Typing tips, how to make type faster and master the keyboard

1) Accuracy

I had been trying to improve my speed for months and I was not seeing much improvement. Once I slowed down and started being more accurate instead of trying to type faster I started seeing an increase in my typing speed. I feel more in control as well. I still have a way to go for my personal goal but am pleased to see that I am now improving and relaxing more.
Learn to be accurate first then improve speed. Because if you make mistakes all the time the longer it will take you to type. Every time you backspace takes longer than if you slow down just a tad so you can type accurately. I still makes a lot of mistakes but I realize when I slow down to be accurate I actually tend to type slightly faster.

2) Practice

For new typists: Practice. Get used to the home keys work to the point where you do not need to look at both what you are typing, or your fingers on the keyboard.

For advanced typists: Practice. Develop muscle memory for typing certain types of commonly used letter parings. Identify the combinations of letters for certain words that give you trouble and practice typing them in particular to the point where you no longer need to think when doing so.
My tip to improve your typing speed is to not only practice often, but practice correctly. Try to get rid of bad typing habits and replace them with good ones. For example, you should use every single finger when typing instead of relying on the use of fingers with which you're most comfortable. Full utilization of both hands is necessary to achieve your highest typing potential.

3) Stretching

When my wrists get stiff from typing, I grab my fingers with one hand and stretch out my arm to full length and pull on my fingers back slowly. I then, stretch my fingers by opening and closing them, bend my hands back and forth, and rotate my wrists.
if you feel a little sore on the fingers or knuckles, just put your arms up high, and wriggle your fingers (only do this if your fingers feel sore. ) and if your knuckles hurt just put your left hand into a fist and do the same with the right. With the bottom of your left fist, tap the knuckles on your right hand and vice versa.

4) Know your keyboard

My tip to improve your typing speed is to feel for the "F" and the "J". As most know, those are the letters you feel for first on the keyboard. As time goes by, and you learn how to type without looking, you will not even really have to "feel" for the "F" and the "J" you will just learn the keyboard.
It is also important to familiarize yourself with the keyboard you are using. - This is essential as, if you can map the keyboard out in your mind, you wont need to look away from the screen to locate the key you need. This would also minimize time spent between getting your many thoughts onto the screen before loosing them (again).
If you are typing 60 wpm or higher, and want to get better, and not get carpal tunnel: buy a mechanical keyboard. I use red switch that I bought for both gaming/typing, and after an hour of typing, my fingers still feel fine. I wouldn't recommend red for most typists--It doesn't have the feedback that other switch types have, and takes a while to get used to not bottoming out the keys all the time.

5) Rhythm

What is important is developing a rhythm, not to hurry, but to be accurate, first-priority. Speed comes naturally with practice and time. Further, one must push one's self to perform better, but acknowledging that efficiency only is established, along with effectiveness. In closing, one must learn to type only what one sees/reads; never change the words, unless, of course, it is an editing ... exercise/test. One only types what one sees or reads!

Start training

Touch typing

Touch typing is typing without looking at the keyboard. The idea is to teach your fingers the location of each keys. The F and J keys have a raised bar or a dot allowing your finger to identify them. Once you have placed your two indexes on those keys, the other fingers are placed on the keys next to them.

In order to type fast you have to be careful about which finger to use to press a key. Take a look at the drawing below. Each color match a finger. For example the left index is light green and has to type only the light green keys.

typing test tips

Certain keys are special. ASDF and JKL; are the base positions for your fingers.Your fingers go from the base position to the key that you want to press.

A good first thing to do when your learn touch typing is to memorize the keyboard and create a mental map of the associated fingers. You have to be able to press any key without even thinking. For example if I say C you have to think move the middle finger down and press C instantly. You can only achieve this through practice. You have to build up the muscle memory of each fingers.

Key ideas

* Place your indexes on F and J
* A key has to pressed by the same finger all the time
* Don't look at the keyboard, your eyes should always look at the screen
* Go practice!

Take a typing test

User tips



dineladeq 11 years, 5 months ago
The thing is that different languages have a different average word lengths. In Russian for example the words are usually crazy long (or in my native language German). English has much more shorter words and so if you type as fast in English as in Russian than you have more WPM in the former than the latter.

