60
seconds
Every word in this test is typed with the left hand alone: q, w, e, r, t, a, s, d, f, g, z, x, c, v and b. It shows you, quickly, what that hand can do on its own.
This is a timed typing test where every word can be typed with the left hand alone. The letters on the left side of a QWERTY keyboard, q w e r t, a s d f g and z x c v b, make a surprising number of real English words: were, after, great, start, water, street, desert. The test serves them from the same frequency-ranked list as the normal test and scores them the same way.
Choose 15, 30, 60 or 120 seconds above. Your right thumb still presses Space, so keep that hand on the home row.
A normal test mixes both hands together, so a weak hand hides behind a strong one. Splitting them is the quickest way to find out which side is costing you. Run this test and the right hand typing test at 30 seconds each. If one score is clearly lower, that hand is where your practice will pay off fastest.
On QWERTY the left hand often has the harder job. More of the most common English letters sit on its side (e, a, r, s, t), and long runs like stewardesses or reverberated fall entirely to it. Left-hand-only words also tend to be awkward, with the same finger used for two letters in a row. That makes this one of the better challenges for building finger independence.
| Finger | Keys |
|---|---|
| Little finger | Q, A, Z (and Shift, Tab, Caps Lock) |
| Ring finger | W, S, X |
| Middle finger | E, D, C |
| Index finger | R, F, V and T, G, B |
The index finger covers two columns, which is why words with r, t, f, g, v and b next to each other feel slow. If you are not sure of the map yet, the touch typing guide has the full keyboard and the typing lessons introduce the keys a few at a time.
If you type one-handed every day, because of an injury or for any other reason, this challenge is useful practice but it only covers half the keyboard. Specialist one-handed layouts and keyboards exist for full-time use, and the accessibility page lists the Presspace settings that can make practice more comfortable, such as larger text and the on-screen keyboard.
Every word uses only left-hand keys, so your right hand has nothing to do but press Space with the thumb. Keep your right hand resting on the home row anyway, so your position stays right when you go back to a normal test.
For most right-handed typists it is a little less practised, and on a QWERTY keyboard it also has more work to do: more English letters sit on the left side. A clear gap between your left hand and right hand scores is common and very fixable with short, regular practice.
Common words built only from the left-hand letters, such as were, after, great, star, water and test, along with longer ones like average, beverage and sweater. The list comes from the same frequency-ranked vocabulary as the standard test, filtered by key.
Typing tests by length: 15 second typing test · 30 second test · 1 minute typing test · 2 minute test · 5 minute typing test · 10 minute test · custom text
In other languages: Spanish typing test · French typing test · German typing test · Portuguese typing test · Italian typing test