What Is WPM? How Words Per Minute Is Calculated
Updated
WPM, or words per minute, is the standard measure of typing speed. It sounds simple, but because words differ in length, typing tests use a fixed definition so results can be compared fairly.
One word = five characters
Every five characters you type — letters, numbers, punctuation and spaces — count as one word. Typing 300 characters in one minute is therefore 60 WPM, no matter whether the text was full of short words or long ones.
Net WPM vs raw WPM
Raw WPM counts everything you typed, mistakes included. Net WPM counts only the words you typed correctly. On this site, net WPM is the headline number because it reflects usable output.
If your raw WPM is much higher than your net WPM, your fingers are fast but errors are costing you. Slowing down slightly will usually raise your net score.
Accuracy
Accuracy is the percentage of keystrokes that were correct when you pressed them. Mistakes you fix with backspace still count against accuracy, because they still took time.
Consistency
Consistency measures how steady your speed was throughout the test. 100% would mean an identical pace every second. Higher consistency generally goes hand in hand with higher sustained speed.