How to Type

Do you find yourself staring at the keyboard and typing each letter at an incredibly slow pace? Learn how to type faster to impress your friends and family! The following steps will help you improve your typing skills without needing to look at the keyboard, all while increasing your speed. If you follow these steps correctly, over time you will type faster, even correcting mistakes while focusing on the screen instead of the keyboard.

Place your fingers in the "home" position. This is where your fingers should be positioned in readiness to press the keys. No matter which key you're pressing, your fingers should always return to this position.

• Place your right index finger on the "J" key and the other three fingers on the "K", "L", and ";" keys. Place your left index finger on the "F" key and the other three fingers on the "D", "S", and "A" keys. Both thumbs should rest on the spacebar, but only the right thumb should press it.
• You will feel small raised bumps on both the "F" and "J" keys. These bumps help you find the home position without looking at the keyboard.

Press each key from left to right. Type each letter using the fingers starting from the left, in the initial position: a s d f j k l ;. Avoid moving your fingers away from the starting position. Only press the keys that are in the current finger's range.

Repeat the process, but this time type in uppercase. Follow the same steps as above, but now type the uppercase letters: A S D F J K L :. Use the Shift key to capitalize letters, rather than the Caps Lock key. Press the Shift key by moving your little finger closest to it, and hold it while typing the desired letter with the other hand.

• In other words, when typing a letter you want to capitalize with your left hand, press the right Shift key with your right pinky.
• When typing a letter with your right hand, use the left Shift key with your left pinky.

Familiarize yourself with the other letters. Learn where each letter is located on the keyboard and use the nearest finger to press the corresponding key. (The thumb should never be the closest finger; it should only be used for the space bar).

• "q", "a", and "z" are pressed with the left pinky, as well as the Tab, Caps Lock, and Shift keys.
• "w", "s", and "x" are pressed with the left ring finger.
• "e", "d", and "c" are pressed with the left middle finger.
• "r", "f", "v", "b", "g", and "t" are pressed with the left index finger.
• Your thumb should stay on the space bar.
• "u", "j", "n", "m", "h", and "y" are typed with your right index finger.
• "i", "k", and the keys "," and "<" are typed with the right middle finger.
• "o", "l", and the keys ">" and "." are typed with the right ring finger.
• The right pinky is used for typing: "p", ";", ":", "'", """ (quotation marks), "/", "?", "[", "{", "]", "}", "\", "|", as well as the Shift, Enter, and Backspace keys.

Type the first sentence. From the initial position, type the following English sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". This sentence contains every letter of the English alphabet, making it a perfect sentence for practicing proper finger placement.

• Type the sentence repeatedly, and pay attention to your fingers to ensure you're pressing the right keys and returning to the initial position immediately.
• Once you feel more comfortable with finger movement, try to type without looking at the keyboard, focusing on the screen instead. This skill is known as touch typing.

Learn to type without looking at the keyboard. Mastering touch typing is one of the most important milestones to improving your typing speed. In fact, the more proficient you become, the more you’ll realize that looking at the keyboard only slows you down. It might be difficult at first, but practice typing while only looking at the screen.

• Initially, typing will be slower, and you may occasionally glance at the keyboard, but soon your fingers will automatically find the correct keys without much effort.
• A helpful trick during this early stage is to mentally name each letter as you type it. This will help your brain associate each letter with the finger used to press it, and reinforce the correct finger movement.

Prioritize accuracy over speed. Trying to type quickly is pointless if you’re constantly going back to correct mistakes after each sentence. This is why it’s crucial to focus on typing accurately right from the start.

• If you make an error, correct it right away. Try doing so without looking at the keyboard.
• If you notice you’re making frequent mistakes, slow down. Your top priority should always be 100% accuracy.

Use the entire keyboard properly. While learning to type letters may feel easy, you might still find some keys, like special characters and numbers, uncomfortable to type.

• If you don’t learn to use these keys properly, you’ll find yourself typing slower for the rest of your life. To avoid this, make sure you practice typing all those rarely used keys as well.

Type with speed and precision. Avoid making loud sounds when pressing the keys; don’t hammer the keys. This often results in pressing multiple keys at once.

• Try not to press the keys too hard. Your fingers and hands will soon tire, and you'll feel uncomfortable rather than at ease. In other words, don't "pound" the keyboard, but instead "tap" the keys gently.

Learn some keyboard shortcuts. Actions like copying, pasting, and selecting text can slow you down. Fortunately, you can use several useful keyboard shortcuts to perform these tasks without lifting your fingers off the keyboard. Some of the most common shortcuts include:

• Save: Command + s (hold the "command" key and press "s")
• Copy: Command + c
• Cut: Command + x
• Paste: Command + v
• Undo: Command + z
• Redo: Shift + Command + z
• Select next character: Shift + left or right arrow
• Select next word: Command + shift + right or left arrow
• Find in text: Ctrl + f

Practice every day. Consistent practice is key, so commit at least ten minutes each day to typing.

• It won’t take long to improve your typing skills, and once you get the hang of the right technique, you’ll never fall back into old bad habits.
• Don’t forget to practice typing numbers and special characters. Type out phone numbers and addresses, mixing in special characters to master them. The more you type, the faster and more accurately you’ll be able to type.

Practice typing random sentences. Here are some commonly used sentences for typing practice that can help boost your skills. Type each sentence multiple times without looking at the keyboard, then move on to the next. This exercise will help you "memorize" the keys instead of just recalling how to type each individual word.

• Pack my box with five dozen liquid diet cans or jugs.
• Crazy Fredericka bought many very exquisite opal jewels.
• Sixty zippers were quickly picked from the woven jute bag.
• Amazingly few discotheques provide jukeboxes.
• Heavy boxers perform quick waltzes and jigs.
• Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz.
• The five boxing wizards jump quickly.
• How quickly daft jumping zebras vex.
• Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim.
• Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
• Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud.
• Blowzy night-frumps vex'd Jack Q.
• Glum Schwartzkopf was vex'd by NJ IQ.

Use an online typing program. There are many programs available that can teach you how to type. Some include word-guessing games, others ask you to type passages, or play audio clips for you to type out. Some are free, while others are paid. Search online to find the one that works best for you.

Set up your workspace ergonomically. Ergonomics is the science of improving your work environment to enhance performance and comfort. It focuses on both your hand positioning and posture. Research shows that the way you sit can directly impact your typing efficiency. Incorrect hand placement can result in slower and less accurate typing.

• Ensure that your keyboard is positioned comfortably for your fingers. Your hands should be parallel to your sides while typing, with your arms perhaps resting just above your waist.
• Keep your wrists elevated. Wrist support pads can help if you forget to maintain the right wrist posture. You can also improvise by placing a book beneath your wrists to keep them nearly level with the keyboard. This will help you type faster and with fewer errors.
• Sit up straight and keep your feet flat on the ground.

Consider switching to a Dvorak keyboard layout. You might be using a standard QWERTY keyboard at first, but there’s an alternative: the Dvorak layout.

• The QWERTY layout was designed to prevent mechanical jams in typewriters, a need no longer relevant in modern computers, while the Dvorak layout is specifically designed to increase typing comfort.
• However, if you share a computer or often switch between devices, you may find the Dvorak layout a bit confusing.
• Do some research to learn more about typing with a Dvorak keyboard.