Dvorak and Colemak Compared With QWERTY
Colemak changes the position of 17 keys compared with QWERTY, while the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, patented by August Dvorak and William Dealey in 1936, rearranges almost the entire letter block. That single difference in scope explains most of what separates the two layouts in daily use, including how long each one takes to learn.
What does each layout put on the home row?
The home row is the whole argument. On QWERTY it reads A S D F G H J K L, and only three of the eight most frequent English letters are on it.
Dvorak puts all five vowels on the left half of the home row, in the order A O E U I, and the consonants D H T N S on the right. Alternating between hands becomes the default motion for most English words, because vowels and consonants alternate.
Colemak reads A R S T D H N E I O across the home row. E sits under the right index finger, which is the most used letter in English placed on the strongest available finger. Z, X, C and V stay exactly where QWERTY leaves them, which keeps the common cut, copy and paste shortcuts in the muscle memory you already have.
How much actually changes on each layout
| QWERTY | Colemak | Dvorak | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home row, left to right | A S D F G H J K L | A R S T D H N E I O | A O E U I and D H T N S |
| Keys moved from QWERTY | none | 17 | nearly the whole letter block |
| Z, X, C, V | in place | in place | moved |
| Where E sits | upper row, left hand | home row, right index finger | home row, left hand |
| Vowels | scattered | split across both hands | all five on the left home row |
| Included in Windows, macOS, Linux | yes | yes | yes |
The middle row of that table is the whole comparison. Colemak is a partial revision that leaves the bottom left corner untouched, which is why the shortcuts you already know keep working. Dvorak is a rebuild, and the scope of the change is what makes it both the bigger claim and the longer climb.
What does switching actually cost?
Both layouts ship with Windows, macOS and Linux, so no extra software is involved and the change is a settings change. The cost is in your hands, not on the disk.
Expect several weeks during which your typing is slower than it was, and expect the dip to be deeper with Dvorak than with Colemak, since more keys move. Expect keycap legends to be wrong unless you buy or relabel them, which many switchers treat as an advantage because it stops them looking down. Expect trouble on machines that are not yours, in remote sessions, and in software with shortcut sequences built around the QWERTY grid.
The claim that either layout makes people faster is where the evidence thins out. Finger travel distance is measurable and both alternatives reduce it. Speed is a different quantity, it depends on the typist far more than on the arrangement, and the strongest numbers in circulation come from advocates rather than from independent measurement. Reduced travel is a comfort argument that can be made honestly. A promise of higher speed cannot.
When is switching a waste of time?
If you do not touch type yet, learn the keyboard in front of you first. Relearning once is cheaper than relearning twice, and the technique described in learn touch typing is what produces the gain, not the letter order. The same applies if your discomfort comes from posture or from a bad desk height, which no layout can fix.
If you administer other people’s computers, sit at shared machines, or work in software with dense keyboard shortcuts, the friction never fully goes away. If you type in more than one language, check first whether your second language even has a Dvorak or Colemak variant with the accented characters you need, because the diacritic route may still send you back through US International.
One practical note about this site: our keyboard test draws six layouts today: ANSI US, ISO German QWERTZ, French AZERTY, US International, Polish programmers and Polish 214, and neither Dvorak nor Colemak is among them. If you have already switched, the tester still reports every keypress correctly, because it reads the physical key position, but the picture on screen will show the QWERTY legends. Changing the layout in your system settings is covered in changing the keyboard layout in Windows.
Before you decide, take a measurement on the layout you have. William Wordsworth printed I wandered lonely as a Cloud in 1807, and its 412 characters are built almost entirely from short common words, which makes it the calmest way to find out whether your hands are limited by the letter order or by something a week of steady practice would settle. Washington Irving opened The Sketch Book of 1820 by saying he was always fond of visiting new scenes, and those 435 characters suit being typed twice, once on each arrangement. Alfred Tennyson published The Brook in 1855, and its 482 characters repeat short verbs in pairs, so an even tempo stays audible even while the letters are still moving house. All three are waiting in the typing test, each with its author, year and source on its own page.
Who should switch, who should not, and where to start
Yes, consider it if you already touch type on QWERTY at a steady pace, own the machine you work on all day, type mostly prose in one language, and want less finger travel. Choose Colemak if you value your existing shortcuts and a shorter dip; choose Dvorak if you want the full alternating pattern and accept several weeks of being slow.
No, do not switch if you are still hunting for keys, if you sit at other people’s machines, if your discomfort comes from posture or desk height, or if you are hoping for a speed record. None of those four problems has a letter order as its cause, and none of them has one as its cure.
Where to start: measure yourself on the layout you have now, before touching any setting. Note words per minute and accuracy from a full length run in the typing test. Without that number the comparison after four weeks runs against a feeling instead of a value, and a feeling always says the new layout is better.
What the evidence does and does not support
Finger travel distance is measurable, and both alternatives reduce it against QWERTY. That is a comfort argument and it can be made honestly.
Speed is a different quantity. It depends on the typist far more than on the arrangement, and the strongest numbers in circulation come from people who advocate for a layout rather than from independent measurement. A typist who switches also practices deliberately for weeks, which on its own raises the figure, so the layout and the practice cannot be separated in most reports. Treat any promise of a specific percentage gain as unsupported.
The QWERTY origin story is a separate argument that gets borrowed here, and it does not carry the weight people give it. What the record actually shows about the 1870s arrangement is set out in why the QWERTY layout exists.
FAQ
Is Dvorak or Colemak faster than QWERTY?
Neither has been shown to be faster in independent measurement. Both reduce finger travel, which is a comfort argument and measurable. Speed depends on the typist, and anyone switching also practices hard for weeks, so published gains cannot separate the layout from the practice.
How long does it take to relearn?
Expect several weeks below your old pace, and expect the dip to be deeper with Dvorak than with Colemak because more keys move. Full recovery to your previous speed is commonly reported in a small number of months, but the range is wide and depends on how much you type each day.
Do I need to buy new keycaps?
No. Both layouts are a settings change in Windows, macOS, and Linux, with no extra software. Your legends will be wrong, which many switchers treat as a benefit because it removes the temptation to look down. Relabeling is optional and does not affect what the keys send.
Does Colemak keep the copy and paste shortcuts?
Yes. Z, X, C and V stay exactly where QWERTY leaves them, so cut, copy and paste keep the grip you already have. That is one of the main reasons Colemak is the easier of the two to adopt.
Does the keyboard test on this site support Dvorak or Colemak?
Not in the drawing. The keyboard test currently draws six layouts: ANSI US, ISO German QWERTZ, French AZERTY, US International, Polish programmers and Polish 214. If you have switched, every keypress is still reported correctly, because the test reads the physical key position, but the labels on screen show QWERTY.
Can I type accented characters on Dvorak or Colemak?
Check before you commit. Whether your second language has a variant carrying the characters you need varies by language, and the fallback is often a dead key route through US International, which brings its own cost in code and quotation marks.
