Colemak typing test

Q: I already type on Colemak at the OS level. Which test do I take?

Take the normal typing test . Your browser already receives Colemak characters from the OS, so no emulation is needed, and enabling it here would remap your keys twice.

Type in Colemak on your normal keyboard. The test emulates the layout in your browser, Colemak-DH included, so you can try it or train it with zero OS changes.

-- seconds

-- wpm

-- accuracy

Click here or just start typing Tap here to start typing

Tab restarts Esc leaves the test results save to this browser only

The switch in numbers

same-finger bigrams 1.67% 2.63% on Dvorak, 6.58% on QWERTY

keys moved 17 Dvorak moves 33 of them

day one WPM 25 the usual report from switchers

earliest parity 6 wk up to 3 months to reach full speed

The first two figures are why people pick Colemak over Dvorak, and the last two are what the change actually costs you. The sections below unpack both sides.

How the in-browser Colemak emulation works

You do not need to install Colemak or touch your system settings to use this page. The test intercepts physical key positions and outputs the character each position produces on a Colemak keyboard: press the key labeled E on a QWERTY board and the test types F, because that position holds F in Colemak. Your OS layout stays untouched, the emulation exists only inside the test, and the on-screen keyboard shows the Colemak arrangement with the next key highlighted so you learn positions as you type.

Prefer the community-refined variant? You can switch this test to Colemak-DH, which relocates D and H off the awkward middle columns. The query parameter switches the emulation live. And if your operating system is already set to Colemak, use the regular typing test instead: the browser respects your OS layout, so emulation would remap your keys twice.

What Colemak is

Colemak, released by Shai Coleman in 2006, is the pragmatic modern alternative to QWERTY. Instead of redesigning the whole board the way Dvorak did in 1936, Colemak moves only 17 keys, placing the ten most frequent English letters on the home row while leaving Z, X, C, and V where they are, so Ctrl+Z, X, C, and V shortcuts still work with the same fingers. The result scores well on the metrics layout designers care about: roughly 1.67% of bigrams land on the same finger, versus 2.63% for Dvorak and 6.58% for QWERTY, and its modeled typing effort is lower than both. Colemak-DH trims that effort score further by fixing the D and H lateral stretch, which is why the community now treats DH as the default.

The fingers stay where they are

Emulation changes what each position types, not which finger presses it. Learn this assignment once and it carries over to any layout you try.

` 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - =

q w e r t y u i o p [ ] \

a s d f g h j k l ; '

z x c v b n m , . /

Left pinky
Left ring
Left middle
Left index
Right index
Right middle
Right ring
Right pinky

The standard QWERTY finger assignment, which is what the Colemak emulation remaps. Each key keeps its finger and its position; only the character it produces changes.

Switching costs, honestly

Because only 17 keys move, much of your QWERTY muscle memory survives. Reports from switchers describe a day-one drop to around 25 WPM and a return to full speed in about 6 weeks to 3 months, versus 3 to 4 months for Dvorak, whose 33 changed keys start you nearer 12 WPM. If your QWERTY speed is under 50 WPM, working through the free touch typing course on your current layout is usually the better investment. The layout comparison guide walks through the studies and the numbers in detail.

Training Colemak with this page

Run the 60 second test once or twice a day and watch the trend on your stats page rather than any single score.
Read the on-screen keyboard, not your keycaps. Wrong labels are a feature here: they force real touch typing from day one.
Hold 95%+ accuracy before chasing speed. The results screen surfaces your slowest keys and can generate a targeted drill from them.
Once you are comfortable, benchmark against the standard 1 minute typing test format and see where you land on the typing speed chart.
If one key keeps repeating or dropping, that is hardware rather than technique. Run a keyboard tester to check for chatter before you blame the new layout.

Layouts, benchmarks and technique

Questions people ask

Can I try Colemak without changing my OS keyboard layout?

Yes. This test emulates Colemak in the browser: your operating system and physical keyboard stay exactly as they are, and the test maps each physical key position to its Colemak output. Close the tab and everything is back to normal. You can also switch this test to Colemak-DH with a query parameter.

What is the difference between Colemak and Colemak-DH?

Colemak-DH is a community refinement that moves the D and H keys off the middle columns to fix an awkward lateral stretch of the index fingers. Same-finger bigram statistics are identical, but modeled typing effort is slightly lower, and DH has become the default recommendation in the Colemak community. Try it here: switch this test to Colemak-DH.

How long does it take to learn Colemak?

Typical reports put day one at around 25 WPM and full parity with your old QWERTY speed at roughly 6 weeks to 3 months of regular practice. That is faster than Dvorak because Colemak changes only 17 keys, so much of your muscle memory carries over.

Is Colemak better than Dvorak?

By the metrics, Colemak has fewer same-finger bigrams (1.67% vs 2.63%), a lower modeled effort score, keeps ZXCV shortcuts in place, and is faster to learn. Dvorak has history and wider OS support without extra installs. Neither has rigorous evidence of speed gains over QWERTY. Compare all three in QWERTY vs Dvorak vs Colemak.

I already type on Colemak at the OS level. Which test do I take?

Take the normal typing test. Your browser already receives Colemak characters from the OS, so no emulation is needed, and enabling it here would remap your keys twice.