Typing Speed Test

What your result means

When the timer ends, the big number is your net WPM, with a level label next to it. Net WPM counts only what you typed correctly, so it is the number to compare.

The level label uses your rounded net WPM:

For a wider benchmark, a study of 168,000 volunteers who took an online typing test found an average of about 52 WPM, with most people within 20 WPM either side. Those volunteers chose to take a typing test, so the average person is probably slower.

How typing speed is calculated

Typing tests count a “word” as 5 characters, including spaces, so long and short words are treated fairly.

• Gross WPM = characters typed ÷ 5 ÷ minutes.
• Net WPM = correctly typed characters ÷ 5 ÷ minutes.
• Accuracy = correct characters ÷ characters typed × 100.
• Errors = characters typed − correct characters.

Each character you type is compared with the character in the same place in the passage. A mistake you fix with backspace is not counted, but the time it took still lowers your speed. “Minutes” is the time the test actually ran: the full 1, 2, 5 or 10 minutes, or less if you typed the whole passage first.

One thing to watch: if you skip or add a character, everything after it shifts out of line and counts as wrong until you fix it. The red highlighting shows you where it started.

How to use the typing speed test

1. Choose the Time: 1 min, 2 min, 5 min or 10 min (SSC). Longer tests give a steadier result.
2. Choose the Language: English or हिन्दी (Hindi). Changing either one loads a fresh passage.
3. Click in the typing box and start typing. The timer starts on your first key.
4. Watch the passage: correct characters and wrong ones are highlighted in different colours, and the passage scrolls as you go. Your live speed appears next to the clock after 3 seconds.
5. Keep going until the timer ends or you reach the end of the passage, then read your results. Press Restart for a new passage.

The passage is a random mix of short English or Hindi paragraphs, long enough for 120 WPM over your chosen time. Paste and drag-and-drop are blocked, so only what you actually type counts.

Worked example

Rahul takes the 2-minute English test. When the timer ends, he has typed 420 characters, and 399 of them are correct.

1. Gross speed: 420 ÷ 5 ÷ 2 = 42 WPM.
2. Net speed: 399 ÷ 5 ÷ 2 = 39.9, shown as 40 WPM, with the label “Good”.
3. Accuracy: 399 ÷ 420 × 100 = 95.0%.
4. Errors: 420 − 399 = 21.

The note under his result says he is at or above the 35 WPM that SSC asks for in English. Speed is not his problem. His 5% character error rate is, because SSC also sets a limit on mistakes, so he should slow down a little and cut errors before the exam.

SSC typing test speed and rules

The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) runs a typing test for Lower Division Clerk (LDC) and Junior Secretariat Assistant (JSA) posts, and a data entry skill test for Data Entry Operator (DEO) posts, in the CHSL exam. The figures below are from the CHSL 2026 notice, uploaded on 7 September 2026.

• Qualifying only: you must pass, but the marks do not add to your rank.
• Medium is fixed: you choose Hindi or English typing in the application form and can’t change it later.
• Hindi font: Hindi typists for LDC/JSA must type in the Mangal font only. Using any other font leads to failing the test.
• Extra time: candidates eligible for a scribe get 5 extra minutes.
• Mistakes allowed: in the CHSL 2025 final result, SSC allowed up to 7% mistakes in the LDC/JSA typing test for unreserved candidates and 10% for other categories. For the DEO skill test it was 5% and 7%.

Two practical points. SSC’s test is 10 minutes, so pick 10 min (SSC) here to practise at the full length. A speed you can hold for 1 minute often slips over 10, so test yourself at the real length before exam day. And SSC counts mistakes by its own evaluation guidelines, mostly at word level, while this test counts characters, so treat your accuracy here as a guide. Rules change with each notice, so check the latest one on the SSC website. Keep your documents in order too: our age calculator checks your age on the cut-off date, and the CGPA to percentage converter handles graded marksheets.

How to type faster

• Learn the home row: rest your left fingers on A, S, D, F and your right fingers on J, K, L and the semicolon key. Feel for the small bumps on F and J. Each finger then reaches only the keys near it.
• Don’t look at the keys: it feels slow at first, but touch typing is the only way to go well past 30 to 40 WPM.
• Accuracy before speed: type slowly enough to make few mistakes. Speed builds once the right movements become habit.
• Practise little and often: 15 to 30 minutes a day works better than one long session a week. Use full sentences, because exams use passages, not word lists.
• Sit well: keep your wrists level, your back straight and the screen at eye height.

To time a longer passage of your own, paste it into our word counter to see its length first.

Typing in Hindi

The Hindi passage is in Unicode Devanagari. Type it with any Unicode Hindi keyboard on your computer, such as InScript, which you can add in your Windows, macOS or Android language settings. Mangal, the font SSC requires, is also a Unicode font, so practising here in Unicode matches the exam. Older fonts like Kruti Dev are not Unicode and will not match the passage. If your exam names a keyboard layout, practise with that one.

Limitations

• Not an exam simulator: SSC and other exams use their own passages, software and error rules. Your score here is a practice guide, not a prediction.
• Character level: this test checks each character. Exams often count whole-word mistakes and half mistakes, so their error counts look different.
• Ten minutes at most: there is no 15-minute mode for the DEO skill test, so run a 10-minute test and then a 5-minute one.
• Your keyboard matters: a laptop, a desktop keyboard and a phone screen give quite different speeds. Practise on the kind of keyboard the exam uses.

Key facts

• SSC sets 35 words per minute in English and 30 in Hindi for LDC/JSA, equal to about 10,500 and 9,000 key depressions an hour, judged over a 10-minute passage. (SSC CHSL 2026 notice (opens in new tab))
• Hindi typists for LDC/JSA must use the Mangal font only, and using any other font leads to non-qualification. (SSC CHSL 2026 notice (opens in new tab))
• The DEO skill test asks for 15,000 key depressions an hour in Part A and 8,000 in Part B, each over 15 minutes. (SSC CHSL 2026 notice (opens in new tab))
• In the CHSL 2025 final result, the typing test allowed up to 7% mistakes for unreserved candidates and 10% for other categories. (SSC result notice, 17 August 2026 (opens in new tab))
• Across 168,000 volunteers, average typing speed was 51.56 WPM with a standard deviation of 20.2, and trained typists were about 5 WPM faster than untrained ones. (Dhakal et al., CHI 2018 (opens in new tab))