1 Minute Typing Test
The classic 60 second typing test. One minute is long enough to give a reliable words per minute score and short enough to repeat as often as you like.
A 1 minute typing test measures your speed over exactly 60 seconds, so your WPM score equals the number of five-character words you type in that minute: 300 correct characters is 60 WPM, 200 is 40 WPM. One minute is the standard interval used by schools and typing certificates because it is long enough to average out a stumble and short enough to repeat immediately.
Start typing, the clock starts on your first keyStart typing to start the clockTap the words to start typing
Copy the words shown on screen. The timer starts with your first keystroke, and a space moves you to the next word. Finalised words cannot be corrected, and pasting is blocked. Press Escape, or Tab then Enter, to start over.
No personal best yet at 1 min
Words come from the standard list of 240 common English words, reshuffled every run, so the test measures your typing rather than your vocabulary. Sample from this list: where made look his read in large very some another some same country live.
The 1 minute typing test is the most popular way to measure typing speed, and for good reason. Sixty seconds is long enough to smooth out lucky bursts and unlucky stumbles, so the words per minute number you get is a fair reflection of your steady pace. It is also short enough that you can run it several times in a row, warm up your fingers, and watch your score climb across a single session.
This test defaults to a 60 second clock. Start typing the passage of common English words and TypeBurst tracks your WPM, accuracy, CPM and errors live. The word you are on is highlighted, and each letter turns correct or incorrect the moment you press a key, so mistakes never sneak past you. When the minute is up you get a clean summary, and your best one minute result is saved on your device so you always have a target to beat.
Because one minute is the standard interval used by schools, recruiters and typing certificates, a 1 minute typing test result is easy to compare and easy to quote. If you are preparing for a typing assessment or a data entry job, practising with this exact format is the closest thing to the real thing. Aim first for accuracy above 95 percent, then push your speed up from there without letting errors creep back in.
Why is one minute the standard test length?
Because the arithmetic disappears. WPM is characters divided by five divided by minutes elapsed, and when the elapsed time is exactly one minute the last division does nothing. Your score is simply the number of five-character words you managed, which is why a 60 second result is the easiest to quote and the hardest to misread.
It also happens to be the shortest duration where a single mistake does not wreck the number. Fumble one word in a 10 second test and your WPM can swing by more than ten points, because you have only typed a handful of words in total. The same fumble over 60 seconds moves the result by a point or two. That is the practical reason schools and certificate schemes settled on a minute rather than something shorter.
What score should you aim for on a 1 minute test?
Measured against real data rather than folklore: the 2018 study of 168,000 typists found an average of 52 WPM, with most computer users between 30 and 60 WPM and the fastest participants at 120 WPM. In one minute, 52 WPM means 52 words, or 260 correct characters. See the average typing speed page for the full sourced breakdown, including the age findings.
Set your target one band above wherever your first honest run lands, and hold accuracy above 95 percent while you chase it. A 1 minute run that ends at 70 WPM with 85 percent accuracy is worth less than a 58 WPM run at 99 percent, because every wrong character costs three keystrokes: the mistake, the backspace and the correction.
How to read your 1 minute score
Over exactly sixty seconds the result needs no conversion. Your WPM is the number of five-character words you typed correctly, and your CPM is that figure times five. Two details are specific to this length. On the stricter net WPM shown on the results screen, each uncorrected error costs exactly one WPM, because net WPM subtracts errors divided by the minutes elapsed and here that is one minute. And because a single word is worth a single WPM, two runs within two or three points of each other are the same result.
So judge a 1 minute score on the middle of three runs, not on your best one. A best-of-many score flatters you in a way that a median does not, and the median is the number that will still be there tomorrow. Then place it against the measured bands in the table below, each one quoted from a published source listed at the end of this page.
Using a one minute typing test as your benchmark
A one minute typing test is the reading most people mean when they quote a typing speed, so it is the one to take when you want to compare yourself with anyone else. Take three runs, keep the middle one, and set it against the research on the average typing speed page, which explains where the 52 WPM figure comes from and what the often quoted 40 WPM figure is based on.
