How to Type Faster: 7 Drills That Actually Raise Your WPM
Most people get faster by typing more. That works for a while, then the number stops moving. If you have been stuck at the same WPM for months, the problem is almost never effort — it is that you are practising the wrong thing. Here is what actually moves the number.
Why your WPM plateaus
Typing speed is a motor skill, and motor skills improve through a specific kind of repetition: you have to perform the movement slightly faster than is comfortable, with enough attention that the movement stays correct. Two failure modes break this.
- Autopilot practice. You type emails all day at a comfortable pace. Comfortable repetition reinforces your current speed; it does not raise it.
- Sloppy speed practice. You push as fast as possible and make a lot of mistakes. Your fingers learn the wrong key sequences, and the errors become part of the muscle memory you then have to unlearn.
The fix is deliberate practice: short sessions, a clear target, immediate feedback on accuracy, and a focus on the specific keys or patterns that slow you down.
Drill 1: Stop looking at the keyboard (the single biggest win)
If you still glance down to find keys, nothing else on this list matters much. Every glance costs roughly half a second, and a few glances per line is enough to cost you 10–20 WPM.
Spend two weeks doing nothing but slow, perfect, eyes-on-screen typing. Cover the keyboard with a sheet of paper if you have to. Speed will drop at first and then recover well past where it started. See our touch typing guide for the hand placement that makes this possible.
Drill 2: Drill your weakest keys, not your favourite words
After any test, look at which characters cost you the most time or the most errors. For most people it is the bottom row (z x c v b n m), the pinky keys (q a p ; /), or capitals and punctuation. Build a short custom practice set out of just those characters and repeat it until it feels boring. Boring is the goal — boring means the movement is automated.
Drill 3: Ten perfect words in a row
Set an accuracy floor of 100% and type bursts of ten words. If you make a single error, stop, retype the word correctly three times, and start the burst again. This feels painfully slow on day one and is the fastest way to build clean muscle memory.
Drill 4: Controlled overspeed
Once accuracy at your normal pace is above 97%, deliberately type about 10% faster than feels safe for 30 seconds. You will make more mistakes, and that is fine — this session is about teaching your nervous system that the faster tempo is survivable. Then drop back to your normal pace, which will now feel easy. Alternate: two minutes accurate, thirty seconds overspeed.
Drill 5: Common-word fluency
English is extremely top-heavy: the 100 most common words make up roughly half of everything written. Practising high-frequency words (the, of, and, to, in, is, you, that, it, for) gives you more speed per minute invested than practising rare vocabulary. Type them until common words become single gestures rather than letter-by-letter sequences.
Drill 6: Punctuation and capitals under time pressure
Many people test well on lowercase words and then fall apart on real text. Capitals require the shift key, and punctuation lives on the weak right pinky. Practise sentences — not just word lists — so that , . ? and capital letters become automatic. Switch your test text type to Sentences or Paragraph to force this.
Drill 7: Short daily sessions beat long weekend sessions
Motor learning consolidates between sessions, not during them. Fifteen minutes a day for a month beats two hours on a Saturday. Track your streak: consistency is the variable that separates people who gain 20 WPM from people who stay flat.
A four-week plan
| Week | Focus | Daily practice |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eyes on screen, 100% accuracy | 15 min slow & perfect, word lists |
| 2 | Home row and bottom row confidence | 10 min weak-key drill + 5 min test |
| 3 | Speed with a 97% accuracy floor | 2 min accurate + 30 s overspeed, repeat |
| 4 | Real text: sentences and paragraphs | 3 × 60 s tests + punctuation drill |
Take one 60-second test at the start of week 1 and another at the end of week 4. Record both. Most people who follow this see a 5–15 WPM gain, and beginners often more.
Mistakes that quietly cap your speed
- Buying gear instead of practising. A mechanical keyboard is nicer, but it rarely adds more than a couple of WPM by itself.
- Ignoring posture. Wrists bent upward, elbows below the keyboard and shoulders raised all limit how fast your fingers can cycle. Keep wrists neutral and float them slightly above the board.
- Only practising what you are good at. Your practice should feel slightly uncomfortable. If every session feels easy, you are reinforcing, not improving.
- Chasing your personal best every session. One bad test says nothing. Look at a seven-day average instead — an individual score swings by 5–10 WPM depending on the text and how warm your hands are.
Put this into practice
Run a 60-second test, check which characters cost you the most time, then drill exactly those. Nimtype tracks your WPM history and personal bests automatically.
Take a free typing test →Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to increase typing speed?
With 15 minutes of daily deliberate practice, most people gain 5–15 WPM within four to six weeks. The fastest gains come in the first two weeks as you stop looking at the keyboard.
Should I prioritise speed or accuracy while practising?
Accuracy first. Typing at 95% accuracy or better trains clean muscle memory; pushing speed while making many errors teaches your fingers the wrong movements, and that error pattern is hard to unlearn.
Does a mechanical keyboard make you type faster?
A better keyboard makes typing more comfortable but rarely adds more than a few WPM on its own. Technique, finger placement and practice volume matter far more than hardware.