Typing Finger Guide: Which Finger Types Each Key

What is it?

The Typing Finger Guide shows every key coloured by the finger that should press it, on QWERTY, AZERTY (French), QWERTZ (German) or Dvorak. Press any key and it names the finger, the row (top, home or bottom) and the home key it reaches from. A table lists each finger’s keys, and a ten-question quiz checks you remember.

Who is it for?

New touch typists, people who learned with the wrong fingers and want to fix it, and teachers who want a finger chart on screen or on paper.

How to use it

1. Choose the Keyboard layout.
2. Click “Click here and press any key” and press a key: the finger and row are named and the key lights up. Space bar: either thumb.
3. Read Keys for each finger.
4. Open Which finger? Quiz: for each key, tap the finger that types it; “Right!” or “Not quite: …” follows, with a score out of 10.

The finger map on QWERTY

Home row: left little A, ring S, middle D, index F; right index J, middle K, ring L, little ;. The index fingers also cover the middle columns (G and H, and T Y B N above and below), which is why they have more keys. The little fingers take Shift, Enter, Tab and Backspace.

Tips

• Keep wrists off the desk, fingers gently curved over the home row.
• After each reach, return the finger to its home key.
• Print the page (Ctrl+P) to keep a colour chart beside your keyboard.

Errors and how to fix them

• Nothing happens when I type: click or tap inside the typing box first so it has the cursor. Turn Caps Lock off, and close other apps that use keyboard shortcuts.
• My key shows differently: choose the layout that matches your keyboard; on AZERTY the A and Q are swapped, on QWERTZ Y and Z.
• Table cut off on phone: swipe the table sideways.

Open the tool: Typing Finger Guide

Still stuck?

Contact support. Tell us which tool or page you were using, what you tapped, what you saw, and your phone or computer and browser (for example: Android phone, Chrome). We reply by email.