Typing test with great writing

A 1, 3 or 5 minute typing speed test on paragraphs by Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Hazlitt and 5 other classic essayists. Live speed and accuracy, no account needed.

Test length
Time left
1:00
Speed
–WPM
Accuracy
–%

Click the text and start typing. The clock starts on your first key.

I know several of my Friends and Well-wishers are in great Pain for me, lest I should not be able to keep up the Spirit of a Paper which I oblige myself to furnish every Day: But to make them easy in this Particular, I will promise them faithfully to give it over as soon as I grow dull. This I know will be Matter of great Raillery to the small Wits; who will frequently put me in mind of my Promise, desire me to keep my Word, assure me that it is high Time to give over, with many other little Pleasantries of the like Nature, which men of a little smart Genius cannot forbear throwing out against their best Friends, when they have such a Handle given them of being witty. But let them remember, that I do hereby enter my Caveat against this Piece of Raillery.
The magazine appeared, in a yellow cover, which was the best part of it, for at least it was unassuming; it ran four months in undisturbed obscurity, and died without a gasp. The first number was edited by all four of us with prodigious bustle; the second fell principally into the hands of Ferrier and me; the third I edited alone; and it has long been a solemn question who it was that edited the fourth. It would perhaps be still more difficult to say who read it. Poor yellow sheet, that looked so hopefully Livingtones’ window!

From The Spectator, No. 10 by Joseph Addison

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How the typing test works

  • Choose 1, 3 or 5 minutes. The clock starts on your first keystroke.
  • Type the passage as written. Mistakes turn red; you can fix them with backspace or keep going. When you finish a paragraph, the next one follows.
  • When the time is up you get your net words per minute, accuracy, words typed and mistakes, with links to the essays the passages came from.
  • Focus mode (in the toolbar) hides everything but the sentence you are typing; press Esc to leave it.

Where the passages come from

59 passages

59 paragraphs from 8 public-domain essays. Each one can be typed in full:

Questions about the typing test

How is typing speed measured?

Speed is net words per minute (WPM): the characters you typed correctly, divided by five (the standard length of a word), per minute of the test. Mistakes left in the text do not count toward your speed.

How is accuracy calculated?

Accuracy is the share of your keystrokes that were right when you typed them. A mistake you fix with backspace still counts against accuracy, so it shows how cleanly you type, not only how the final text looks.

When does the timer start?

On your first keystroke, not when the page loads, so you can read the opening line before you begin.

What will I type?

Paragraphs from 8 public-domain essays by writers such as Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Hazlitt and Edgar Allan Poe. When you finish a paragraph the next one follows, so you never run out of text before the time is up.

Should I take a 1 minute, 3 minute or 5 minute typing test?

A 1 minute typing test is a quick check of your top speed. The 3 and 5 minute tests show the pace you can keep up, which is closer to how you type when you write.

Do I need to type curly quotes and dashes?

No. The straight quote and hyphen keys on your keyboard match the curly quotes and dashes in the text.

Do I need an account?

No, anyone can take the test. If you are signed in, each result is saved and your personal best for each length shows on this page. If not, your bests are kept only in this browser.

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