Touch typing: home row and finger placement

Touch typing means typing without looking at the keyboard, with each finger responsible for its own group of keys. Your fingers learn where the keys are, so your eyes can stay on the text. Almost every fast typist types this way.

Your fingers rest on the middle row of letters and return there after every keystroke. On a QWERTY keyboard the left hand rests on A S D F and the right hand on J K L and the key after it. The F and J keys have small bumps so you can find the position without looking.

On a Turkish Q keyboard the home row is the same – A S D F and J K L Ş – which puts Ş and İ under your right little finger. On German QWERTZ it is A S D F / J K L Ö, and on French AZERTY it is Q S D F / J K L M.

Each finger covers a diagonal column of keys above and below its home key:

• Index fingers do the most work: each covers two columns – F, G, R, T, V, B on the left and J, H, U, Y, N, M on the right.
• Middle fingers cover the D and K columns (E, C and I, comma).
• Ring fingers cover the S and L columns (W, X and O, period).
• Little fingers cover A and everything to the right of the right-hand home keys, plus Shift, Enter and Backspace.
• Thumbs press the space bar – usually the thumb of the hand that didn't type the last letter.

On Turkish Q, the letters Ğ, Ü, Ş, İ, Ö and Ç are all at the edges of the keyboard, so your little fingers and ring fingers get more work than in English. If those keys show up red on your heatmap, that's the reason.

• Start slowly and accurately; 15–20 WPM without looking is a good first goal.
• Don't look down. If you must, look at the screen to see what you typed instead.
• Practise every day for 15–20 minutes rather than in long sessions.
• Use practice mode once you have a few tests – it will push you onto the keys you avoid.

If you already type with a few fingers, switching will make you slower for a while – often for two to four weeks. Most people overtake their old speed after one to two months and keep improving long after, while hunt-and-peck typing usually stops improving around 40 WPM. If you need to stay productive, use touch typing in practice sessions first and switch fully once you're back to your old speed.