Typing Speed Test

The average person types about 40-50 WPM, while skilled typists reach 80-100+ WPM. Regular practice can significantly improve your speed.

WPM (Words Per Minute) is calculated by dividing total characters typed by 5, then dividing by elapsed time in minutes. This is because the average English word length is 5 characters.

Aiming at speed is what stops you from gaining it. Practise at a comfortable pace while keeping your error rate under 2%, and the speed follows on its own. The single most effective drill is to note the letter combinations you keep fluffing and hammer just those. Ten focused minutes a day beats a two-hour session at the weekend by a wide margin — and it will not leave your wrists aching.

In ordinary prose your fingers replay movements memorised at the level of whole words; code offers no such chunks. On top of that, brackets and symbols mostly sit where the little finger has to reach while holding Shift, so your hand position breaks apart each time. For figures, a numeric keypad beats the top row by a wide margin, so learn it if you work with tables. And for code, drilling just the symbol-heavy passages produces a very visible improvement.