WPM test: check your words per minute

Words per minute is the standard measure of typing speed. Take a free test of 15, 30, 60 seconds or 2 minutes and Темп shows your WPM, accuracy and the letters that cost you time — plus exactly how the number was worked out.

How WPM is calculated

A "word" in a typing test is not a dictionary word. It is a fixed block of five characters, spaces included. That way "a" and "keyboard" weigh exactly as much as their letters, and a text full of short words does not inflate your score.

Темп counts only correctly typed characters. The formula is:

WPM = correct characters ÷ 5 ÷ minutes

• 60-second test, 300 correct characters: 300 ÷ 5 ÷ 1 = 60 WPM.
• 30-second test, 150 correct characters: 150 ÷ 5 ÷ 0.5 = 60 WPM.
• 2-minute test, 500 correct characters: 500 ÷ 5 ÷ 2 = 50 WPM.

Because WPM is normalised to one minute, results from different durations use the same scale. The time only runs while you type: if you switch to another window, the test pauses.

Gross WPM, net WPM and accuracy

Typing tests generally report speed in one of two ways. Gross WPM counts everything you typed, mistakes included. Net WPM takes errors into account. Темп's score is closer to net: wrong characters simply add nothing, while the time you spent on them still counts.

Accuracy is reported separately as the share of keystrokes without a mistake. A typo you go back and fix still counts as a mistake, so accuracy shows how cleanly you hit the keys, not just how the final text looks.

The practical takeaway: steady typing at 97–98% accuracy usually produces a higher WPM than rushing and correcting. If your accuracy is below 95%, slowing down slightly is the fastest way to raise your score.

Typical WPM levels

These are the same levels Темп shows after a test.

Your WPM in different languages will almost always differ, because layouts and letter frequencies differ. Compare yourself with yourself, in one language and one test length.

How to raise your WPM

• Stop looking at the keyboard. The touch-typing lessons in Темп go from the home row to capitals, punctuation and digits, with an on-screen keyboard that shows which finger to use. Open the lessons.
• Train your weak letters. After each test you see the letters where you lost time, and the weak letters mode builds a text from words containing them.
• Race your own record. A marker in the text moves at your previous best pace for the same settings, so you can see whether you are ahead.
• Practise little and often. Ten to fifteen minutes a day does more than an hour once a week. A 1 minute typing test each day makes progress easy to track.

For a variety of practice there is also a daily challenge with its own leaderboard and real-time races against up to four other people, including friends via a link.