How to type faster (tips and tricks to master the keyboard)
Living on the digital edge where typing is almost a daily necessity, learning the proper ways to use the keyboard is crucial. Not only can you be more productive and get things done faster with a keyboard, typing faster can allow you to keep up with your brain; that little voice in your head that has great ideas may only last a few seconds before it’s forgotten.
In this article, we will give you 5 tips for you to start writing faster and correctly. Some of the tips are pretty obvious, but we’ll provide you with some apps to help you practice and learn faster.
Complete guide to understand mechanical keyboards
What is a mechanical keyboard and why are thousands of people going crazy over it? Would you do it … read more
1. Get rid of bad habits
Getting rid of your bad writing habits is probably the hardest thing to do. He’s probably been using the same writing method ever since he started using a keyboard, as far as where he places his palms. If you are an FPS (First Person Shooter) gamer, you are probably used to placing your left hand on the WASD keys and you may have stronger fingers on your left hand than your right (speaking here from experience).
Others can type with just two fingers, hovering over ten (or more) keys each, and must always keep their eyes on the keyboard to get the right keys. Although you may be typing fast with only half as many fingers as you need, you need to put your foot (or hands) down and break that habit immediately.
2. Use all 10 fingers
The next step is relearn proper finger placement on the keyboard. If you take a closer look at your keyboard, you’ll notice bumps on each of the F. key and j wrench. This is to help you find the correct finger placement without having to look at the keyboard.
Ideally, your index fingers should rest on the F. Y j the keys and other fingers will fall into place naturally.
In the image below, you’ll notice color-coded areas showing the keys covered by each finger. You will notice that the middle and ring fingers are used for only a few keys on the keyboard, while the index fingers are used for the middle section of the keyboard. The navigation, punctuation, and function keys are primarily controlled with the little finger.

If this confuses you, go to websites like TypingClub or Typing Web, where they will guide you step by step to familiarize yourself with the keyboard. Some of your exercises only involve 2 fingers, and as you progress through your program, you will slowly master typing faster and more accurately.
3. Learn to type by touch
Next up: touch typing. is when you type without looking at the keyboard. In fact, for experienced typists, looking at the keyboard actually slows them down.
Getting there takes practice, and we’re not talking hours here. It could be weeks before you condition your fingers to take control of the keys that ‘they’ are responsible for. Even if it slows you down, don’t go back to typing like you used to.
Now, try to write sentences without looking at the keyboard and try to remember the position of each letter. If you have to glance at the keyboard, you can, but play the same word or sentence again, this time without looking at the keyboard. It takes a while, but if you’re determined, it gets easier every day.
Eventually you’ll know where each key is, and from there it’s just a matter of getting better at speed.
4. Navigate with basic keyboard shortcuts
It’s no surprise that Windows and macOS have a lot of keyboard shortcuts. Since both hands are already on the keyboard, why waste time using a mouse to navigate? You don’t have to remember all the shortcuts, just the most common ones.
The common shortcuts below are mostly used in word processing programs:
shortcuts | Descriptions |
Control + c. | Copy |
Control + X | Cut off |
Control + v | Pasta |
Control + Z | Undo |
Control + s. | Save |
Control + F. | search word |
Control + FOR | highlight all |
Change + Left arrow either correct arrow | Highlight the next letter |
Control + Change + Left arrow either correct arrow | Highlight the next word |
Control + Left arrow either correct arrow | Navigate text cursor to next word without highlighting |
House | Go to the beginning of the line |
End | Go to the end of the line |
page up | scroll up |
page down | Move to down |
You can also use shortcut keys while browsing the web. Here are some shortcuts that you can use to navigate in web browsers.
shortcuts | Descriptions |
Control + Tab | Switch to the next tab |
Control + Change + Tab | Switch to the previous tab |
Control + you | open new tab |
Control + W | Close the current tab |
Control + Change + you | Open previously closed tab |
Control + r | update the current web page |
Control + Do not. | Open new web browser window |
Recoil | go back one page |
Change + Recoil | go forward one page |
Finally, here are some common keyboard shortcuts for more general navigation (Windows).
shortcuts | Descriptions |
alternative + Tab | Switch to the next open window |
alternative + Change + Tab | Switch to the previous open window |
alternative + F4 | Close current window |
Using these shortcut keys will require a lot of your little finger, as many of the modifier keys like Control, alternative Y Change they are closer to your little finger.
5. Practice with applications
Practicing typing on a keyboard doesn’t have to be stressful (although it can feel like it sometimes). You can practice with many typing games. Here are some websites where you can learn to master the keyboard and have fun at the same time.
TypeRacer
TypeRacer is a simple and fun game where each player is represented by a car. You’ll be given a text passage from a book or lyrics to a song, then type it in to move your car in a ‘race’ with other players. Whoever finishes writing the passage first wins.

keybr.com
Keybr generates readable random words where some words are misspelled to help you better remember common letter combinations instead of typing random letters. It will give you stats to tell you which area of the keyboard you are weakest at. It also offers words in different languages as well as different keyboard layouts.

Touch typing study
The exercises on this site help you get comfortable with finger placement by repeatedly asking you to type those letters with the correct finger. It is also offered in different languages.

learn typing
Learn Touch Typing is a basic looking website that has a lot of good explanations for beginners learning touch typing. Once you’ve gotten through the basics, there are also more advanced exercises you can do.

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