Why accuracy first makes you faster
A mistake you go back and fix costs three key presses for one character: the wrong key, Backspace, and the right key. A mistake you leave costs the character outright. Either way your net WPM drops, so cutting errors is usually the quickest route to a higher score.
Thirty seconds, three ways
Suppose your fingers manage 150 key presses in 30 seconds, including Backspace. Here is what the score looks like in three cases, using the same formulas as the test (WPM = correct characters ÷ 5 ÷ minutes).
| What happens | Correct characters | Net WPM | Accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|
| No mistakes | 150 | 60 | 100% |
| 10 mistakes, each fixed | 130 | 52 | 93% |
| 10 mistakes, left in | 140 | 56 | 93% |
Swipe the table sideways
In the second row, each of the 10 fixes used up three presses (wrong key, Backspace, right key) to produce one character, so 30 presses yielded 10 characters and the other 120 yielded 120. Backspace is not counted as a key press for accuracy, which is why accuracy there is 130 out of 140.
Ten slips in half a minute took 4 to 8 WPM off the score without your fingers moving any slower.
What a large study observed
An analysis of 136 million keystrokes from 168,960 volunteers summarises one of its findings this way: "Faster typists make generally less errors." (Dhakal et al., CHI 2018, checked 2026-10-10). The participants chose to take an online English typing test, and the study observed this pattern rather than proving that slowing down makes anyone fast. It does fit the arithmetic above.
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Find the keys, not just the score
An accuracy percentage tells you that you are making mistakes, not where. On Todok the result screen does two more things:
- Missed keys are painted on a keyboard map, with the count on each key. A miss is recorded on the key you should have pressed, so the map shows the reach your hand gets wrong.
- Slow keys are outlined. These are keys you hit correctly but hesitated on, measured by the gap from the previous key.
The same keys tend to come back run after run. "Keys you miss most" under the test keeps a running tally on your device.
A short routine
- Take one 30-second typing test at a pace where you feel in control.
- If accuracy is under 95%, slow down on the next run until it is not. That threshold is the one Todok's own practice steps use.
- Press "Practice missed keys". It builds a drill from words containing the keys you just missed. Drill results are not added to your records.
- Run the test again and compare with your previous result, which is shown under the big number.
If one finger's keys keep appearing on the map, the finger chart shows which keys that finger is supposed to cover.