A(finger: Left little finger)Home key. Your left little finger rests here. It is the first of the four left-hand home keys: A, S, D, F.
Q(finger: Left little finger)Slide your left little finger up from A, a touch to the left. Tap Q and come straight back to A.
Z(finger: Left little finger)Reach down from A, a touch to the right, with your left little finger. Then go back to A.
S(finger: Left ring finger)Home key. Your left ring finger rests here, between A and D.
W(finger: Left ring finger)Your left ring finger slides up from S, a touch to the left. Tap W and come back to S.
X(finger: Left ring finger)Your left ring finger reaches down from S, a touch to the right. W, S and X make one slanted column, and one finger owns all of it.
D(finger: Left middle finger)Home key. Your left middle finger rests here, between S and F.
E(finger: Left middle finger)Your left middle finger slides up from D, a touch to the left. Tap E and come back to D.
C(finger: Left middle finger)Your left middle finger reaches down from D, a touch to the right. Then it goes back to D.
F(finger: Left index finger)Home key. Your left index finger rests here. Feel for the small bump on F. It tells you your hand is in place without looking.
R(finger: Left index finger)Your left index finger slides up from F, a touch to the left. Then back to F.
V(finger: Left index finger)Your left index finger reaches down from F, a touch to the right. Then back to F.
G(finger: Left index finger)The index finger looks after two columns. Slide it one key to the right from F to reach G.
T(finger: Left index finger)Up and to the right from F. T belongs to the left index finger's second column, with G and B.
B(finger: Left index finger)Down and to the right from F. It is the longest reach for the left index finger. B sits at the foot of its second column, under G.
J(finger: Right index finger)Home key. Your right index finger rests here. J has a small bump, just like F, so your right hand can find its place by feel.
U(finger: Right index finger)Your right index finger slides up from J, a touch to the left. Then back to J.
M(finger: Right index finger)Your right index finger reaches down from J, a touch to the right. Then back to J.
H(finger: Right index finger)The right index finger looks after two columns as well. Slide it one key to the left from J to reach H.
Y(finger: Right index finger)Up and to the left from J. It is the longest reach for the right index finger.
N(finger: Right index finger)Down and a touch to the left from J. N belongs to the right index finger's second column, with Y and H.
K(finger: Right middle finger)Home key. Your right middle finger rests here, between J and L.
I(finger: Right middle finger)Your right middle finger slides up from K, a touch to the left. Then back to K.
L(finger: Right ring finger)Home key. Your right ring finger rests here, between K and the semicolon.
O(finger: Right ring finger)Your right ring finger slides up from L, a touch to the left. Then back to L.
P(finger: Right little finger)Your right little finger slides up from the semicolon, a touch to the left. Then back home.
Left little finger 3
Tab(finger: Left little finger)A stretch up and out to the left for your left little finger. Let your hand lean a little, then find F again by its bump.
Caps Lock(finger: Left little finger)It sits right beside A. Your left little finger slides one key to the left to press it.
Left Shift(finger: Left little finger)Hold it down with your left little finger while your right hand types the letter. That makes a capital, and the right hand never leaves its keys.
Thumbs 1
Space bar(finger: Either thumb)Both thumbs hover over the space bar while your fingers sit on the home keys. Tap it with either thumb. It is the only key on this chart that a thumb presses.
Right middle finger 1
, (comma)(finger: Right middle finger)Your right middle finger reaches down from K, a touch to the right. The comma takes the finger of the column above it.
Right ring finger 1
. (full stop)(finger: Right ring finger)Your right ring finger reaches down from L, a touch to the right. Every sentence that ends in a full stop ends with this finger.
Right little finger 9
; (semicolon)(finger: Right little finger)Home key. Your right little finger rests here. Seven of the home keys are letters, and this one is the odd one out.
/ (forward slash)(finger: Right little finger)Your right little finger reaches down from the semicolon, a touch to the right. Hold the left Shift as well and this key types a question mark.
' (apostrophe)(finger: Right little finger)The next key right of the semicolon. Your right little finger slides across to it.
[ (left bracket)(finger: Right little finger)Up and to the right from the semicolon, just past P. The right little finger looks after every key on this side of P.
] (right bracket)(finger: Right little finger)Two keys past P on the top row. It is a long stretch for the right little finger, so let your hand move with it.
\ (backslash)(finger: Right little finger)The last key of the top row on a US keyboard. The right little finger stretches right out to reach it.
Enter(finger: Right little finger)Reach out to the right with your right little finger. If your hand has to move, find J again by its bump.
Right Shift(finger: Right little finger)Hold it down with your right little finger while your left hand types the letter. Use this Shift for capitals on the left side, such as A, S and T.
Backspace(finger: Right little finger)The top right corner. It is the longest reach on this chart, so let your whole hand move. Then find J again by its bump.
