeks of daily practice.
3. Practice little and often. Ten to fifteen minutes a day beats an hour on the weekend.
4. Aim for accuracy first. Hold 95 percent accuracy before you push for speed.
5. Make it fun. Kids who lose interest in drills often keep going with typing games for kids, like falling words and a race against a ghost.

When a test isn't enough

A typing test measures a skill; it doesn't teach it. If your child is starting from scratch or stuck at the same speed, a structured keyboarding program teaches finger placement key by key, with lessons that build on each other. TypingClub and Typing.com are free; Typesy and Keyboarding Without Tears add structure and reports. Compare them on our best typing programs for kids list or browse typing programs for kids. Some state scholarships and education savings accounts can pay for paid programs; check scholarships in your state and save the ones you like to your wishlist.