Typing Speed Test

How to take the typing test

1. Choose a Duration: 30 s, 60 s or 120 s.
2. Choose the Text language: English or French. Each test uses a fresh mix of short original passages.
3. Click in the box below the text and start typing. The timer starts with your first key, not before.
4. Correct characters turn dark, mistakes are highlighted in red, and the next character to type is marked. While you type, the Time left, WPM (net), Accuracy and Errors update live.
5. When the time is up (or the text is complete), Your result shows your Net WPM, Raw WPM, Accuracy, Errors, Correct characters and the Time.
6. Press Restart for a new text. From the typing box, the shortcut Tab then Enter does the same without touching the mouse.

How the score is calculated

Typing tests don’t count real words, because “a” and “extraordinary” are not the same effort. The standard is one word = 5 characters, spaces and punctuation included.

• Raw WPM (gross speed) = characters typed ÷ 5 ÷ minutes. Every character counts, right or wrong.
• Net WPM = raw WPM − uncorrected errors ÷ minutes. Each mistake you leave in the text costs one word per minute. Net WPM never goes below zero.
• Accuracy = keystrokes that were right when typed ÷ all keystrokes. A mistake you fix with Backspace no longer lowers your net WPM, but it still counts against accuracy, because it cost you time.
• Errors = wrong characters still in your text at the end.

Example: in one minute you type 300 characters and leave 6 errors. Raw WPM = 300 ÷ 5 = 60, and net WPM = 60 − 6 = 54.

Characters are compared one by one at the same position, so skipping a letter shifts everything after it. When that happens, backspace to the mistake rather than continuing: the rest of the line would otherwise be counted as errors.

Accents and French text

The French passages contain accented letters such as é, è, à, ç and ê. Text is compared after Unicode normalization (NFC), so an é typed with a dead key, a compose key or a mobile keyboard matches the é in the passage, even if your system produces it as “e + accent”. Curly apostrophes (’) are treated like straight ones (‘). The passages avoid characters that are hard to type on common keyboards, such as œ and French quotation marks.

Why pasting stops the test

A typing test measures typing, so pasting text into the box would make the result meaningless. Instead of silently ignoring it, the tool stops the test and shows a message. Press Restart to try again.

What is a good typing speed?

Many adults who type often reach 40 WPM, and 60 to 80 WPM is fast for everyday work. Professional typists and competitive typists can go well beyond 100 WPM. Accuracy matters more than raw speed: aim for 95% or more, then build speed. A 30-second test rewards a quick burst, while 120 seconds gives a steadier picture of your real pace.