What is my typing speed in WPM?
Type how many characters (or words) you typed, how long it took, and how many mistakes you left in. The WPM calculator shows your gross and net words per minute, your accuracy, and your characters per minute.
- Gross WPM
- 50
You type 50 words per minute (50 net WPM, 100% accuracy).
- Net WPM
- 50
- Accuracy
- 100%
- Characters per minute
- 250
- Minutes
- 5
Gross WPM: 50. You type 50 words per minute (50 net WPM, 100% accuracy).
How to calculate
Computes typing speed in words per minute from the characters or words typed and the time, with net WPM after uncorrected errors, accuracy, and characters per minute.
Example with the default inputs (I counted Characters, Characters typed 1,250, Time 5 min, Uncorrected errors 0): You type 50 words per minute (50 net WPM, 100% accuracy).
Method: Gross WPM = (characters ÷ 5) ÷ minutes, or words ÷ minutes; net WPM = gross WPM − uncorrected errors ÷ minutes (at least 0); accuracy = (typed − errors) ÷ typed × 100; CPM = characters ÷ minutes.
- A standard word is 5 characters, spaces and punctuation included (Arif and Stuerzlinger, 2009).
- Errors are mistakes left in the text, counted in the same thing you counted: characters or words.
- Net WPM never goes below 0.
Worked examples
Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.
- I counted Characters, Characters typed 1,250, Time 5 min, Uncorrected errors 15 gives Gross WPM 50, Net WPM 47, Accuracy 98.8%, Characters per minute 250.Source: Arif and Stuerzlinger, 2009, Analysis of Text Entry Performance Metrics (a word is 5 characters, spaces included), cited by Words per minute, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_per_minute
- I counted Characters, Characters typed 200, Time 1 min, Uncorrected errors 10 gives Gross WPM 40, Net WPM 30, Accuracy 95%.Source: Type to Learn, How are Words Per Minute and Accuracy Calculated? (words = keys pressed ÷ 5; accuracy = 190 ÷ 200 × 100 = 95%), https://www.typetolearn.app/knowledge-base/how-words-per-minute-and-accuracy-are-calculated/
- I counted Words, Words typed 300, Time 4.5 min gives Gross WPM 66.666667, Net WPM 66.666667, Accuracy 100%, Minutes 4.5.Source: Words per minute (words ÷ minutes), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_per_minute
How it works
- Minutes = the time you type, in minutes (seconds ÷ 60).
- Gross WPM, when you counted characters = (characters ÷ 5) ÷ minutes. When you counted words = words ÷ minutes.
- Net WPM = gross WPM − uncorrected errors ÷ minutes. When that is below 0, net WPM is 0.
- Accuracy = (typed − errors) ÷ typed × 100, where typed is the characters or the words you counted.
- Characters per minute (when you counted characters) = characters ÷ minutes.
Rules. Errors are counted in the same thing you counted (characters or words) and may not be more than that count: then there is no answer and the page says so. Characters are from 1 to 10,000,000, words from 1 to 2,000,000, errors from 0 (empty means 0), and the time from 1 second to 100 hours.
Exact arithmetic. The time is read as the exact decimal you typed, in minutes or seconds (4.5 min is exactly 270 s): the page stores it in seconds and reads it back as the decimal with the fewest significant digits, in minutes or seconds, that gives the same stored number (on a tie, minutes win). When no decimal of up to 17 significant digits does, the stored number's own shortest decimal, in seconds, is used. Every step is an exact fraction.
Output format. WPM, net WPM, characters per minute and accuracy (a percent) show with at most 1 decimal, and minutes with at most 2, each rounded half up from its exact value, with trailing zeros left off.
Worked examples by hand
1,250 characters in 5 minutes, 15 errors. 1,250 ÷ 5 = 250 words; ÷ 5 min = 50 WPM. Net 50 − 15 ÷ 5 = 47 WPM. Accuracy (1,250 − 15) ÷ 1,250 = 98.8%. Characters per minute 1,250 ÷ 5 = 250.
200 characters in 1 minute, 10 errors. 200 ÷ 5 = 40 WPM; net 40 − 10 = 30 WPM; accuracy 190 ÷ 200 = 95%.
300 words in 4 minutes 30 seconds, no errors. 4.5 min; 300 ÷ 4.5 = 66.7 WPM, net the same, accuracy 100%.
Other questions people ask
How is WPM calculated?
Divide the characters you typed by 5, then divide by the minutes. Typing tests count a word as 5 characters, spaces and punctuation included, so long and short words count the same. 1,250 characters in 5 minutes is 250 words ÷ 5 = 50 WPM.
What is net WPM?
Gross WPM minus the uncorrected errors per minute. With 15 errors left in a 5 minute test, net WPM is 50 − 15 ÷ 5 = 47. Errors you fix while typing cost time instead, so they already lower the gross speed.
How is typing accuracy calculated?
The share of what you typed that is right: (typed − errors) ÷ typed × 100. 190 right out of 200 keys is 95%.
Why count 5 characters as a word instead of real words?
Real words differ in length, so a text full of short words would look faster. A fixed 5-character word lets you compare tests, texts and even languages. If you only counted whole words, choose Words and the calculator divides them by the minutes.
What is a good typing speed?
There is no single standard. Compare your net WPM, not the gross figure, with the speed a job or class asks for, and time a test of several minutes. Accuracy matters as much as speed.
How do I turn characters per minute into WPM?
Divide by 5. 300 characters per minute is 60 WPM.