Home row keys

Updated: 12/10/2023 by Computer Hope
Home row keys

The middle row or home row keys are the row of keys on the computer keyboard your fingers rest on when not typing. For example, on the standard QWERTY United States keyboard, the home row keys for your left hand are A, S, D, and F, and your right hand are J, K, l, and ; (semicolon). For both hands, the thumbs rest on the spacebar. By positioning your hands correctly on the home row keys, you can memorize where all other keys on the keyboard are located.

Note

This row of keys is also sometimes called the middle row keys.

Note

These keys should not be confused with the single Home key.

How to position fingers on home row keys

Hands on home row keys on computer keyboard

As seen in the above picture, your hands should lay naturally on the keyboard's middle row of keys (home row keys). Your left index finger should be on the letter "F." Your right index finger should be on the letter "J." Both thumbs should be on the spacebar.

Note

In the picture, the colors of each keys represent the fingers used to press those keys. For example, all pink keys are pressed by the pinkies.

Tip

Without looking at the keyboard, you can identify where your hands should be positioned with your index fingers feeling for small bumps on the letters "F" and "J." For further information about these bumps, see: Why are there bumps on the F and J keyboard keys?

Why should fingers be placed on home row keys?

Placing your fingers on the home row keys helps increase your typing speed because it allows easy access to all other keys surrounding those fingers. Faster typing relies on each finger pressing specific keys nearby, without having to move your whole hand or other fingers and ideally without looking at the keyboard.

What are all the keys accessible on the home row?

In addition to the keys your fingers are positioned over, your left index finger is also used to press G, and your left pinky presses Caps Lock key. Your right index finger also presses H, and your right pinky presses ' (single quote) and Enter. Also, pressing and holding the left Shift while pressing ; (semicolon) key lets you type a : (colon) and pressing ' types a " (quote).

How many letters and keys are on the home row keys?

How many letters are on the home row keys

A QWERTY keyboard has nine letters of the alphabet (A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, and L) on the home row. On a Dvorak keyboard, the home row has ten letters: A, O, E, U, I, D, H, T, N, and S.

How many total keys are on the keyboard home row keys

If you count all keys on the home row, there are 13 keys. Keys on the home row that are not letters include the Caps Lock key, semicolon and colon key, single quote and quote key, and the Enter key.

What are the home row keys on a Dvorak keyboard?

On the Dvorak United States keyboard, the home row keys on your left hand are A, O, E, and U. On your right hand are H, T, N, and S, with the thumbs resting on the spacebar.

While it's been suggested that Dvorak keyboard users can type faster than QWERTY keyboard users, it depends on each user. Some users are naturally faster at typing than others, regardless of the type of keyboard used.

How many symbols are on the home row?

Counting punctuation marks as symbols, the QWERTY keyboard home row has four symbols. These symbols are the semicolon (;), colon (:), apostrophe ('), and quote (") symbols.

Note

The Dvorak keyboard has two symbols on the home row: the apostrophe and quote.

What are the home row keys of the numeric keypad?

The home row keys of the numeric keypad are 4, 5, and 6. To position your hand on the home row keys of the numeric keypad, place your right index finger on the number four. Your right middle finger should lay naturally on the number five, the ring finger on the number six, and your pinky on the plus symbol.

Tip

You can position your hand on the home row of the numeric keypad without looking by feeling for the bump on the number five.

What are the rows above and below the home row keys?

The row above the home row keys is called the top row keys, and the row below the home row keys is called the bottom row keys.

What is home-row-jumping?

The term home-row-jumping describes the need to jump between rows when typing a word. For example, typing a word like "minimum" on a QWERTY keyboard requires a different row for each letter. However, layouts like Colemak or Dvorak reduce row switching by having more common letters on the home row.

A, Bottom row keys, D, F, G, H, Home key, J, K, Keyboard terms, L, S, Top row keys