Mastering Touch Typing - How to Type Faster
By Suryadathan E
A content strategist, copywriter, and content writer. Aspiring writer, on my way to write my first ever book!
@suryadathan_Touch typing means you type without looking at the keyboard. Speed comes after the layout is automatic. Chasing words per minute before that just teaches you to look faster.
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter. Type it once, in any text box, without looking. If you stared at the keys the whole way, start with the positions. If you were accurate and slow, skip to accuracy. If you were already fast and still want more, skip to all ten fingers.
Learn the positions
On a QWERTY keyboard the home row is the anchor. Left hand, pinky to index: A, S, D, F. Right hand, index to pinky: J, K, L, semicolon. Thumbs take the space bar. F and J usually have a small bump, so you can find them without looking.
From there, each finger owns a column. The left pinky takes Q, A, and Z. The left ring takes W, S, and X. The left middle takes E, D, and C. The left index takes R, T, F, G, V, and B. The right index takes Y, U, H, J, N, and M. The right middle takes I and K, the right ring takes O and L, and the right pinky takes P and the punctuation on that side. Other layouts move these. If you are not on QWERTY, learn the columns for the board you actually use.
For a week, type about fifteen minutes a day from a short story. Looking is allowed at the start. A good first one is Alice in Wonderland. A file of your own works too: type your own book.
Type the first paragraph while you look. Do not memorize a chart. Repetition does that.
On the next paragraphs, type one sentence without looking and the next while looking.
On the last paragraph, finish without looking. Ignore the speed number. Finish the paragraph.
When that feels ordinary, the habit has started. Muscle memory and typing is why a short session every day beats a rare long one.
Accuracy before speed
If you already know roughly where the keys are, stop chasing a score. Open a story, or a Wikipedia article if you want something shorter, and type it without looking. You will miss keys. Correct the miss and continue. Do not rewrite the line in a panic. The goal is that each finger returns home on its own.
One finished text is a better day than a pile of one-minute tests. Tests are a score you can use later. They are a poor way to learn the map. Typing books vs typing tests is that argument in full.
Use all ten fingers
A lot of fast-looking typing is still two or four fingers. It hits a ceiling because those fingers travel too far. Go back to the columns above and type slowly, using the finger that owns the key. It will feel slower. That slowdown is the point.
If you write code, do this on prose first, then take the same fingers into the editor. Touch typing for developers is that second step. Within a few weeks of accurate practice, the speed comes back higher than the four-finger version, because each finger has less distance to cover.
FAQ
How do I learn to touch type faster?
Learn the home-row columns, then type about fifteen minutes a day for a week. Ignore the speed number until you can finish a paragraph without looking. Speed comes after the layout is automatic.
Should I look at the keyboard while learning?
Looking is allowed at the start. Type the first paragraph while you look, then alternate one sentence without looking and one while looking, and finish the last paragraph without looking.
What should I practice on?
A short story, not a one-minute test. Alice in Wonderland is a plain first book. If you already have the text, type your own book.