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teenie1988 11 years, 5 months ago
My tip to improve your typing speed is to... try not to look at what you just typed or look at your hands. look at the text you are trying to type. if you know where the keys are you should have no problems improving your speed

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alexacartwright 11 years, 5 months ago
When my fingers hurt after too much time on the keyboard, I...
shake violently and yell curse word because my name is Alexa Cartwright. Hit me up on the Facebook bishezz

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user32102 11 years, 5 months ago
My tip to improve your typing speed is to...spend at least an hour a day type testing, it becomes easier,, speed is secondary to memorizing, before you know it wpm will start to increase it's cool to see that on a graph don't get discouraged,, practice, practice!! and practice some more!!!! absolutely pays off......

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titanicbehemoth 11 years, 5 months ago
What really helped me improve my typing speed is...<a href="http://www.keyhero.com/profile/titanicbehemoth/?ba" title="titanicbehemoth's typing test profile"><img src="/static//badges/384/typing-test-115324.png" alt="titanicbehemoth's typing test WPM" style="vertical-align:middle"></a>

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jsmiousse 11 years, 5 months ago
Having a good position. Having the keyboard at the right height at 90° degree angle for my elbows and arms. I bought a support for my laptop for 1. lifting it up 2. prevent overheating with air flowing under my main laptop.

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swagged16 11 years, 5 months ago
My tip to improve your typing speed is to...go at your own pace don't rush yourself take time and get to learn how everything works for you so you will better understand it.

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swagged16 11 years, 5 months ago
My tip to improve your typing speed is to...go at your own pace don't rush yourself take time and get to learn how everything works for you so you will better understand it.

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user39587 11 years, 5 months ago
What really helped me improve my typing speed is...practice, practice, practice. I taught myself to type 55 years ago on an underwood manual typewriter using typing tests in a book given to me by a relative. By high school, I was being told to "slow down" (from 60 wpm on a manual). By the type I looked for a job, I was clocking around 130 on a selectric, but saw people who could hit over 200 wpm and was awestruck.

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navneetshah 11 years, 5 months ago
When my fingers hurt after too much time on the keyboard, my score<a href="http://www.keyhero.com/profile/user39565/?ba" title="user39565's typing test profile"><img src="/static//badges/382/typing-test-114731.png" alt="user39565's typing test WPM" style="vertical-align:middle"></a>


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ukissmnida 11 years, 6 months ago
What really helped me improve my typing speed is constant CONSTANT practice. When I was in middle school my Dad had this typing program he bought and he made me do it everyday 5 times a day, forever. It also helps if you are on the computer a lot, which I am, so I'm always typing, email friends, chatting ect.

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raquel4064 11 years, 6 months ago
What really helped me improve my typing speed is to memorize where every key is located. Every time I press the wrong key, I have to go back to make corrections, and that consumes the time.

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skeletal1 11 years, 6 months ago
When my fingers hurt after too much time on the keyboard, I... take a break from typing and do something else that doesn't require using my fingers' muscles.

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sxibutterfly 11 years, 6 months ago
<a href="http://www.keyhero.com/profile/sxibutterfly/?ba" title="sxibutterfly's typing test profile"><img src="/static//badges/379/typing-test-113943.png" alt="sxibutterfly's typing test WPM" style="vertical-align:middle"></a>When my fingers hurt after too much time on the keyboard, I...

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rosie012759 11 years, 6 months ago
When my fingers hurt after too much time on the keyboard, I...stretch them out and shake my hands briskly. I wait for at least a minute and then continue my typing.

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themortallywounded 11 years, 6 months ago
My fingers never hurt from typing too much. The problem with modern technology is that while our hands are much better off than they were on the old manual Smith Coronas (especially considering the curved keyboard options to choose from) our eyes and brains are being melted by bright screens with artificial backlighting, pixelated text, and poor color choices. The generations of typists who precede us are all coming down with arthritis while we are unable to even spell a single word if there isn't a red line that automatically underlines our mistakes. When my hands start to hurt, it isn't because I've been typing too much; it's because I've been scratching my head wondering why the heck I can't even remember my parents' birthdays.

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