Learn to type on Dvorak
Dvorak is the oldest widely used alternative to QWERTY: patented in 1936, it puts every vowel and the most common consonants on the home row so the hands alternate.
The Basic course teaches touch typing on Dvorak from the first key: every drill, hint and keyboard on screen follows your layout.
Sets your keyboard layout to Dvorak. You can change it any time in Settings.
- Created
- 1936
- By
- August Dvorak
- Home row
- A O E U · H T N S
- Course
- Free · 65 tasks
The Dvorak home row
Your fingers rest on A O E U H T N S
The first step finds U and H under your index fingers.
- ALeft pinky
- OLeft ring
- ELeft middle
- ULeft index
- HRight index
- TRight middle
- NRight ring
- SRight pinky
Step 1 of 65 · Find Your Starting Position
~2 minuuuu hhhh
hhhh uuuu
Index fingers on U and H — feel the bumps.
Dvorak next to QWERTY
2 letters stay exactly where they are on QWERTY: A and M. The other 24 move. So the course starts from the home row rather than from what you already know.
QWERTY
What most keyboards ship with
Dvorak
Vowels on the left home row, common consonants on the right.
- Same key on both
- Dvorak home row
- Moved
The course
How the course works on Dvorak
Eight levels, 65 tasks, from the first key to everyday writing.
Positions, not letters
Every lesson names a finger and a row, so each drill is built from the keys on Dvorak. Your first two keys are U and H.
A Dvorak keyboard on screen
The next key lights up in its finger’s colour on a Dvorak keyboard, and the hands show which finger presses it.
Progress that stays yours
Stars and checkpoints are saved as you go. Switch layouts later and nothing is lost: steps passed on another layout are marked, not wiped.
- 16 tasks
Foundations
Where your hands rest, how they move, and why you look at the screen.
- 213 tasks
Home Row Mastery
All eight home keys, one finger at a time, then together and in real words.
- 310 tasks
Upper Row
Reaching up from home, finger by finger, until two rows feel like one.
- 48 tasks
Lower Row
Reaching down, then all three rows and the whole alphabet.
- 57 tasks
Shift and Punctuation
Capitals with the opposite Shift, and the marks that make sentences.
- 67 tasks
Numbers and Symbols
The number row and the symbols above it, in the contexts they appear.
- 78 tasks
Fluency
From letters to patterns, words and paragraphs, and your first timed test.
- 86 tasks
Full Layout Graduation
Real messages, documents, a mixed-character challenge, endurance and the final assessment.
About Dvorak
Vowels on the left home row, common consonants on the right.
Dvorak was created by August Dvorak and his brother-in-law William L. Dealey, who filed their patent in 1932; it was granted in 1936.
Put the most frequent English letters, all the vowels among them, on the home row under the strongest fingers, and make the hands take turns.
Dvorak is typed with standard touch-typing fingering on any keyboard.
Why people learn Dvorak
- About 70% of letters are typed on the home row, roughly twice QWERTY.
- Vowels on one hand and consonants on the other make the hands alternate on most words.
- Built into Windows, macOS and Linux, and an ANSI standard since 1982.
Setting it up on your computer
Linux
Built in, with Programmer Dvorak.
Windows
Built in since Windows 95.
macOS
Built in, with left- and right-handed versions.
FAQ
Questions about Dvorak
Dvorak was created by August Dvorak and his brother-in-law William L. Dealey, who filed their patent in 1932; it was granted in 1936.
Your fingers rest on A O E U on the left and H T N S on the right. The course starts by finding U and H under your index fingers.
2 letters stay exactly where they are on QWERTY: A and M. The other 24 move.
Yes. Dvorak is built into Windows (since Windows 95), macOS (with left-handed, right-handed and Dvorak – QWERTY ⌘ versions) and Linux. Programmer Dvorak ships with Linux; on Windows and macOS it needs the author’s installer.
Yes. It runs in your browser; sign in when you want to keep your stars.
No. Steps passed on another layout are marked, not wiped.
Courses for other layouts
Same course, same progress — on the layout you type with.
Ready for U and H?
Free, in your browser. Sign in when you want to keep your stars.