How often should you take breaks from typing?

Take a short break about every 20 minutes if you can, and at least a 5 to 10 minute break every hour. The research on typing and upper limb discomfort points to shorter, more frequent breaks rather than longer ones taken less often. The evidence is good enough to act on, but not strong enough to set a precise schedule that works for everyone.

The UK guidance recommends short breaks often

The UK Health and Safety Executive advises that 5 to 10 minutes every hour is better than 20 minutes every two hours ¹. It is a clear floor for people who work at a screen. It also says that its timings are an example that depend on the kind of work, and that the law gives no guidance on how long or how often breaks should be.

The HSE's advice is the baseline. It describes a pattern, not a trial, so it tells you what to aim for rather than what the trials proved.

A 20-minute interval reduced discomfort most in one trial

The best-controlled test of interval length we found compared microbreaks taken at workers' own discretion with breaks every 20 minutes and every 40 minutes, in a randomised study of people doing computer terminal work. Microbreaks reduced perceived discomfort in every area measured, and the benefit was greatest with breaks every 20 minutes ².

This is the strongest reason to prefer the 20-minute interval over the hourly minimum. It is a single study, so treat it as the best guide to frequency we have, not as a settled number.

Software prompts helped more people recover

A 2003 trial tested software that prompted workers to take breaks. 55 percent of workers in the intervention groups reported recovery from their complaints, compared with 34 percent in the control group ³. The severity and frequency of complaints did not change significantly between the groups, so the recovery figure is the clearest part of the result, not the whole story.

The result suggests that prompts can help more workers recover, although recovery was self-reported. It does not show which interval is best.

The evidence is good enough to act on, but not for an exact rule

The 2018 Cochrane review of office ergonomics found very low-quality evidence that supplementary breaks reduce upper limb discomfort ⁴. Very low quality means the trials are too weak to set a precise interval. Put together, the evidence supports this order of priorities:

1. Take a short break every hour, as the HSE advises ¹.
2. If you can, shorten the interval to about 20 minutes, as the trial with the best result suggests ².
3. Use a timer or a prompt. In the 2003 trial, the workers who were prompted to break were more likely to report recovery than the control group ³.
4. Make each break a real break: stand, look away from the screen, and move your hands and shoulders. Do not simply pause the keyboard and keep reading on the screen.

Breaks help most when the rest of the desk is set up

Breaks do not replace the setup. A break taken while you are hunched over a keyboard that is too high will not undo the posture. Check the correct wrist position and the height rules in our guide on typing ergonomics first, then use breaks to reset your posture.

Breaks also do not replace fewer keystrokes. If most of your day is typing, the guide to dictation for RSI and carpal tunnel explains how to type less. For the equipment side, see the question on ergonomic keyboards and the question on wrist rests.

When breaks do not stop the symptoms

If pain, numbness or tingling continues through the day or wakes you at night, breaks are not the answer on their own. Our guide to RSI from typing explains the symptoms to watch for, and a clinician can check whether a named condition is involved.