What is a good typing speed?
About 40 WPM is average for everyday typists, 60 to 80 is fast, and 100 plus is excellent on plain prose. Context matters: coding, numbers, and symbols slow everyone down, and a score below 40 with high accuracy is a better starting point than a fast, sloppy one.
How is WPM calculated?
One word is defined as 5 characters, so WPM is characters divided by 5, divided by elapsed minutes. Gross WPM uses everything you typed; net WPM uses only the characters that match the sample at their exact position, which makes it the fairer headline number.
How long does the typing test take?
As long as you need to type roughly 155 to 165 characters, which is about 30 seconds at 60 WPM. The timer starts on your first keystroke and the test ends itself at the last character, so there is no fixed window to wait out.
Is this typing test free?
Yes, completely. No signup, no results paywall, and nothing to install. The test also runs entirely in your browser, so what you type is never sent anywhere.
Can I take the test on a phone?
It works in a mobile browser, but treat the score separately from a desktop one. On-screen keyboards are slower, and autocorrect or predictive text can insert characters you did not type, which the test counts against the sample. For a number you can compare over time, use the same physical keyboard each run.
How do I type faster?
Fix accuracy first, since corrections cost more time than slow keystrokes. Learn to type without looking at the keyboard, keep all ten fingers in play, and practise in short, regular sessions. Then retest here every week or two: the short sample makes it a quick benchmark, and averaging three runs smooths out the luck.
Why is my score higher here than on tests that penalise mistakes?
This test defines net WPM as correct characters divided by five, divided by elapsed minutes. Many other tests compute gross WPM and then subtract one whole word for each uncorrected error, which is a heavier penalty. Both are defensible, but do not compare a number from here directly with a number from a test that uses the error-penalty formula.
Can I fix a typo with backspace?
Yes. The input is a plain textarea, so backspace works and correcting a character turns it green again. The clock does not pause while you correct, so heavy backspacing lowers your WPM even if your final accuracy is 100 percent.
How is accuracy calculated?
Accuracy is correct characters divided by total characters you have typed, compared position by position against the sample. A character counts as correct only if it matches the sample at that exact index, so an inserted or missing character early on will mark everything after it as wrong until the alignment happens to come back.
What is a realistic WPM?
Around 40 WPM is average for an adult who types daily, 60 to 80 is comfortably fast, and above 100 is genuinely quick on prose. Speed on this kind of plain English sample is not the same as speed on code or on text with numbers and symbols, which usually costs an experienced typist a third of their rate.
Can I use my own text?
No. The tool cycles through four built-in English sample sentences, and the New text button picks a different one at random from the remaining three. If you need to practise on your own material, the tool cannot help; it is a benchmark, not a trainer.