Typing Speed Test
Test your typing speed in words per minute (WPM) and accuracy. Type the displayed sentence as fast as you can.
How to play
- Click "Start Test" to load a random sentence in the box above.
- Click the text area and start typing the sentence exactly as shown.
- Characters turn green when correct, red when wrong — no backtracking needed.
- Finish the sentence to instantly see your WPM and accuracy.
- Click "New Sentence" to practice with a different passage.
Type the displayed sentence as quickly and accurately as possible. Your WPM (words per minute) and accuracy are calculated when you finish. Average typist is 40–50 WPM; fast typists exceed 80 WPM.
How it works
The Typing Speed Test displays a sentence or passage of text and measures how fast and accurately you type it. Your speed is reported in words per minute (WPM) and your accuracy as a percentage of characters typed correctly. The timer starts with your first keystroke.
WPM is calculated by dividing the number of correctly typed characters by five (the standard definition of a word) and dividing by the number of minutes elapsed. Accuracy is the ratio of correct characters to total characters typed, including any errors you made and corrected along the way.
Most office workers type between 40 and 60 WPM. Touch typists who do not look at the keyboard typically reach 70 to 100 WPM. Professional transcriptionists often exceed 120 WPM. Regular short practice sessions of 5 to 10 minutes per day produce measurable improvement within weeks.
Use this tool to establish a baseline before starting a typing course, track progress over time, or warm up your fingers before a long writing session.
Worked example
Measuring your current typing baseline
- Click into the text input area so the cursor is active.
- Begin typing the displayed text; the timer starts automatically on your first keypress.
- Type at a comfortable pace without rushing -- accuracy matters as much as speed.
- Complete the passage and let the test calculate your WPM and accuracy.
- Note both numbers and repeat twice more to get a stable average.
A baseline WPM and accuracy percentage to track improvement against.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Looking at the keyboard while typing, which breaks reading rhythm and caps speed far below touch-typing potential.
- Prioritizing speed over accuracy and accepting many errors, which trains bad habits that are difficult to unlearn.
- Testing only once and treating a single result as your true speed when fatigue or warm-up state can shift WPM by 10 to 20 percent.
Key terms
- WPM (words per minute)
- Typing speed measured as the number of standard five-character words typed correctly per minute.
- Accuracy
- The percentage of keystrokes that matched the required character; errors reduce this figure even if corrected.
- Touch typing
- Typing without looking at the keyboard, using muscle memory of key positions to reach higher consistent speeds.
Frequently asked questions
- How is WPM calculated?
- WPM = (number of words in the sentence) / (time in minutes). Each word is counted as a complete space-separated token.
- What counts as a typing error?
- Each character you type wrong is counted against accuracy. If you finish the sentence with errors, accuracy drops accordingly.