Typing practice for seniors

Before you start: set up your keyboard and chair

Sit in a chair that lets your feet rest flat on the floor. Put the keyboard straight in front of you and the screen at about eye level, so you don’t need to bend your neck. Keep your wrists straight and relaxed rather than bent up or resting hard on the desk. Good light on the keyboard helps while you’re still learning the keys.

Make the text bigger: hold Ctrl (or Command on a Mac) and press the plus key to zoom in. Press minus to zoom back out. This only changes the size of what you see in the browser.

It also helps to print the keyboard finger chart and keep it by your keyboard. Each finger has its own color, so you can check which finger to use without guessing.

Step 1: find the home row

The home row is the middle row of letters, where your fingers rest between keystrokes. Feel for the small bumps on the F and J keys: your left pointer finger goes on F, and your right pointer finger goes on J. The other fingers rest on the keys beside them, and your thumbs sit on the space bar.

Read more in the guide to the home row keys and the finger placement guide, then try lesson 1, F and J.

Step 2: a gentle lesson path

Here is one way to pace yourself. There’s no deadline, so take two weeks over a step if you like. The lessons in between are all on the lessons page, in order.

Practice that’s useful in daily life

Once you know the letters, practice the things you actually want to type. Writing an email covers a greeting, a short message and a sign-off. Email addresses practices the @ sign, dots and dashes. Forms and addresses helps with names, street addresses and phone numbers, the kind you fill in on websites. Quick messages is short, friendly notes, like a reply to family.

Games to keep practicing

Games are a pleasant way to keep your fingers busy once you know some keys. Choose the Easy level before you start, and move up only when you feel ready.

• Falling Words: type each word before it reaches the bottom.
• Word Stack: clear word bricks by typing them, choosing which one to do next.
• Daily Challenge: one new set of words each day, the same for everyone.
• More ideas in the typing games for adults.

Check your progress (when you’re ready)

When the lessons feel comfortable, try the 1-minute typing test. It shows your WPM, which means words per minute: roughly how many words you type in a minute. You can read more in WPM vs CPM. But speed comes last. Hitting the right key with the right finger matters more, and speed follows on its own.

For family members and helpers

If you’re helping someone get started, sit beside them rather than taking over the keyboard. Print the finger chart first, help set up the chair and screen, and show how to zoom in. Then open lesson 1 and let them type while you point to the chart if they get stuck. Progress is saved in that browser, so use the same computer next time. A short first session is plenty.

Between sessions, a quick question helps more than a correction: “Which finger goes there?” lets the learner look at the chart and find the answer themselves. Celebrate a finished lesson, not a fast one.

Want the background on the method? Read what touch typing is.