Typing speed test
Type the text for 15, 30 or 60 seconds. You'll see your words per minute and accuracy as you go, and at the end, how your typing compares with how fast you talk.
- Time left
- 60 s
- WPM
- –
- Accuracy
- –
The library on the corner opens at nine and closes when the last reader leaves. My neighbor grows tomatoes on her balcony and gives the extras to anyone who knocks. A good map shows you where you are, but a good friend tells you where to go next. The train was late again, so I read three chapters of a book I had almost forgotten. Rain on a tin roof sounds louder at night than it ever does during the day. She wrote the shopping list on the back of an old envelope and lost it before lunch. Most people type with two or three fingers and still get their work done every day. The bakery sells out of bread by ten, so the early customers always look pleased. When the power went out, we played cards by candlelight until everyone fell asleep. A small garden needs more patience than money, and more water than you expect. He keeps a notebook in his coat pocket in case an idea shows up on the bus. The museum moved the old clock to the front hall, where it still runs five minutes slow. Learning to cook a few simple meals saves more money than any coupon ever will. The dog waits by the door every evening at six, even on days when nobody comes home early. Our team meeting ran long because nobody wanted to be the first to say no. Fresh snow makes the whole street quiet, as if the city has decided to take a nap. The best way to learn a new word is to use it in a sentence the same day. My grandfather fixed radios for forty years and never once read the instructions. A cup of tea goes cold much faster when you are busy answering email.
Type the passage above exactly as shown. The timer starts with your first key. Press Esc to restart.
The test runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere. On a phone, autocorrect and predictive text change your score, so use a keyboard for a fair result.
How the score works
- Words per minute
- Every 5 correctly typed characters count as one word, the standard used by typing tests. Mistakes you leave in are not counted.
- Accuracy
- The share of your keystrokes that matched the text. A mistake still counts against you after you fix it, because it cost you time.
- Speaking comparison
- Your speed is compared with 150 words per minute, a common estimate for conversational English.
What your typing speed means
A rough guide, measured against Aalto University's 2018 study of 168,000 typists, where the average was 52 WPM. Your job matters more than the number: a programmer thinks more than they type, a transcriptionist can't afford to be slow.
| Speed | What it means |
|---|---|
| Under 30 WPM | Slow. Common if you look at the keys while you type. |
| 30 to 50 WPM | Average. Fine for everyday email and messages. |
| 50 to 70 WPM | Above average. The study's average typist sits at the bottom of this range. |
| 70 to 90 WPM | Fast. Well ahead of most people who take typing tests. |
| Over 90 WPM | Exceptional. The fastest typists in the study reached about 120. |
Common questions
- What is the average typing speed?
- Around 40 words per minute is the figure most often quoted for an average typist. People who take online typing tests tend to be faster: a 2018 Aalto University study of 168,000 volunteers measured an average of 52 words per minute.
- What is a good WPM?
- Anything above 50 words per minute is faster than most people. In Aalto University's study of 168,000 typists the average was 52, and the fastest reached about 120. Accuracy matters as much as speed: aim for 95 percent or better.
- How is WPM calculated?
- Typing tests count a word as 5 characters, including spaces and punctuation. This test counts only the characters you typed correctly, divides by 5, and divides again by the minutes you typed for. Typing 250 correct characters in one minute is 50 WPM.
- How can I type faster?
- Learn to touch type so your eyes stay on the screen, keep your fingers on the home row, and practice for 10 to 15 minutes a day. Slow down until you make few mistakes, because fixing errors costs more time than typing carefully.
- Is speaking faster than typing?
- Yes, for almost everyone. People speak at around 150 words per minute in conversation, about three times the speed of an average typist. That gap is why dictation software saves so much time on email, notes and documents.
- Can I take the typing test on my phone?
- Yes, but the result will differ from a keyboard test. Phone keyboards correct and predict words as you type, which changes your speed and accuracy. For a score you can compare with other tests, use a computer keyboard.
You talk faster than you type
Dictation Daddy turns your speech into punctuated text in any app, so you write at the speed you talk. Try it in your browser, then download it for Mac, Windows, Android or Chrome.
Runs in your browser. No download or signup to try it.