[Learn](/learn/) / Typing speed plateau # Why has your typing speed stopped improving? A flat WPM score is not enough to conclude that your typing has plateaued. A plateau is a pattern across comparable sessions, not a verdict from one result. By PeakTock Updated August 17, 2026 In one minute ## A plateau is a trend, not one quiet score Keep the keyboard, layout, and test length stable across three sessions. Record WPM with accuracy: a flat speed result means something different when accuracy improves, falls, or moves unpredictably. ## 1\. The conclusion PeakTock can support After comparable tests Repeated pattern found ### Flat results and one repeated pair **Conclusion:** this repeated pair is the best-supported current practice target. Practise its exact movement, then retest. Do not claim that every part of your typing has stopped improving. ### Variable results or no repeated pair **Conclusion:** there is not enough evidence for a focused cause yet. Keep a comparable baseline before you choose a focused drill. A repeated two-key transition can become a useful practice target. If PeakTock repeatedly flags , for example, the next action is to practise that right-index-to-left-middle movement instead of a general alphabet exercise. ## 2\. Give PeakTock comparable evidence 1. 01**Keep the setup steady**Use the same keyboard, layout, and test length. A changed setup creates a different comparison. 2. 02**Compare three separate sessions**Three tests are a practical comparison routine, not proof of a universal plateau. Keep WPM and accuracy together; your best score is not your baseline. 3. 03**Use a named result only**In each test, take a drill only when that result identifies a qualifying pair. When it does not, do not invent a weak key. The web test can identify a repeated pattern inside a session. It does not prove long-term learning, predict your maximum WPM, or identify a medical, neurological, or ergonomic cause of a flat score. If accuracy changes when pace changes, that is a separate speed-accuracy question. Use the [controlled-versus-faster check](/learn/accuracy-drops-when-typing-faster/)instead of treating it as proof of a plateau. ## 3\. Let the drill test the target A PeakTock pair drill contains words with the named transition. This is the useful experiment: keep the pair accurate in familiar words, then go back to a normal test. If the pair returns as the same top issue, it remains the best-supported current practice target. If it does not, PeakTock should not keep presenting it as your one answer. You can read how to inspect a key on its own in the [key guide](/learn/keys/), but check the [bigram guide](/learn/bigrams/) before you decide the key itself is the problem. The movement into a key can be the part that costs time. ## 4\. Use the Mac app for patterns in everyday work A browser test is a repeatable baseline. [PeakTock for Mac](/mac/) is the stronger way to check a plateau that you feel in email, messages, and documents. It compares recent performance with your longer personal history and uses personal speed, accuracy, consistency, and evidence to guide practice. It does not rank you against other people or promise a WPM gain. It can identify the measured pattern with the strongest current evidence; it cannot explain every reason that progress feels slow. Read the [Mac methodology](/learn/mac-methodology/) and the [web test methodology](/learn/typing-test-methodology/) for the two model limits. ## Why inspect a sequence? In laboratory experiments, changing one key location affected both that press and planning for other presses in words containing it: [Yamaguchi and Logan (2014)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24933701/). This supports checking a sequence around a slow key. It was not a trial of PeakTock drills and does not prove that a particular drill will increase your WPM. --- Canonical HTML: