60
seconds
Two minutes is where a lucky start stops carrying you. It shows whether your speed holds steady or slowly drains away.
In a one-minute test, a strong first twenty seconds can carry the whole score. At two minutes that stops working. Concentration dips, your shoulders tighten, and a run of awkward words costs more when the end is not yet in sight. That is exactly why this length is useful. It is still short enough to repeat a few times in a row, and long enough to show your habits.
Alongside net WPM and accuracy, every result reports consistency. Presspace samples your speed over rolling three-second windows and works out how much those samples vary relative to your average (the coefficient of variation). Consistency is 100 × (1 − that figure). An even typist scores high even at a modest speed. Someone who bursts and stalls scores low even if the average looks good.
On a 15 or 30 second test there are only a handful of samples, so the figure jumps around. Over two minutes there are enough of them for it to describe how you really type.
The chart on the results screen plots your speed across the run and marks where mistakes happened. Look at its shape more than its height:
Run one 2 minute test, then open the replay and watch where you slowed. Click the two or three slowest words in the results to drill them, then run another test. Do that three times and note consistency next to WPM each time. Raising your consistency is often the quickest way to raise your average, because the slow patches are where most of the lost time sits.
Anyone whose one-minute score feels flattering, and anyone working towards a longer job test who wants a stepping stone before the 5 minute test.
Over two minutes small things add up: a dip in focus, tension creeping into your shoulders, a few hard words in a row. A drop of a few WPM is normal. A large drop usually means you are starting faster than you can sustain.
Presspace takes rolling three-second samples of your speed and measures how much they vary compared with your average. Consistency is 100 times one minus that variation, so steadier typing scores closer to 100%. It rewards an even pace, whatever the speed.
Start at a pace you can hold, slightly below your one-minute best. Keep your shoulders and hands loose, keep breathing, and do not chase every error with Backspace. Practise at two minutes until the second half of the speed chart is as flat as the first.