How long does it take to learn touch typing?

Expect months. The best-documented touch-typing course in the research we found ran 14 lessons held every two weeks, a course of about six months ^{1 2}. Learners in that course were significantly faster three months after the lessons ended than before they began ³. A claim that you can learn touch typing in a day or a week is not supported by any study we could find. The guide to touch typing sets out the method this timeline assumes.

The first milestone is typing without looking, and it takes weeks of practice

What counts as "learned" matters. Most people want two things: to stop looking at the keys, and to reach a useful speed. The first is a change in habit, and the second is a change in skill. Touch typists practice their finger movements until they can enter text without looking at the keyboard. Habits like this form through repetition, so the time they take depends on how much practice you do, not on the number of hours on a course calendar.

The speed gains come more slowly. Typing speed increases gradually with practice, and a speed of 60 words per minute or higher is achievable ⁴. That is an encyclopedia summary, and it gives no time scale, so treat it as a direction rather than a schedule.

Expect a dip before the gain, and expect the gain to last

The course studied in 2015 had a surprise. The keyboarding speed of the typically achieving students fell at the end of the program, while the students with learning disabilities improved somewhat ⁵. A dip at the end of a course does not by itself mean the method has failed.

The gain lasted. Three months after the lessons ended, both groups were significantly faster than before the program ³. Keeping accuracy high during the course is a useful target for your own practice.

The lab study says "hundreds of hours" for full speed

The authors of a 2016 transcription study wrote that touch typing can be learned quickly, but that it needs deliberate training of hundreds of hours to reach the performance rates reported in the literature ⁶. That is a different target from basic touch typing. It describes the speed of a practiced typist, not the first point at which the keyboard stops being in the way.

The gap between those two points is where quick-learn promises can mislead. Some online courses promise results in days, and we found no measured data behind those promises. The Ratatype company says daily sessions of 10 to 15 minutes can significantly improve touch typing skills ⁷. That is a vendor's own claim about its own product, and it is not an independent study.

It depends: your starting speed, your age and whether you keep practicing

Four factors change the timeline:

• Your starting point. If you already type with two or three fingers, you may know some key locations already. The question on touch typing versus hunt and peck explains what changes when you switch.
• Practice time and consistency. The studies do not test session length, so the length of each session is practical advice, not a finding. Short daily sessions are easier to keep than occasional long ones, and the question on the best free way to learn compares ways to practice.
• Whether the skill is kept. A 2003 paper notes that earlier research found that success in touch-typing training does not guarantee people keep touch typing in everyday use ⁸. If you stop using the method, the skill can fade, which makes steady practice part of the timeline.
• Learning differences. The 2015 study included students with learning disabilities, and those students improved in a different pattern from the typical group ⁵. Individual timelines vary, and a course that suits one learner may not suit another.

What to do: practice a short session daily, and measure accuracy first

A reasonable plan follows from the evidence. It is our judgment from the studies, not a finding of them.

1. Set a daily session of 10 to 15 minutes, which is the length the Ratatype company recommends ⁷, and keep it consistent.
2. Learn the home row first, then add the other rows, as set out in the finger placement question.
3. Track accuracy and speed separately. The typing accuracy and words per minute entries define the two measures.
4. Review at about three months, the point at which the 2015 study measured its follow-up ³. If your accuracy is steady and you no longer look down for common keys, you have passed the first milestone. Speed gains continue after that, more slowly.

If you learn a new keyboard layout as well, expect the timeline to lengthen. Our guide to keyboard layouts compares the options, and the question on whether touch typing is worth learning explains when the time is justified.