3-minute typing test
Three minutes of common English words: long enough to show the pace you keep, not just the pace you start with. You get your words per minute, accuracy and consistency, and a chart of every keystroke. The clock starts with your first key.
The timer starts with your first key.Tab or Esc restarts
What three minutes show
A one-minute test catches you at your freshest. Over three minutes, hesitations, slips and fixes have time to add up, so the result says more about the pace you can keep.
It is steadier, too. Three times as many words means any one slow word or slip moves the result a third as much. Your best 3-minute result is kept as its own personal best, apart from your 1-minute and 5-minute ones.
Reading your result
- Consistency
- How even your pace was from word to word. Over three minutes it is a fair measure of rhythm, because one stumble can’t decide it.
- Rhythm chart
- Every keystroke in order, as a bar for the time it took. Tall bars are pauses: if they gather toward the end, your pace faded; if they sit on the same letters, those are worth practice. Your slowest moves between two letters are labeled.
- Replay
- Plays the test back keystroke by keystroke, at normal or double speed, with your longer pauses marked.
- Your 1-minute speed
- Take a 1-minute test too. If your 3-minute speed is well below it, a steadier rhythm will gain you more than reaching for speed.
A step toward five minutes
The US federal standard for clerk-typist jobs measures typing on a 5-minute sample with three or fewer errors, and other employers set their own lengths. Three minutes is a good place to build up from: once your 3-minute speed is close to your 1-minute speed, try the 5-minute test.
In between, practice aims at the keys and moves the results name, the ones that cost you the most time. Signed in, you can also get a certificate of a 3- or 5-minute test, at an address anyone can open to check it.
Other test lengths
- 1-minute typing test
The standard sprint: your speed on everyday words, and how it compares with 168,960 typists.
- 5-minute typing test
The sample length of the US federal clerk-typist standard: 40 WPM with three or fewer errors.
- Every length in one place
The main typing test also runs for 15 or 30 seconds, and keeps the length you pick.
Read next
Faster, steadier typing starts with accuracy and where your fingers go, each guide with the research behind it.
How to type faster: a practical plan
Cut mistakes first, then practice your slowest keys and key pairs a few minutes a day, read ahead and let keystrokes overlap. A plan based on research.
How to improve typing accuracy
Slow down until mistakes nearly stop, find the keys you miss and what you hit instead, and fix the reach behind each slip. You’ll usually get faster too.
Touch typing finger placement: home row keys and a finger chart
Rest your left fingers on A S D F and your right fingers on J K L ;, thumbs on the space bar. Each finger covers the keys above and below its home key.
Frequently asked questions
How is a 3-minute typing test scored?
Your words per minute are the characters you typed correctly, spaces included, divided by five and then by three for the three minutes. Accuracy is the share of your keystrokes that hit the right key, so a slip you fix still counts against it.
Is a 3-minute test harder than a 1-minute test?
It asks for more: keeping your rhythm and attention three times as long. That is why your best result at each length is kept apart, and why a 3-minute result is fairer to compare with other 3-minute results than with your best minute.
What is a good speed on a 3-minute typing test?
The same rough guide applies as for any test. In a 2018 study of 168,960 typists, the average was 51.6 WPM, 60 WPM was faster than about 68% of them and 79 WPM reached the top 10%. Those typists copied sentences they had read first, which is a different task from reading as you type, so treat the comparison as a rough guide.
How long are typing tests for jobs?
It depends on the employer. The US federal standard for clerk-typist and office automation jobs is 40 WPM on a 5-minute sample with three or fewer errors, while Criteria Corp’s pre-employment test gives one minute. If a job asks for a typing speed, ask how long the test is and how it counts errors.
Sources: US Office of Personnel Management: Qualification standards for clerical and administrative support positions; Criteria Corp: Typing Test, a pre-employment test
Can I see where I slowed down?
Yes. After the test, the rhythm chart shows how long each keystroke took and labels your slowest moves between two letters, the replay plays the test back with your pauses marked, and the results name the keys that slowed you down. Practice then builds text around them.