Typing speed test

The test reports three numbers. Words per minute (WPM) is your speed, where one "word" is defined as five characters including spaces — a convention that makes results comparable regardless of how long the actual words are. Characters per minute (CPM) is the raw character count, which is more useful when comparing across languages. Accuracy is the percentage of keystrokes that were correct on the first attempt.

The timer starts on your first keystroke, not when the page loads, so nothing is lost while you settle. Your score is calculated continuously as you type and finalised when the timer ends.

A 30-second test is a quick check and tends to flatter you: it is short enough to sprint. One minute is the standard comparison figure and the duration most benchmarks quote. Two and five minute tests measure sustained speed and stamina, which is a far better predictor of real-world typing and of how you will perform in a timed exam.

If you are preparing for a specific requirement, practise at the duration you will actually sit. Speed over ten seconds and speed over ten minutes are genuinely different skills.

The average adult types around 40 WPM. A good speed is 60 to 70 WPM with accuracy above 97%, professional typists reach 80 to 100 WPM, and anything beyond 100 WPM puts you in the top few percent. Most clerical and data-entry roles ask for 30 to 40 WPM, so a comfortable 50 clears the bar for the majority of jobs that specify one.

Accuracy is worth more than it looks. Every error costs the time to notice it, delete it and retype it, so a run at 50 WPM and 99% accuracy usually beats one at 60 WPM and 90% once corrections are accounted for.

Use the keyboard you normally use, sit as you normally sit, and take the test when you are neither freshly warmed up nor exhausted. Take two or three runs and use the middle one rather than your best: a single lucky run is not your typing speed, it is your ceiling on a good day.

Your results are saved in this browser only. There is no account and nothing is uploaded, so you can retake the test as often as you like without anything being recorded elsewhere.