QWERTY Layout
The dominant keyboard layout used worldwide.
What Is QWERTY?
QWERTY is the most widely used keyboard layout in the English-speaking world, named after the first six letters on the top row: Q W E R T Y. It was designed for mechanical typewriters in the 1870s by Christopher Sholes and has remained the standard ever since.
Why QWERTY Became the Standard
QWERTY's widespread adoption is largely due to its early dominance in typewriter manufacturing and the network effects of training. Once millions of typists, teachers, and schools were trained on QWERTY, the cost of switching became prohibitive. It became a self-reinforcing standard — not because it is objectively optimal, but because it was first at scale.
Is QWERTY Efficient?
QWERTY was designed partly to prevent mechanical typewriter jams by spacing common letter pairs apart — a constraint that no longer applies. Compared to modern alternatives like Dvorak and Colemak, QWERTY requires more total finger travel and places more load on the left hand. However, in practice, trained QWERTY typists reach speeds comparable to Dvorak and Colemak typists, so the efficiency difference is smaller than often claimed.
Should You Switch Away from QWERTY?
For most people, no. The transition cost — 2–4 months of productivity loss while relearning — is not recovered for years, if ever. The exception is typists with early repetitive strain injury (RSI) symptoms, where Colemak's reduced finger travel may genuinely help. See the Dvorak and Colemak glossary entry for a comparison.
All typing tests on this site use the standard QWERTY layout. Take the 1-minute test to benchmark your QWERTY speed.