How WPM and accuracy are calculated
The standard formula treats every five correct characters as one word, spaces included, then scales to a full minute: WPM = (correct characters ÷ 5) ÷ minutes elapsed. Accuracy compares what you typed with the sample position by position and shows the share of characters that match. Mistyped characters still count towards your character total but not towards WPM, so hammering the keyboard at random will not inflate your score.
The word counter covers the same ground with a different mechanism.
What counts as a good score
Roughly 40 WPM is average for an adult using a full keyboard. Around 55–65 WPM is comfortable for office work, most professional transcriptionists sit above 75 WPM, and competitive typists clear 120 WPM. Speed matters far less than accuracy: at 95% accuracy you spend a large slice of every minute deleting and retyping, so a slower, cleaner run usually finishes real work faster.
The reaction time test handles the same job in a slightly different way.
How to improve
Keep both hands on the home row, learn to reach without looking, and let both thumbs share the space bar. Short daily sessions beat long weekly ones. Try the 30-second test for a quick warm-up and the two-minute test to see how your speed holds up once your hands get tired — most people lose several WPM in the second minute. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is stored or uploaded.
When you need something similar but not identical, the character counter is there.
Frequently asked questions
- When does the timer start?
- On your first keystroke, not when the page loads. That means you can read the sentence first and start whenever you are ready.
- How long is the test?
- 60 seconds by default. Use the drop-down to switch to a 30-second sprint or a two-minute endurance run; changing it resets the test.
- Do typos hurt my WPM?
- Yes. Only characters that match the sample count towards words per minute, and every keystroke counts towards accuracy.
- Is my typing saved anywhere?
- No. The test runs entirely in your browser and nothing you type is sent to a server or stored between visits.
- Does the test work on a phone?
- It does, but the scores are not comparable: a touchscreen keyboard is far slower than a physical one. Use a full keyboard if you want a WPM figure that means something.