The Need for Speed: Fastest Typing Speed in History

Imagine having a typing speed of 216 words per minute; that is the fastest typing speed ever recorded. It was recorded in 1946 using an IBM electric typewriter set by Stella Pajunas. Barbara Blackburn is currently the fastest English typist in the world; her peak momentum was recorded at 212 wpm during a test in 2005. Below are the top 10 fastest typists (English Language) in the world;

Top 10 Fastest typists In the World

According to DC News top 10 fastest typists in the world for 15-second sprint speed, Now are;

1. Having 217 WPM and 100% accuracy, Shaz (Erik Treider) from Norway is at the top↑ with the highest typing speed
2. Xeogran from Poland is in 2nd place with 212 WPM and 100% accuracy
3. Dindondoe from India stands firmly in 3rd place with 188 WPM and 100% accuracy
4. Maciej61238 is 4th with 180 WPM and 98.75% accuracy
5. On the 5th, we have our first entrant from the USA, Galactika, with 176 WPM and 100% accuracy
6. With 168 WPM and 100% accuracy in 6th place, we have a lightning typist from the USA
7. On the 7th, we have YIHAO from Malaysia with 166 WPM and 100% accuracy
8. James from the USA is 8th with 160 WPM and 100% accuracy
9. Moiz Hussain from Pakistan is 9th with 150 WPM and 100% accuracy
10. In the 10th position, we have Jennifer from the UK with 140 WPM and 100% accuracy.

Fastest Typing speeds ever recorded

There have been many un-official contenders for the fastest typists in the world claiming to have broken the record of Barbara Blackburn; below are the fastest typists recorded in history;

Rose Luisa Fritz

At just 17 years of age, Rose won the world’s fastest typist title in 1906. Using her custom-built Underwood typewriter, she managed to reach speeds of between 80-100 words per minute. She traveled the world flaunting her typing skills; words of her brilliance even reached the Prince of Wales. Miss Fritz wrote a 113-word sheet with 100% accuracy and punctuation for the Prince of Wales when they met; His Highness was so impressed by her skills that he asked for her autograph on the same sheet and kept it as a souvenir.

Albert Tangora

Albert Tangora managed to put his name in the record books in 1923. He did this in an endurance test where he achieved typing speed of 141 words per minute over a one-hour period, using a manual Underwood typewriter with a QWERTY keyboard. No one has ever managed to beat his record using a manual typewriter.

Stella Pajunas-Garnand

Stella, fully named Stella Pajunas-Garnand, has the record of being the fastest typist ever recorded. She achieved this feat in 1946 when she managed to achieve a typing speed of 216 WPM. She used an IBM electric typewriter with a QWERTY keyboard to become the world’s fastest typist.

Barbara Blackburn

Barbara holds the record for the fastest typing speed in the world since 2005. She managed to achieve this record using a Dvorak keyboard, and her top speed was 212 WPM. Barbara had listed herself in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest typist in the world once before 1985. She achieved the momentum of 170 WPM to do this.

How To Improve Typing Speed

Proper technique, dedication, and continuous training are required to increase your typing speed. Below are some tips that you can incorporate into your daily routine to increase your typing pace;

Identify Your Goals

Identify your goals; what this means is that you should have a clear mindset. You should know what you want to achieve by increasing your typing speed. It may be putting your name in the record books or simply increasing your productivity.

Improve Posture

Having a proper posture for typing is the equivalent of a healthy diet; both help increase productivity while maintaining your health. A proper posture will reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries exponentially, not only that it can help with your back pain and neck pain as well. Ultimately increasing your typing speed by keeping your muscles relaxed, not strained.

Ergonomic Tools That Can Help Improve Typing Speed

Ergonomics is positioning or aligning your body in such a way that it reduces strain over it and provides a more relaxed workspace. Ergonomic tools such as an ergonomic keyboard that may be curved or split in two can help increase your typing speed by maintaining the more natural position of your wrists, hands, and fingers. The same can be said about touchpads and trackballs.

Practice Typing Tests

Whether you want to improve your overall keyboarding skills or want to learn how to type with just one hand, Typing Mentor can help you do that with their wide range of lessons teaching how to type with an individual finger, hand or if you want to learn how to increase your speed for numbers, alphabets, paragraphs or even quotes. And the best part is it is a completely free online typing platform. Click here to sign up for typing mentor.

Utilize Shortcuts

Utilizing shortcuts can help you perform simple tasks more accurately and faster. It can exponentially increase your pace and reduce the risk of errors that may occur when typing or performing long commands manually. Some programs even allow you to customize your own keyboard shortcuts. But it requires hard work and dedication; simply learning or customizing some keyboard shortcuts will not help increase your typing skill. Some commonly used keyboard shortcuts are;

Ctrl + A (select all)

Ctrl + C (copy)

Ctrl + X (cut)

Ctrl + V (paste)

Ctrl + P (print)

Ctrl + Z (undo)

Ctrl + B (bold selected text)

Ctrl + U (underline selected text)

Ctrl + K (add hyperlink)

By following the above rules, you can also set the record for the world's fastest typing speed.

Below are some common inquiries that people want to know:

What is the average Typing speed?

The average typing speed for non-professional typists is 41 wpm.

Who Types Faster?

Males average around 43 wpm, whereas women average 37 wpm.

How can I know my Typing speed?

You can check your typing speed for free from Typing Mentor.

How can I Improve my Typing speed?

Improving typing speed requires effort and dedication along with proper technique. If you can amass the dedication, you can take free lessons from typing mentor to improve your speed.

Is typing 40 wpm fast?

40 wpm is just below the average speed for non-professional typists.

The fastest keyboard in the world?

There is no definitive keyboard labeled as the fastest keyboard in the world. It all depends upon personal preference; one keyboard may be fast for an individual but not for the other. Ultimately typing speed depends on factors beyond just the keyboard. However, some keyboards designed specifically for speed typing are Kinesis Advantage 2, the Ducky One 2 Mini, and the Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional 2.

Key Takeaway

There have been many individuals throughout history who have managed to solidify themselves as the fastest typist worldwide. You can also increase your momentum by setting a clear goal, maintaining a proper posture, and learning the proper typing techniques. Who knows, one day, you might break the record of the fastest typing speed in the world! However, you can check and increase your typing speed by taking the free lessons from Typing Mentor. You should also use keyboard shortcuts to increase your typing speed and reduce the risk of errors.