How I Learnt to Type Without Looking at the Keyboard
Touch typing
Sometime during 2024, I decided to learn how to code. So I opened what I believe is the best programming course there is — CS50x, offered by Harvard University. It did not take me long to realize that I had an extremely poor typing speed. And I am not talking about touch typing here — I mean the plain old, looking-at-the-keyboard, two-fingers-from-each-hand kind of typing.
The fastest typist I had ever seen was my uncle. I remember asking him as a kid, “How do you type without looking at the keyboard?” All I recall him saying was that there is a method to it. So, like any sensible person in 2024, I went to ChatGPT and learnt about something called touch typing.
Finding the Right Resource
From there, I searched YouTube for courses. Ali Abdaal appeared — as he always does — and I watched his video. That is where I learnt about the many typing websites out there. The one that seemed best suited for a complete beginner like me was keybr.com.
It was also on keybr that I noticed something I had never paid attention to before: there are two small bumps on the ‘F’ and ‘J’ keys of a keyboard. That is where your index fingers are supposed to rest, with the remaining fingers placed naturally on the adjacent keys. Keybr walked me through all the fundamentals — which finger presses which key, the correct hand position, all of it.
While learning, I made a rule for myself: no cheating. I did not look at the keyboard, not once, no matter how tempting it was. It felt incredibly difficult at first, but after repeating it enough times, it started to feel natural.
7 Words Per Minute — Yes, Really
After a few sessions, I tried typing without looking at the keyboard in a real test. The result? 7 words per minute. That is, to put it mildly, demoralizing.
But I kept going. I committed to typing for at least 10 minutes every day for the next year or so. Today, as I write this article, I am typing at around 65 words per minute.
Things I Learnt Along the Way
- Press each key with confidence. Focus on pressing every key deliberately and with control. You might see YouTube videos where fast typists talk about “rolling” over the keys, but that advice is really meant for people who already type at high speeds. In my experience, trying to roll over keys at my current level only hurt my accuracy and, ironically, my speed too.
- Where your eyes should be at each stage. When starting out, the eyes should be fixed on the letter currently being typed. As one improves, they can start looking at the whole word. Once one crosses around 65 WPM, they should try looking at the next word while typing the current one. It sounds strange but it works.
- Slow down after a mistake — do not speed up. Every time I made an error, my instinct was to type faster to make up for lost time. That never helped. What it actually did was create more mistakes. The better approach is to consciously slow down for the next few keystrokes after an error, let yourself reset, and then get back to your rhythm.
Keybr Over Monkeytype
Monkeytype is arguably the most popular typing website out there, but for someone starting from scratch, I found keybr to be far superior. It introduces keys gradually, teaches you which finger to use for each one, and increases complexity based on your actual performance. It also tracks which letters you struggle with and builds exercises around those — which is exactly what a beginner needs.
Why I Eventually Moved to Typeracer
Once I had the basics down, I migrated to Typeracer — a website where you race against other people over the internet in real time. The reason I switched was simple: Typeracer does not let you move forward if you make a mistake. You have to backspace, correct it, and only then can you continue.
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This mirrors the real typing experience much more closely. On keybr, you just keep pressing keys until you hit the right one and move on. That is fine for learning, but it builds a slightly forgiving habit. Typeracer removed that cushion and forced me to be accurate from the start.
Typing From Text vs. Typing From Your Mind
One day at university, we were working on a review paper and I noticed something odd — I could not type nearly as fast as I did on keybr. The difference was that on keybr, I was always typing text in front of me. But when I had to type what I was thinking, or type while listening to something, I slowed down considerably.
That day I decided to start taking all my notes on my laptop using Obsidian, a wonderful note-taking app. That shift helped me bring my thinking-and-listening typing speed closer to my reading-and-copying typing speed. It was a surprisingly effective change.
From 6 WPM to 65 WPM
I started at 6 words per minute roughly 22 months ago. My initial goal was 40 WPM — which I had heard was the global average. Crossing that felt great. Sitting at around 65 WPM now, I know it is not a remarkable speed by any standard. But for me, it is a reminder that doing something consistently over time will make you better at it, without exception.
Does the Keyboard Matter?
I learnt to type on a ₹200 (~$2.20) Zebronics keyboard I ordered off Amazon. Recently I switched to a mechanical keyboard, and yes — I do enjoy it more. But the cheap keyboard got me here just fine. Do not let gear be an excuse to not start.
Progress Is Not a Straight Line with a Positive Slope
This is perhaps the most important thing to know going in. Progress was never consistent. Some days I was hitting speeds higher than ever before, and the very next day I would drop back to where I was a month ago. That used to frustrate me. Now I understand it is just how skill-building works. The overall trend matters — not any single day’s performance.
One Last Thing
If there is one takeaway from all of this, it is that the start will be painfully slow, and that is completely fine. Seven words per minute felt hopeless. Ten minutes a day felt like nothing. But those minutes added up, day after day, until one day typing became something I no longer think about — it just happens.
That, I think, is what learning any skill really feels like from the inside. You do not notice yourself getting better until, one day, you do.
