How to Type Super Fast

Place your hands in the correct position. Your fingers will curve toward the keys, and your wrists will rest lightly on the table. That means you don’t put too much pressure on your wrist. Sit up straight with elbows bent. Correct posture not only helps you avoid mistakes, but also reduces the feeling of soreness in the arms, hands and shoulders.

Learn or relearn how to place the fingers. When you’re not typing, the four fingers of each hand rest on a number of keys called keystream or landmark keys. The left fingers rest on the A, S, D and F keys with the little finger on the A key; and the right fingers are on the J, K, L and key keys; with your index finger resting on the J key. ^[1] By placing your finger on the landmark keys when not typing, you always know where the other keys are. Besides, you can easily press most of the keys on the keyboard from this position.

• If you’re used to typing with 10 fingers, make sure you keep your hands in place. If not, you should get used to the position.
• Most keyboards have a notch on the “F” and “J” keys to help you get your fingers into place without looking down. ^[2]

Know which finger to type which key. Usually each finger will tap the keys diagonally down to the right. For example, the left little finger types the number 1, Q, A, and Z keys, and the ring finger taps the number 2, W, S, and X keys. Both index fingers type an extra row of keys next to their own row. For example, the right index finger types the number 7, U, J, and M keys together with the number 6, Y, H and N keys ^{. [3]}

Use your little finger to press the “Shift” key. Usually, you’ll use your pinky on the opposite side of the character you want to type. You also use your little finger to press the “Tab”, “Caps Lock” and “CTRL” keys on the left side, along with the punctuation keys, the “Backspace” key, and the arrow keys.

Always place at least one thumb on the spacebar. You should not remove both hands from the spacebar at the same time. Keeping a thumb on the spacebar means you don’t need to move your hand to create space between words which can save time.