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.
This row of keys is also sometimes called the middle row keys.
These keys should not be confused with the single Home key.
How to position fingers on home row keys
As seen in the above picture, your hands should lay naturally on the middle row of keys (home row keys) of the keyboard. Your left-hand index finger should be on the letter "F." Your right-hand index finger should be on the letter "J." Both thumbs should be on the spacebar.
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 that are 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 hand 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 on home row keys
On a QWERTY keyboard, there are nine letters (A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, and L) on the home row. On a Dvorak keyboard, there are ten letters A, O, E, U, I, D, H, T, N, and S on the home row.
How many total keys are on the keyboard home row keys
If you count all keys on the home row, there are a total of 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, they 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?
If you count the punctuation marks as symbols, the QWERTY keyboard home row has four symbols. These symbols are the semicolon (;), colon (:), apostrophe ('), and quote (") symbols.
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 hand index finger on the number four. Your right hand middle finger should then naturally lay on the number five, the ring finger should be on the number four, and your pinky should be on the plus symbol.
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.
A, Bottom row keys, D, F, G, H, Home key, J, K, Keyboard terms, L, S, Top row keys