Keyboard Layouts

Common layouts

• QWERTYThe most common layout worldwide. Named after the first six letters on the top row. Designed in the 1870s for typewriters to reduce jamming; still the default on almost all keyboards. TypingMonk tests use standard English text, so QWERTY is the default assumption, but you can practice with any physical layout.
• DvorakDesigned for efficiency and comfort. Puts the most used letters on the home row and aims to reduce finger travel. Popular among some fast typists and ergonomics enthusiasts. Requires learning a new key arrangement; many operating systems support switching to Dvorak in settings.
• ColemakA modern alternative that keeps many keys in QWERTY positions to make switching easier. Optimized for common English letter frequency and reduced strain. Often chosen by people who want an alternative layout without as big a learning curve as Dvorak.
• Other layoutsMany other layouts exist (e.g. Workman, AZERTY for French, QWERTZ for German). TypingMonk does not restrict you to one layout—you type on whatever keyboard layout your system uses. Your WPM and accuracy reflect your real typing on that layout.

A closer look at each layout

QWERTY: history and why it persists

QWERTY was designed by Christopher Latham Sholes in the early 1870s for the Remington typewriter. The common claim that it was designed to slow typists down to prevent key jams is largely a myth — it was optimised to separate commonly paired letters and reduce mechanical conflicts in the original typewriter mechanism. By the time electric typewriters and computers made those mechanical constraints irrelevant, QWERTY was too deeply embedded in education, workforce training, and hardware production to be replaced.

Today, QWERTY remains dominant simply because of network effects: teaching materials use it, keyboards ship with it, and every typist already knows it. For most people, the time investment to switch to an alternative layout and rebuild their speed from near-zero is not justified by the modest efficiency gains research shows.

Dvorak: designed for efficiency

August Dvorak and William Dealey patented the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard in 1936. It places the five vowels (A, O, E, U, I) on the left home row and the most common consonants (D, H, T, N, S) on the right home row, so roughly 70% of typing in standard English uses only the home row. By contrast, QWERTY uses the home row for only about 32% of keystrokes.

Research on whether Dvorak actually produces faster typists is mixed. A widely cited 1956 General Services Administration study found no significant advantage; later academic reviews suggest modest benefits for comfort and reduced finger movement rather than raw speed. Dvorak is available as a built-in layout on Windows, macOS, and Linux without additional software. To enable it: on Windows, go to Settings → Time & Language → Language → Keyboard; on macOS, System Preferences → Keyboard → Input Sources.

Colemak: the modern compromise

Colemak was created by Shai Coleman in 2006 and has become the most popular alternative layout for people who want efficiency without a complete relearn. It moves only 17 keys from QWERTY positions (compared to Dvorak's 33 changes), keeping common shortcuts like Z, X, C, V in familiar positions. The most notable change is moving the often-used backspace key to where Caps Lock usually sits.

Colemak reduces same-finger bigram frequency (typing two letters in a row with the same finger) compared to both QWERTY and Dvorak. Proponents report it feels more comfortable for extended typing sessions and causes less ulnar deviation (inward wrist bending). A variant called Colemak-DH makes further changes to improve hand alternation.

Other layouts worth knowing

AZERTY — the standard French layout, with A and Q, Z and W, and M positions different from QWERTY. Used throughout France and parts of Belgium and Africa. QWERTZ — the German layout, which swaps Y and Z among other changes. Used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Central Europe. Workman — a 2010 layout focusing on reducing lateral finger movement and index finger load, popular among programmers. Norman — similar goals to Workman, with a different home-row arrangement. Bépo — a French Dvorak-style layout optimised for French text.

Should you switch from QWERTY?

For most people, no — unless you have specific reasons to. The efficiency difference between well-optimised layouts is real but modest (roughly 10–20% less finger movement in theory), and the cost of relearning is high: most people temporarily drop to 20–30% of their QWERTY speed during the transition and need 3–6 months to fully recover and surpass their old speed on the new layout.

Switching makes most sense if you experience repetitive strain or discomfort from extended typing, if you are starting from scratch (no QWERTY muscle memory to overcome), or if you are a professional typist who will recoup the transition cost through years of daily use. For exam preparation — especially Indian government exams that use QWERTY-based keyboards in examination centres — switching to an alternative layout is actively counterproductive.

If you are curious, the least disruptive approach is to try Colemak in a virtual machine or secondary computer while keeping QWERTY on your main machine. This lets you explore without interrupting your existing workflow.

Using TypingMonk with any layout

TypingMonk does not detect or enforce a specific keyboard layout. Whatever layout your operating system is configured to use is what you type with. The test displays standard English text; your WPM and accuracy reflect your performance on your actual hardware layout. This means a Dvorak user will see the same English text as a QWERTY user but will produce it using their configured key positions.

If you are testing on Dvorak or Colemak for the first time, your WPM will be lower than your QWERTY baseline while you are still in the transition phase. Do not switch back and forth mid-session — pick one layout per practice session and commit to it. Your dashboard will show your progress curve over time, which is the best indicator of whether your transition is on track.