Learn How to Type Faster on the Keyboard
Learning how to type faster on the keyboard is the most sought-after skill in today’s age. And it can be achieved through touch typing.
Touch typing is very popular as it helps you to find the right keys on the keyboard without looking at it.
However, touch typing is not enough to type faster. You need to consider other factors like your posture, finger motion, the type of keyboard you have for daily use.
Typing faster on the keyboard requires daily practice, maintaining a good posture while typing, the position of your fingers, a good quality keyboard, and familiarity with the keyboard. Your fingers eventually learn the position of keys which increases the speed of your typing.
In this article, we will discuss the factors that affect your typing speed and how you can learn to type faster without any extra effort, so let’s begin.
What is touch typing?
Touch typing is a kind of typing that is also known as blind typing, or touch keyboarding. Even though the word refers to type by not using the eyes to locate the keys (a touch typist will know their placement on the keyboard via muscle memory), it is sometimes used to describe a specific type of touch typing that requires putting the eight fingers in a horizontal line.
How to touch type properly
Your Posture:
- Remember to sit up straight.
- Keep your back straight at all times
- Maintain a right-angle bend in your elbows.
- With your head slightly inclined forward, face the screen.
- Maintain a gap of at least 47 cm between your eyes and the screen.
- Reduce the amount of tension on the shoulder, arm, and wrist muscles.
- In front of the keyboard, the wrists can touch the tabletop. Never put your weight on your wrists.
Home Row Position:
Curl your fingers slightly and place them on the ASDF and JKL keys in the middle row of the letter keys. This row is referred to as HOME ROW because you always begin and end with these keys.
The F and J keys should have a raised line under your index fingers to help you find them without looking.
Scheme:
- Hit keys only with the fingers for which they have been reserved.
- Always return to the starting position of the fingers “ASDF – JKL;”.
- When typing, imagine the location of the character on the keyboard.
- Establish and maintain a rhythm while typing. Your keystrokes should come at equal intervals.
- The SHIFT key is always pressed by the pinky finger opposite to the one hitting the other key.
- Use the thumb of whichever hand is more convenient for you to press the Spacebar.
This method may seem inconvenient at first, but do not stop, eventually, you’ll find out that you are typing quickly, easily, and conveniently.
Typing speed
When you’re first learning anything, don’t rush. Accelerate only when your fingers get accustomed to hitting the correct keys.
To prevent making mistakes, take your time when typing. As you go, the speed will increase.
Always scan the material a few words ahead of time.
How to set typing goals?
What are your long-term objectives? What is your everyday goal? You will make rapid improvements if you practice typing quicker every day. How can you know how far you’ve come after a week of training, though? How do you know when you’re ready to move down to the lowest row from your home? Set objectives that are both attainable and difficult!
Session goals
Set a major objective and many secondary goals for each training session before you begin. You might make it your primary aim to be able to press any key on the home row 20 times without glancing at the keyboard. Learning the keys for the left and/or right hand, for example, might be a good secondary objective.
Strong goals
By achieving your objectives, you will be able to accurately assess your progress each week. As a final bit of advice, be imaginative when creating objectives, and make them as tough as possible, even if it means more effort. Would you be satisfied with achieving a goal that was too simple? Don’t worry if you don’t know what you want to achieve; there are several excellent books on the subject.
How to maintain accuracy while typing?
We typically have some immediate success while learning a new skill. Most of us will be able to rapidly learn the keyboard and enhance our speed. Accuracy, on the other hand, is critical to success and should not be overlooked while learning to type.
For beginners, increased speed typically leads to careless typing errors. There are a few ways to avoid falling into this trap. First and foremost, make sure you include precision drills in your training on a regular basis. It is more vital to do a technique slowly and correctly than to perform it quickly but incorrectly. Routine leads to speed.
Second, build the behaviours that will ensure you deliver error-free work. You could, for example, use a spell checker, edit your work, or read your thoughts out to yourself. Rollovers should also be practised. The brain knows exactly where, when, and how to push the keys, therefore individuals who know how to type faster have the lowest error rates.
Software to improve your Typing Speed
Animal typing
Animal Typing is a simple and effective way for people of all ages to learn touch typing.
The animal you obtain in Animal Typing is determined by your typing skills. Your animal will run faster if you type faster (snail, rabbit, horse, etc.). However, keep in mind that Animal Typing awards precision as well. So, stay away from the errors and go for the cheetah!
It’s one of the best software to learn how to type faster and helps you in a fun and interactive way to improve your skills.
Features:
- The correct typing method is demonstrated by animated fingers.
- Qwerty (US/UK), Dvorak, Colemak, Workman, Qwertz (German/Swiss), Azerty keyboard layouts (France). (The Qwerty and Dvorak layouts are used in the Kids Lessons.)
- Customization of the finger typing zones is possible.
- Switch between numerous users via a local user login mechanism.
Typing.com
Typing.com is a free typing software that keeps track of your progress. It is one of the greatest typing software that allows you to enhance your typing speed and accuracy by taking one-minute, three-minute, or five-minute typing tests.
Typing.com has timed tests and paged tests. Timed tests have 1 minute, 3 minute, and 5 minute free tests.
Features:
- This software is good for Coding, Keyboarding, and Digital Literacy
- District and classroom management that is effective
- Students are taught important technical foundations.
- It allows for faster and more precise typing.
- Instructions and courses should be given in both English and Spanish.
- Web is one of the platforms that is supported.