If you need a document rather than a number, the typing certificate page runs the same one minute test and turns the result into a printable record with your net WPM, accuracy and keystrokes per hour on it.
Reading a 1 minute result against measured bands
| Your 1 minute score | Where it sits | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Around 27 WPM | Typical sustained copying speed of two-finger, hunt and peck typists | Words per minute, Wikipedia |
| Under 30 WPM | Slower than most computer users, with the most room to improve | Aalto University summary of the 2018 keystroke study |
| 30 to 60 WPM | Inside the band that covers most computer users | Aalto University summary of the 2018 keystroke study |
| 52 WPM | The average across 168,000 volunteers | Dhakal et al., CHI 2018 |
| 60 to 90 WPM | The range trained professional typists reached in 1970s and 1980s research | University of Cambridge summary |
| 120 WPM | Level with the fastest participants in the 168,000-person dataset | Dhakal et al., CHI 2018 |
Bands are quoted from the sources below. TypeBurst publishes no percentile of its own, because it collects no scores to build one from.
How many words is that in 1 minute?
A WPM word is five characters including the space that follows it, so over 1 minute each speed produces exactly this much text. Use it to turn a target score into something you can picture.
| WPM | Words in 1 minute | Correct characters in 1 minute |
|---|---|---|
| 20 WPM | 20 | 100 |
| 30 WPM | 30 | 150 |
| 40 WPM | 40 | 200 |
| 50 WPM | 50 | 250 |
| 60 WPM | 60 | 300 |
| 80 WPM | 80 | 400 |
| 100 WPM | 100 | 500 |
Calculated as WPM x 60 / 60 for words, then x 5 for characters. Rounded to whole words.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my net WPM lower than my WPM on a 1 minute test?
Net WPM subtracts uncorrected errors divided by the minutes elapsed. Over one minute that division does nothing, so every error you leave standing removes exactly one WPM: a run with 4 uncorrected errors reads 4 WPM lower on the net figure than on the gross one.
Why is a 1 minute typing test the standard?
Partly convention and partly arithmetic. WPM divides by the minutes elapsed, so over exactly one minute your score is simply the number of five-character words you typed, with no conversion needed. One minute is also the shortest duration where a single fumbled word does not swing the result by ten points or more.
What is a good score on a 1 minute test?
The largest study available measured an average of 52 WPM across 168,000 people, with most typists between 30 and 60 WPM. So above 60 WPM in a minute is genuinely fast, and 120 WPM matches the fastest participants in that dataset. Keep accuracy above 95 percent before pushing for more speed.
How many characters do I type in a 1 minute test?
Your WPM multiplied by five, because a WPM word is defined as five characters including the following space. So 40 WPM is 200 characters in the minute, 60 WPM is 300, and 100 WPM is 500. The table on this page lists every band.
Can I take the test more than once?
Yes, take it as often as you like. Press Restart for a fresh passage, and TypeBurst keeps your best 60 second result stored locally so you can track your progress.
Is a one minute typing test enough for a job application?
It is enough to know where you stand, and it is the length most people quote. Employer tests are often longer, and a five minute sample is much harder to fluke, so if you know the length of the test you will sit, practise at that length as well.
Sources
- Dhakal, Feit, Kristensson & Oulasvirta, Observations on Typing from 136 Million Keystrokes, CHI 2018
- The traits of fast typists discovered by analysing 136 million keystrokes, Aalto University
- What makes a faster typist?, University of Cambridge
- Words per minute, on two-finger typing speeds and the five-character word
Related pages
- 2 minute testA steadier score without the fatigue
- 30 second testShort enough for a spare moment
- Typing testThe main test, with four word lists
- Words per minuteThe formula, plus CPM and keystrokes per hour
- Average typing speedWhat the research actually measured
- Typing certificateTake a test, then print a free record of it
- MethodologyExactly what TypeBurst counts and ignores