Typing Speed Screenshots: What Employers Accept

Quick answer

> Quick answer: Send a screenshot that shows the whole browser window, the test site, your speed, your accuracy and the test length. Cropping to just the number is the fastest way to get it rejected, because a cropped number proves nothing at all.

Recruiters ask for this constantly on data entry and support roles, and most candidates send something useless.

I read what the common requests actually ask for before writing this. The speed unit itself is standard and described on the words per minute page, so what's in question is never the unit. It's whether the screenshot is believable.

Why they ask for a screenshot at all

It's a filter, not a measurement. They know a screenshot can be faked.

What it does is remove the candidates who claim 80 words per minute on a resume and then can't produce anything at all. That's a surprising share of applicants.

It also tells them you can follow a simple instruction and use a browser, which for some roles is genuinely the bar.

So treat it as a first gate rather than as the real test. The real test usually comes later and is supervised.

What a credible screenshot contains

Five things, and missing any one of them weakens it.

The full browser window including the address bar, so they can see which site it is. Your words per minute. Your accuracy percentage. The test duration. The date, which is usually visible in your system clock.

A screenshot with all five is hard to argue with. A screenshot with only the number is a picture of a number.

Capture the whole screen rather than a region. It takes the same effort and answers questions before they're asked.

The crop that gets you rejected

The most common mistake is cropping tightly around the result so it looks tidy.

That removes every piece of context that made it credible. No site, no duration, no accuracy, no date.

Recruiters see a lot of these and they've learned that a tight crop usually means something was hidden.

So the tidy version reads as suspicious while the messy full screen version reads as honest. That's the opposite of most application advice, and it holds here.

Accuracy matters more than speed

This is the part candidates get backwards.

For data entry, an accurate typist at 55 words per minute is more valuable than a sloppy one at 75. Errors in entered data cost real money to find and fix later.

So a screenshot showing 60 at 99 percent beats one showing 80 at 92 percent for most of these roles.

If your accuracy is under 95, spend a week fixing that before you spend a week chasing speed. Our drills on improving typing accuracy are the faster path to a better screenshot.

Pick the right test length

A one minute test looks like you're hiding something. A five minute test looks like you're not.

Short tests reward bursts. Anyone can hold a high pace for sixty seconds. Sustained speed over five minutes is what actually predicts a working day.

Recruiters who know the field know this, and the ones who don't still find a longer test more convincing.

Run five minutes. Send the five minute result even if your one minute number is prettier.

Which site to use

Use something recognizable. An unknown site with a strange domain invites questions you don't want.

The test should show accuracy alongside speed, let you pick the duration, and display a result screen that survives a screenshot.

Some tests clear the result after a few seconds, which makes capturing it a scramble. Check that before you start.

You can run a five minute test with accuracy shown on our practice test and the result stays on screen while you capture it.

What about a certificate instead

Some sites issue a certificate with your name and score. Employers vary wildly on whether they care.

A certificate looks more formal and is exactly as fakeable as a screenshot, which sharper recruiters know.

Where it helps is with administrative screening, where somebody is checking a box rather than judging the number.

Our guide on which typing certificates employers accept covers which ones carry weight and which ones don't.

The screenshot they will not accept

A photo of your screen taken with a phone. It reads as either technically weak or deliberately blurred.

A screenshot with browser extensions visibly modifying the page. A result from a site that lets you set your own score. A crop with the URL removed.

And anything sent as a document with the image pasted inside, which some systems mangle badly.

Send a plain image file. Portable network graphics or a standard photo format, attached directly.

How to actually take it

On Windows, the print screen key or the snipping tool captures the full screen. On a Mac, hold shift, command and three.

Do it the moment the result appears, before anything reloads.

Check the file afterwards. A surprising number of people send a screenshot of the wrong window, or one where the result is cut off at the bottom.

Open the file and look at it before attaching. That single check prevents most of the rejections.

Should you retake until you get a good number

Yes, within reason, and everybody does it.

Taking five attempts and sending your best is normal. Taking fifty and sending an outlier you can't repeat is a problem, because the supervised test later will expose it.

The honest test is whether you can hit that number again on demand. If you can, send it. If it was luck, don't.

Getting caught below your claimed speed in a live test is worse than having claimed a lower number.

What happens in the supervised test

Most serious roles verify later, either in a video call or on their own system.

That test is usually harder. Unfamiliar keyboard, unfamiliar text, someone watching, and often numbers and symbols mixed in.

Expect to score below your practice number. A drop of ten to fifteen percent under those conditions is normal and recruiters know it.

Our guide on passing a data entry typing test covers what those tests actually contain.

Numbers and symbols change everything

Plain prose tests measure one skill. Data entry work is full of digits, punctuation and codes.

If the role is data entry, practice with numbers before you take the screenshot, and say in your message that you tested on plain text.

That honesty is worth more than a bigger number, because it tells them you understand the job.

I counted the difference on my own attempts and the numeric drop is steep for anybody who hasn't drilled the number row.

What to write in the message

Keep it to two lines. The site, the duration, the speed and the accuracy.

Something like a five minute test on a named site, seventy two words per minute at ninety eight percent accuracy, screenshot attached.

Don't explain, apologise or pad it. The number speaks and the context makes it credible.

Adding your resume claim in the same message helps too, so they can see the two figures agree.

If your number is lower than the requirement

Send it anyway if you're close, and say what you're doing about it.

Many listings state a speed that's aspirational rather than firm, especially where the rest of the fit matters more.

A candidate at 52 with 99 percent accuracy who says they practice daily often beats a candidate at 60 with no message at all.

Our note on whether to put typing speed on a resume covers how to frame the number when it isn't your strongest point.

One more thing worth saying in that message. Tell them the date you took it. A recent test reads as current ability, and an undated one reads as something you found in an old folder.