More information about QWERTY

How was QWERTY designed?

Hi there,

The earliest typewriters in the 1870s arranged the keys in more-or-less alphabetical order, or in a pattern derived from how typographers worked to typeset books and newspapers. But as typists got faster, the mechanical keys would jam up. To slow down typists and avoid jams, many of the most popular letters in English were moved to opposite sides of the keyboard.

Best Regards,
Aidan Bernales
Community Moderator at Typesy

Hello, @margaretferreira!

Great question! At first glance, it certainly seems like the letters are just randomly scattered over the keyboard!

As Aidan said, the QWERTY format came about out of necessity. The thinking was to stretch commonly used letters apart, allowing your fingers to be less cramped when typing.

So while we are much more familiar with alpha order than QWERTY, and an alphabetical layout may be easier to learn, you’d find your fingers constantly fighting for space!

Regards,
Alex (The Reimagined Classroom Teacher)