Typing Speed Test
Timed typing in English and Chinese with live speed, accuracy and personal best
How to use
- Pick a mode, then a duration: Chinese sentences score in CPM, English passages in WPM. Thirty seconds warms up, sixty shows a steadier level.
- Press Start and the hidden input takes focus. The clock begins with your first keystroke, so there is no rush to be ready.
- Follow the display character by character: green marks correct input, red background marks mistakes, and a caret sits before the next expected character.
- Finishing a passage loads the next one automatically, up to three passages per round. The results card appears when time runs out or three passages are done.
- The card lists speed, accuracy, elapsed time, character counts and total errors. Beating your personal best saves it locally; Clear record removes it.
FAQ
What is the difference between CPM and WPM?
Pinyin letters appear while I type Chinese, is that normal?
Where are scores and the personal best stored?
How do I practice effectively?
How to use
- Pick a mode and a duration
Choose Chinese sentences or English passages, then 30 or 60 seconds. Chinese mode scores in CPM and English mode in WPM; switching reloads a fresh text and resets the round.
- Start and type the first character
Start focuses the hidden input, and the clock begins with your first keystroke. The display marks each character: green for correct, red background for a mismatch.
- Fix mistakes and change passages
Backspace works while the clock runs, and scoring reads what finally stays in the buffer. Completing a passage loads the next one, up to three passages per round.
- Read the results card
When the round ends, the card shows speed, accuracy, elapsed time, character counts and total errors. Beating the personal best for that mode saves a new record locally.
- Review and go again
Check accuracy before chasing speed. Use New text for a fresh passage, so a memorized sentence does not inflate the score.
About this tool
Typing speed tests measure how fast and how steadily you can enter text in a fixed amount of time. Chinese mode uses CPM, the number of correct characters typed per minute. English mode uses WPM. Correct characters are divided by five, since an average English word runs about five characters including spaces, then scaled to one minute. Both metrics count only correct characters. Wrong keystrokes raise the error count and lower accuracy, which is correct keystrokes divided by everything you typed. The page refreshes speed, accuracy, errors and progress while you type. A full results card appears when time runs out or three passages are done.
This tool ships with two built-in corpora. The Chinese set holds short sentences that mix everyday life with technical topics. The English set holds short passages on general subjects, both close to real typing work. While you type, the target text is rendered character by character. Correct input turns green, mismatches get a red background, and a caret marks the next expected character. Backspace is always available. Each round draws random passages, up to three in a row, so repeating the same sentence from memory is unlikely. Personal bests are stored per mode in your browser only, with no account and no upload. Clearing site data resets them.
How it works
Speed scoring counts only correct characters, which is the convention across typing tests. With a 60 second test, typing 130 correct Chinese characters gives a CPM of 130 times 60 divided by the elapsed seconds. The clock starts with the first keystroke, so the gap after pressing Start never hurts the score. For English, WPM divides correct characters by five before scaling to a minute. Accuracy is correct characters divided by every keystroke that landed in the buffer. Corrections are re-judged on the final text, so a fixed character is not punished twice. The original mistake still counts toward total errors.
Keystrokes land in a hidden text field, and the passage is rendered one node per character. After each input event it compares the old and new buffers, finds the first difference and repaints from there. Backspace and input method edits therefore stay consistent with what is shown. Timing uses setInterval paired with performance.now differences. The start timestamp is recorded once and every tick subtracts it, so dropped frames do not accumulate. Chinese input method composition is detected and skipped until real characters are committed. Scores are written to localStorage inside try and catch blocks, so browsers that block storage still work, only without a saved best.
When to use it
- Daily practice streak
Run one 30 second Chinese round at a fixed time each day and note the CPM in a calendar. Two weeks later, the first score makes the progress curve obvious. Keep the rounds short so practice becomes a habit and never feels like a chore.
- Baseline before data entry
Take one 60 second English round before you start a data heavy role and keep the card as your baseline. Practice the weak keys that the error count reveals. A short retest later confirms the gap is closing instead of training blindly.
- Compare keyboards and layouts
Switch an input method or a keyboard, then run the same mode twice. Compare speed and accuracy on the two cards. Numbers settle the question faster than a gut feeling, and the records stay available for later checks. Keep both cards, and the decision is easy to explain later.
Tips & tricks
- Keep your fingers on the home row and type at a fixed pace; slowing down beats fixing three or four errors in a row.
- Watch the source text, not your hands, and read one word ahead so your fingers chase your eyes.
- When accuracy drops below 95%, slow down first; small speed gains on top of solid accuracy last longer.
Things to watch
- Do not paste to win
The hidden input blocks paste on purpose, because only real keystrokes say anything about your typing. A pasted score proves nothing and trains nothing. If the numbers look unrealistically high, check that the input method and keyboard state match what you use every day.
- Punctuation and spaces count
Periods, commas and spaces are characters in the corpus, and skipping one registers as an error. Treat them as ordinary keys in the same rhythm. A pause at every comma is what breaks the rhythm, not the punctuation itself. Keeping that flow steady protects accuracy when the passage gets dense.
- Speed without accuracy fades
A fast round with accuracy below ninety percent usually means the key positions are not memorized yet. Lock in accuracy first, then add speed gradually. The progress curve then holds instead of swinging between lucky and poor rounds. Two or three steady rounds beat one lucky sprint every time.