Home row keys

The home row is where your hands start and where they come back to after every key. Get this one position right and the rest of the keyboard becomes a set of short, predictable reaches.

The resting position on QWERTY

• Left hand: little finger on A, ring finger on S, middle finger on D, index finger on F.
• Right hand: index finger on J, middle finger on K, ring finger on L, little finger on the semicolon key.
• Thumbs: resting lightly on the space bar.

Two keys sit untouched in the middle, G and H. Each index finger covers one of them with a small sideways reach.

Finding it without looking

Run your index fingers along the middle row until you feel a small raised mark on two keys. On a QWERTY keyboard those are F and J. Once both index fingers are on the bumps, let the other fingers fall onto the keys beside them. That is all there is to it, and after a few days you will do it without thinking each time you sit down.

Why everything starts here

Each finger owns the key it rests on plus the keys directly above and below it. When a finger leaves home to press a key, it comes straight back. Because every journey starts from the same place, your hand learns distances it can repeat. If your hands drift, every reach lands slightly off, which is the most common cause of pressing the neighbouring key.

Practising the home row

Start with only two keys, F and J, and type simple alternating patterns until they feel dull. Then add D and K, then S and L, then A and semicolon, and finally the G and H reach. Once all of them are reliable, practise short real words that use only this row.

The first lessons on learn to touch type follow that exact order and need 92% accuracy before the next one unlocks. An on-screen guide shows which finger to use, and you can hide it once you stop needing it.

Common early mistakes

• Hovering. Fingers held above the keys tire quickly and lose their place. Rest them lightly.
• Flat or locked wrists. Keep your hands relaxed with a gentle curve in the fingers.
• Skipping the little fingers. They feel weak at first. Using them from day one saves relearning later.
• Looking down to check. Trust the bumps instead.

After the home row

The row above and the row below are learned the same way, a pair of keys at a time. For the whole keyboard at a glance, see the finger placement chart. If you are new to the method as a whole, start with what touch typing is.