Why are the keyboard letters not arranged in alphabetical order?

All About Touch Typing
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There are many keyboard layouts out there but why is ABC layout not the standard one?

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When typewriters were first invented, they did have their keys arranged in alphabetical order. However, many people and especially professional typists would often type so quickly that the mechanical arms that were used to strike characters to paper would frequently jam and become inoperable.

This, obviously, was unfavorable and either forced a typist to type slower than they could, or required them to constantly repair, unjam, or replace their manual typewriter. Eventually, the QWERTY keyboard was designed, spreading out the most commonly-used characters and forcing typists to slow down while also providing a relatively ergonomical solution that would still allow for excellent speed and accuraed output without the looming threat of jamming their typewriter.

The QWERTY is the standard keyboard layout that most typists use, though some also use DVORAK. There are a plethora of keyboarcy without sacrificing overall functionality. The new layout allowed typists to keep a high sped layout types that you can choose from, but these are specialty keyboards that may limit your typing ability in work spaces where QWERTY is the norm.

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I have often wondered that myself. Why is the ABC layout not one we see often?

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A lot has been wondering that. Hopefully, @Lyka_Remeticado answer helped you enlighten your question :slight_smile:

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Can’t they use another keyboard layout instead of QWERTY

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Hi EngHernandez,

There are actually a lot of keyboard layout available. But QWERTY is the widely used one :slight_smile:

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An ABC layout makes sense in the beginning, as we are already familiar with alpha order, but the QWERTY layout was indeed designed to be a more efficient keyboard layout.

The QWERTY layout was a development made for the typewriter, a way of avoiding the bars of common letters jamming when struck together too quickly. However, now that we use keyboards rather than typewriters, perhaps there is another option that could become even more popular than QWERTY.

It’s fun to think about potential layouts, and some of the more unusual ergonomic keyboards out there certainly experiment, but with the ubiquity of the QWERTY format, it’s hard to fathom a layout that could replace it.

Regards,
Typesy Team

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