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    Typing speed test

    Pick a duration and start typing: the timer starts on the first key.

    Time left

    1:00

    Net WPM

    …

    Accuracy

    100%

    Your score shows here as you type, then in detail when the time is up.

    The recipe is simple. Melt 100 g of butter with 200 g of dark chocolate, then stir in three eggs beaten with 150 g of sugar. Fold in 50 g of flour, pour the mixture into a buttered tin and bake for twenty minutes at 180 degrees. The cake should stay soft in the middle, so take it out a little early rather than late. A good library is not measured by the number of books on its shelves. What matters is how easily you find what you are looking for, and how pleasant it is to get lost there. Librarians know this well: a clear system, bright reading tables and a quiet word of advice at the right moment do more than a thousand shelves. The storm arrived just after lunch. Within minutes the sky over the harbour turned grey, the wind picked up and the small boats rocked against the pontoon. Cafe owners rushed to fold their umbrellas while tourists ran for cover. An hour later the sun was out again, and the streets smelled of wet stone and salt. Our local association is holding its summer fair on Sunday 8 June, from 11 am to 6 pm, in the town park. There will be games for children, a concert by the music school, a cake stall and a petanque tournament. Entry is free. Volunteers who would like to help set up the stands are welcome to contact the office. The bakery on the corner opens at seven, and by ten past there is already a queue. People order a baguette, sometimes two, and a few croissants for the children. The baker knows most of them by name. On Sundays the line reaches the pharmacy next door, but nobody seems to mind waiting a little for bread that is still warm. Learning to type without looking at the keys takes patience more than talent. Ten minutes a day will do more than an hour once a week. Rest your index fingers on F and J, which have a small bump you can feel, and bring each finger back to its place after every stroke. Speed comes later; accuracy comes first. Before setting off on a hike, check the weather forecast and tell someone where you are going. Take water, a warm layer, a map and something to eat. In the mountains the weather can change quickly, and a path that was easy in the morning may be slippery by the afternoon. Knowing when to turn back is part of being a good walker. The 6:12 train was delayed by about a quarter of an hour. Passengers waited on the platform, some on the phone, others lost in a book. A small boy counted the carriages of a freight train rolling past on the next track. When the train finally pulled in, everyone looked for their coach and seat, glad to be heading home at last. Thank you for your email of 14 March. I can confirm our meeting on Thursday at 10:30 in our office on the third floor. Could you please bring the signed quote and a copy of your passport? If that time no longer suits you, just give me a call and we will find another slot during the week. Once upon a time an old lighthouse stood on a rock off the coast of Brittany. Its keeper, a patient and slightly grumpy man, climbed the one hundred and twelve steps of the spiral staircase every evening. At the top he cleaned the lens, checked the lamp and watched the sea. He used to say the storms had taught him everything, even caution.

    Nothing is sent: your typing and score stay in your browser.

    Typing speed test: measure your words per minute

    This typing speed test measures how many words per minute you type over 1, 2 or 3 minutes, on an English text or, if you choose it, on a French one. Pick the duration, click in the typing box and copy the text shown: the timer starts on the first key, each mistake turns red and the score updates live. At the end you get gross and net words per minute, accuracy and the number of mistakes made. A word counts as five characters, so 250 correct characters in one minute make 50 net words per minute, above the 32.5 measured on average among computer users copying a text. The main limit: on a phone, the touch keyboard and autocorrect distort the result, so use a physical keyboard for a fair measure.

    How the score is calculated

    Typing tests count speed in words per minute (WPM), but a "word" is a fixed unit of five characters, spaces and punctuation included. The gross score divides every character in your typing by five, then by the time. The net score only keeps correct characters in the right place: that is the number to remember. Accuracy compares wrong keystrokes with all your keystrokes, including those you later fixed: deleting a typo removes it from the text, not from your accuracy. A missing capital or a missing space counts as an error, highlighted in red (a wrong space shows as a dot).

    The test stops when the time is up or when the whole text has been typed. Over one minute the score varies from one attempt to the next; three minutes give a steadier measure. The Enter key does nothing and pasting is disabled.

    QWERTY or AZERTY: typing in France

    If you bought your computer in France, its keyboard is almost certainly AZERTY, named after the first six letters of its top row. Compared with the UK or US QWERTY layout, A and Q swap places, as do Z and W; M moves to the right of L; digits need Shift, and the full stop sits on the same key as the semicolon, with Shift. The upside is direct keys for é, è, ç, à and ù, plus dead keys for the circumflex and the umlaut. There is no single reference AZERTY: in 2019 AFNOR published, at the request of the French Ministry of Culture, a voluntary standard (NF Z71-300) with an improved AZERTY and the BÉPO layout.

    What matters for touch typing is that the layout set in your system matches the keys you learned. In Windows, add the layout under Time and language, then switch with the Windows key and Space; on a Mac, add it under Input Sources and switch from the input menu in the menu bar. If you write mostly in English, a UK or US layout on an AZERTY keyboard works, as long as you never look at the keys. To practise French emails, choose French in the Text menu, and tick No accents at first if your keyboard is QWERTY.

    Getting faster, and some speed benchmarks

    Start from the home row: on QWERTY, left fingers on A, S, D and F, right fingers on J, K, L and the semicolon, thumbs on the space bar; F and J have a small bump you can feel. Ten to fifteen minutes a day, accuracy first, does more than an hour once a week. A timer keeps sessions short without looking at the clock.

    The Wikipedia article "Words per minute" cites a 1999 study by Karat and colleagues measuring an average of 32.5 WPM among computer users copying a text, and 19 when composing. It places professional typists at roughly 43 to 80 WPM, and gives 36.2 WPM as the average mobile typing speed in 2019. French text with accents usually comes out a little slower than English, so compare yourself with yourself, in the same language and mode. To count the words of a text you wrote, use the word counter.

    Frequently asked questions

    I type fast but make lots of mistakes, which score matters?

    Look at net words per minute and accuracy, not the gross speed. The net figure only counts correct characters, so an uncorrected typo earns nothing. If your accuracy stays under 95%, slow down on purpose for a few sessions until you type almost without errors; speed then comes back on its own, and you lose less time going back to fix words.

    My laptop bought in France has an AZERTY keyboard, can I take the English test?

    Yes. The test counts the characters that reach the box, whatever the keyboard. On AZERTY, A and Q, Z and W swap places, M sits next to L and the full stop needs Shift, so expect a slower score at first. Either set Windows or macOS to the layout printed on your keys, or switch to a UK or US layout and learn it without looking at the keys.

    Can I practise on the French text from a QWERTY keyboard?

    Yes: choose French in the Text menu. A UK or US QWERTY keyboard has no key for é, è or ç, so tick No accents to keep the same French passage without accented letters. That is a good way to get used to French spelling before a job that involves writing emails in French. To type accents properly, add the French layout in your system settings.

    Why does a word count as five keystrokes rather than a real word?

    Because words differ in length: typing "a" and typing "library" take very different effort. Typing tests count one word for every five characters typed, spaces and punctuation included. This convention makes scores comparable from one text to another and from one site to another, in English as in French, so 250 characters in one minute is always 50 words per minute.

    Does the typing test work on a phone or a tablet?

    It works, but the result cannot be compared with a physical keyboard: the touch keyboard, autocorrect and word suggestions change what you type. The page turns off autocorrect and automatic capitals when the browser allows it, with no guarantee. To measure your real typing speed, use a computer or a tablet with a keyboard attached and take the 3-minute test.

    Sources

    More tools: text and keyboard