How this list was compiled: The key order is the United States QWERTY layout described at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWERTY (checked 2026-09-19): number row ` 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - =, then Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ] \, A S D F G H J K L ; ' and Z X C V B N M , . /. The home keys A S D F and J K L ;, the raised bump on the two index-finger home keys F and J, both thumbs on the space bar and the rule that a finger reaches up and down from its home key are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch_typing (checked 2026-09-19), which calls this the home row method and says Frank Edward McGurrin, a court stenographer, reportedly invented it in 1888. The same article reports one study of 30 subjects that found that touch typists and self-taught typists type at almost the same speed; the page copy quotes no more of it than that. The finger for every letter, for the comma, full stop and forward slash, and for P [ ] ; ' and the little-finger keys at the two edges follows the chart in that article, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FingerHandPosUSA.gif (checked 2026-09-19), which also shades Caps Lock and both Shift keys for the little fingers. Every character key was compared with the US layout file of the free KTouch typing tutor, https://invent.kde.org/education/ktouch/-/raw/master/data/keyboardlayouts/us.xml (checked 2026-09-19): all 47 agree, the backslash included, and so do the second character on each key and the bump marks on F and J. Backspace and the backslash with the right little finger are also shown at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Touch_typing.svg (checked 2026-09-19). Tab, Caps Lock and the left Shift with the left little finger, everything to the right of the right little finger's home column with that finger, and the space bar with either thumb are from https://www.typing-lessons.org/preliminaries_4.html and https://www.typing-lessons.org/lesson_1.html (checked 2026-09-19). Shift held by the little finger of the hand that is not typing the letter is from https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zehnfingersystem (checked 2026-09-19), and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caps_Lock (checked 2026-09-19) says the two Shift keys were meant for the little finger. The number row carries no finger on this chart because courses differ. The common rule (1 little, 2 ring, 3 middle, 4 and 5 left index, 6 and 7 right index, 8 middle, 9 ring, 0 - = little) is the one on the three charts above; the Touch typing article describes another method, taught since the 1960s, that gives 1 and 2 to the left little finger, 3 to the ring, 4 to the middle, 5 and 6 to the left index, 7 and 8 to the right index, 9 to the middle and 0 to the ring finger, and the German article lists the same split. The differences between a United States and a United Kingdom keyboard named in the page copy (the 26 letters in the same places, the tall Enter key over two rows, one extra key beside it, the backslash to the left of Z) are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_and_American_keyboards (checked 2026-09-19). Finger names match this site's type the alphabet list letter for letter and the key names match its blank keyboard test. Also checked: Backspace is the farthest key from its home key in this drawing, B and Y are the farthest for the two index fingers, and the one-hand words used in the page copy use one hand. Ctrl, Alt and the three plain keys of the last row are drawn but carry no finger, because the sources above do not give them one. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site from plain geometry. The key positions are those of this site's blank keyboard drawing; the bands follow the sources named for the list. It copies no photograph and no other drawing. Licence: own work, CC0
How it works
This keyboard finger chart shows a QWERTY keyboard with every key shaded for the finger that presses it. Tap any key to see its finger and how to reach it from the home row. When the bands start to make sense, press Name it and the page quizzes you, one key at a time. You can print the chart in black and white too.
Read the full guide
Read the chart, then test yourself
The keyboard is cut into slanted bands, one for each finger, and the finger's name sits above its band. The eight keys with thick outlines are the home keys, where your fingers rest. The page opens in Study. Tap a key to read which finger presses it. Then press Name it. One key lights up and you say which key it is. That part is easy, because the name is printed on the key. The real question comes next: which finger presses it? A key counts only when both answers are right.
Number row: one common rule; courses differ
The number keys are drawn but left plain, because typing courses do not all agree on them. One common rule goes like this. Left hand: 1 little finger, 2 ring, 3 middle, 4 and 5 index. Right hand: 6 and 7 index, 8 middle, 9 ring, and 0, - and = little. An older way, taught since the 1960s, slides the fingers one key along, so 6 goes to the left index finger. If your class has its own keyboarding finger placement chart, follow that one.
Print the chart in black and white
Press Print labelled for a chart to keep beside your keyboard. Thick lines split the keys into finger bands, and the finger names run along the top. Under the drawing, all 41 keys are listed with their fingers, like Tab · Left little finger. Print blank swaps the list for 41 empty lines to fill in. Either sheet makes a typing finger chart for keyboard, computer and homeschool classes, with a line for a name and the date.
Feel for the bumps. F and J each have a small raised line. Rest your index fingers there and the other six fingers land on their home keys.
For a capital letter, hold Shift with the little finger of the other hand: Right Shift for a capital A, Left Shift for a capital J.
Try one-hand words. Was, tree and great use the left hand alone. You, jump and milk use the right hand alone.
Learn one band at a time. Pick a finger under Start from, such as Left ring finger, and only that finger's keys are asked.
Tap, then come home. B and Y are the longest reaches for the index fingers, so give those two extra turns.
Questions and answers
Which finger presses which key?
Each finger rests on a home key and looks after the slanted column through it. Left hand: little finger on A, ring on S, middle on D, index on F. Right hand: index on J, middle on K, ring on L, little on the semicolon. Each index finger takes one more column, with G or H in it. The little fingers take the edge keys. Either thumb presses the Space bar.
Is this the only right way to type?
No. This touch typing finger placement chart shows the standard home row method. A typing teacher called Frank McGurrin is said to have come up with it in 1888. It is a good place to start, not a law. One study of 30 typists found very little difference in speed between trained touch typists and people who had taught themselves.
Can I see the typing finger diagram during the quiz?
Yes. The bands stay shaded while you play, so this is an open chart quiz. You look up the finger, and after a few rounds you stop needing to look. For a harder go, press Type it and spell the finger yourself, such as left ring or right pinky.
Does this keyboarding fingering chart match a UK keyboard?
Mostly. The drawing is a United States keyboard. A United Kingdom keyboard keeps all 26 letters in the same spots, so every letter keeps its finger. The changes are at the edges: a tall Enter key over two rows, one extra key beside it, and the backslash moved to the left of Z. This chart does not show those UK keys.