How to touch type: a beginner's guide

Touch typing means typing without looking at the keyboard, using all ten fingers, each responsible for its own set of keys. It is slower than your current method for the first week or so — and then it is faster, permanently, because your eyes stay on the screen and your fingers never have to search.

The home row

Everything starts from the home row: the middle row of letters. On a QWERTY keyboard, rest your fingers like this:

• Left hand: little finger on A, ring on S, middle on D, index on F.
• Right hand: index on J, middle on K, ring on L, little finger on ;.
• Both thumbs rest on the space bar.

Feel for the small raised bumps on F and J. They are there so your index fingers can find home without looking. After every keystroke, your fingers return to this position.

Which finger presses which key

Each finger moves straight up or down from its home key to reach the keys above and below it. The index fingers do double duty: the left index also covers G, R, T, V and B; the right index covers H, Y, U, N and M. The little fingers handle the edges — Shift, Enter, Tab and most punctuation.

Keyshand's on-screen keyboard highlights the next key and can draw the hand and finger that should press it, so you do not need to memorise a chart before you start.

Posture

• Sit up with your feet flat and your screen at eye level.
• Keep your wrists straight and slightly raised — do not rest them on the desk while typing.
• Curve your fingers lightly, as if holding a ball.
• Strike keys with a light touch. Pressing hard slows you down and tires your hands.

How to practise

The traditional method is to learn a few keys at a time: the home row first, then the rows above and below, adding letters only when the ones you know feel automatic. This works, and it is exactly how Keyshand's adaptive trainer is built — it starts you on five common letters, and adds the next one only once your speed and accuracy on the current set are good enough.

What makes it faster than a fixed course is that it measures each key as you type and weights the practice toward whichever letter you are currently worst at. You spend your time on the key that needs it, not on the ones you have already got.

The rules that matter

• Do not look down. Even when it is slow. Especially when it is slow.
• Accuracy first. Type at a pace where you make almost no mistakes.
• Little and often. Ten to fifteen minutes a day is better than one long session.
• Return to home. After every key, your fingers go back to the home row.

How long will it take?

Most people can type the whole alphabet without looking after two to three weeks of daily practice, and reach their old speed again within a month. There is a fuller answer in how long it takes to learn touch typing.