Typing Master
This software increases your typing speed by two times. You can learn to type in a pleasant way. You can also test your wpm accuracy and speed by playing high-quality typing games. TypingMaster has everything you need!
TypingMaster 10 for Windows is a full-featured touch typing teacher with a real-time analyzing feature. Take a one-week touch typing lesson for free! TypingMaster is a comprehensive keyboarding education that takes students from the fundamentals to a professional, quick touch-typing style. Multi-form lessons give the best possible support for each stage of learning, and the outcomes may be checked at any time using a standard wpm speed test.
Features:
- Typing tests for employees
- Analyze and train your typing skills
- Play free typing games
The Typing Cat
TheTypingCat is designed to help you learn and practice touch typing in the most efficient manner possible. You must train your fingers on a regular basis and be patient in order to build good habits. Focus on accuracy and ergonomics first, then fast typing speed will follow with practice. It’s important not to overwork oneself. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint, and 10-minute workouts every day are preferable to a single one-hour run.
Features:
- Learn how to type on the internet.
- Calculate your typing speed.
- Obtain quicker outcomes
- Increase your output.
- Experiment with different keyboard layouts.
Rapid Typing
RapidTyping is a simple and convenient keyboard trainer that will help you increase your typing speed and minimize mistakes. RapidTyping can teach you to touch-typing or improve your existing abilities with its courses structured for various student levels.
The typing tutor can be utilized in the classroom under the supervision of a teacher or for self-study. Exporting training statistics in various formats and building your own training courses are both options.
Features:
- The Introduction and Beginner courses will help you learn how to use the keyboard and where the keys are located. You will know which finger to use to strike each key without glancing at the keyboard after finishing this course. Upper-case letters, special symbols, and the numeric pad are all covered in this course.
- Beginner typing classes, advanced typing classes, and professional testing
- By remembering commonly used syllables and words, the Experienced course can help you increase your typing speed.
- The Advanced course allows you to hone your typing abilities by typing a real text.
- The Testing course will put your touch typing abilities to the test.
Ratatype
Although Ratatype is suited for virtually everyone, it does not have different versions for schools, people, or corporations. It’s also only accessible online, which means you’ll need consistent internet connectivity to utilise it.
Ratatype Online is unique in that it is not only free but has a trendy layout. We’ve tried it out and put the features to the test. Check out our Ratatype review to discover whether it’s right for you.
Features:
- Ratatype is free, it has no in-app purchases.
- It has excellent design and a friendly and intuitive user-interface
- Although Ratatype is suited for virtually everyone, it does not have different versions for schools, people, or corporations.
- It’s self-paced
Best keyboards to type faster
A mechanical keyboard may greatly enhance typing speed, whether you’re a programmer, a transcriber, or someone who frequently writes on platforms like Quora and Reddit.
Logitech Orion
The Orion Spectrum RGB mechanical gaming keyboard is our fastest RGB mechanical gaming keyboard, with Romer-G mechanical switches that enable up to 25% quicker actuation.
Each key may be personalized from a pallet of 16 million colors and is illuminated from the center for brilliant, appealing lighting.
You can quickly access critical instructions and macros with 9 independently programmed G-keys. Your iOS and Android devices may now get in-game updates, media controls, and more thanks to Arx Control integration.
Both comfort and precision are provided with a comfortable palm rest and optimum key layout.
This is the most technologically sophisticated gaming keyboard we’ve ever made. The future is illuminated by Orion Spectrum.
NPET Floating Keyboard
The NPET K10 keyboards may be used for two separate purposes: business work and gaming. Fantastic mechanical gaming keyboard that is ideal for every combat you may encounter.
High-Efficiency This keyboard uses a high-resilience liquid silicone conductive film. It’s very effective if you’re trying to work on your typing speed.
Redragon K552
Redragon, one of the major suppliers of keyboards for quicker typing, is one of the largest. As a result, they have a solid reputation for manufacturing high-quality keyboards. The LED illumination of the keyboard and the ergonomic designs are two of the K552’s standout characteristics. As a consequence, regardless of how dark it gets, this keyboard is pleasant for your wrist and you can easily see the keys.
Razer Ornata
It’s unusual to find a low-cost tech device that delivers you everything you want, precisely as you want it. With its trimmed corners and few sharp edges, the Razer Ornata Chroma comes tantalizingly close, both as a gaming device and as a keyboard. You won’t miss the standalone volume controls and macro buttons, USB pass-through, or other bells and whistles you won’t receive, given its pricing and performance throughout its intended usage scenarios—you’ll be too busy playing and typing at a surprisingly high level to notice. That alone is enough for us to name the Ornata Chroma our Editors’ Choice. Do you want to save even more cash? The Razer Ornata is only $79.99 and has all of the same features.
Razer BlackWidow
With the Razer Pro Type, you get the best of both worlds: aesthetics, productivity, and convenience. So, while it isn’t the cheapest choice, you’ll be pleased to pay for everything it has to offer, including the bonus of not having to deal with any more wires on your table. The fact that this wireless keyboard is very quiet for having mechanical keys, that it connects to up to four wireless devices without re-pairing, and that it supports USB-C charging is just icing on the cake.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a writer, a developer, an engineer, or in any other profession, learning how to type faster is an important skill. Typing fast doesn’t depend on just one or two factors. It’s a skill to learn and requires you to fix your posture, get a good quality keyboard, and experiment with your typing on different software.
Since everything’s digitalized, this is a must-have skill and always pays off.