Typing skills are essential for everyone from kids to adults. Whether you have a child who’s just learning or want to brush up on your own typing skills, there’ll be a suitable tool for you.
But before you invest in a paid app, take a look at these seven free typing apps for Mac first. While some contain in-app purchases, you can use the try-before-you-buy option to make sure they suit you before shelling out your cash.
1. Keyboard Virtuoso Light
For beginners who want a good way to progress in their skills.
Keyboard Virtuoso starts you off with the very basics, using 20 warm-ups you must complete to move on. Then go through and successfully finish each of the lessons to keep unlocking more. Before you begin each lesson, you’ll see a helpful prompt and the number of errors allowed.
You can enjoy the warm-ups and first 10 lessons for free. This gives you a lot of usage before you decide if you want to buy the full version.
Download: Keyboard Virtuoso Light (Free, premium version available)
2. Master of Typing
For those who want detailed stats on speed and accuracy over time.
Master of Typing is another app that helps improve your touch typing. You start honing your skills using simple letter combinations, then you’ll work your way up to typing difficult words.
Detailed statistics let you check out your speed and accuracy from when you started using the app to today’s date. You can also view your averages and bests.
The app gives you several practice lessons for free. You can then take a look at the pro version, which provides different packages for different skill levels and removes the ads.
Download: Master of Typing (Free, premium version available)
3. Typist
For beginners through to advanced typists to learn and practice.
The Typist app is ideal for every level of proficiency. You can begin learning letter locations with the Standard Courses, check out the Typing Review, and then move on to a variety of drills. Each lesson contains several exercises.
The app displays your stats right on the bottom for viewing when you finish an exercise. Review your strokes per minute, typing speed, error ratio, and total time for the exercise. You can also take a look at the lessons offered for the calculator and Dvorak keyboards.
Download: Typist (Free)
4. Animal Typing Lite
For children learning to type who like cute, animal-themed apps.
Animal Typing Lite is a super cute way for kids to learn how to type. The screen is colorful, with animated fingers on a keyboard for your child to follow. The app rewards your little one for accuracy and speed as correct keystrokes help the animals along their way.
With each lesson, you start as a slower animal, like a snail. But if you do well with accuracy and speed, you’ll finish with a faster creature, like a gazelle. The app has four free lessons, so your child can try it out. You can then buy more with an in-app purchase.
Download: Animal Typing Lite (Free, premium version available)
5. Typing Fingers LT
For children learning to type who like fun sounds and colorful themes.
Typing Fingers LT is another great typing teacher for kids, but works for adults just the same. You spend the first four lessons learning the letter positions on the keyboard. The app also includes a neat section for the proper way to sit while typing, with ergonomic measurements and all.
Your little one will enjoy the colorful imagery, fun sounds, nifty themes, a cartoon guide, and helpful animations. You can try before you buy with the first few lessons for free, then obtain more with an in-app purchase.
Download: Typing Fingers LT (Free, premium version available)
6. The Vehicles Typing
For children learning to type who like cool, car-themed apps.
The Vehicles Typing app is another typing app for Mac that your child might like. As the vehicle travels down the road, type the letters you see in the balloons to keep the car moving and reach its goal. The balloons holding the letters are colored with corresponding hints at the top for which keys to press.
The app includes three separate save slots. So if you have more than one beginning typist, this feature keeps the progress for each person separate. Like with the other children’s typing apps, you can try the first couple of lessons for free and unlock the rest with an in-app purchase.
Find a cool programming app for kids, and your child won’t have to worry about their typing skills while learning to code.
Download: The Vehicles Typing (Free, premium version available)
7. Type to Learn
A simple way for more experienced typists to test themselves.
Type to Learn is a completely free typing app for Mac, but it’s quite unlike other options in this list. It’s designed for people who already know how to type, so they can quickly test their speed and practice to increase their top speed and accuracy.
You can either drag in or paste your own text, or you can click the dice symbol in the top right to get a random block of text. As you type, you’ll get a words-per-minute count and an accuracy percentage. Correctly typed text is blue and incorrect text is red.
Of course, if you’re new to typing, Type to Learn won’t be much use to you. It doesn’t teach you where to put your fingers or anything like that. But if you know what you’re doing, it’s a handy, and completely free, tool to have.
Download: Type to Learn (Free)
Get Typing!
Your Mac can be a helpful learning tool, especially when it comes to handy apps like these. Start a new typing adventure with your child or practice and hone your own typing skills for a new job. Whatever the case, these typing apps for Mac should get you off to a great start.
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