Why do we use QWERTY keyboards?

The history of the QWERTY keyboard layout and why it remains the standard despite more efficient alternatives available.

Today, almost every keyboard we use — whether it’s on your personal computer or phone — follows the QWERTY layout. But did you know this arrangement wasn’t the obvious choice when typewriters were first invented?

The story of the QWERTY layout begins with the invention of the mechanical typewriter in the 19th Century. In the early 1870s, an American inventor named Christopher Latham Sholes, along with his colleagues, developed one of the first practical typewriters.

The earliest versions of their machine had a simple and intuitive layout: the keys were arranged alphabetically from A to Z. This made sense for new users, who could easily find the letters without needing special training. However, while the alphabetical order seemed logical, it soon led to unexpected problems once people started typing faster.

As typewriters became more widely used, a major issue quickly surfaced: key jamming. Early typewriters worked by mechanical arms that struck inked ribbons to imprint letters onto paper. The problem arose when certain letter combinations were typed too quickly — the arms would collide with each other, causing a jam that slowed down the entire process. This issue made it clear that the design of the typewriter would need to be adjusted to avoid such mechanical conflicts.

To solve the problem of key jamming, Sholes and his team rearranged the keys in a way that minimised mechanical collisions. They strategically placed commonly paired letters—such as “T” and “H” or “C” and “K”—further apart, so that typists wouldn’t accidentally press them in quick succession.

The goal wasn’t to speed up typing, but rather to slow it down just enough to reduce the risk of the typewriter’s mechanical arms jamming when typed too quickly. The QWERTY layout was designed to optimize the machine’s mechanical needs, not necessarily the comfort or speed of the typist.

The QWERTY layout became popular when Remington, a major typewriter manufacturer, adopted it on their successful machines. As typing schools and businesses trained people on QWERTY keyboards, it quickly became the standard. Over time, this widespread use created a network effect, making it hard to switch to any other layout — and QWERTY stuck as the global norm.