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Starter guide

Stenography

Type whole words in one press, the way court reporters do.

You can try stenography today on the keyboard you already own, with free software. Instead of typing one letter at a time, you press several keys at once, like a chord on a piano, and a whole syllable or word comes out. It is how court reporters and live captioners keep up with speech at 225 words a minute. For decades it took a machine costing thousands of dollars and two years of school. Free, open-source software now turns an ordinary keyboard into a steno machine, and a hobby has grown up around it: people who learn it to type faster with less finger travel, to write code, or because learning it feels like a puzzle and a musical instrument at once.

Difficulty
steep learning curve
Startup cost
$35-$105
First result
Your first chorded words within the first hour, and slow full sentences in one to two weeks
Keyboard total$0.00
Three mechanical keyboards lying side by side on a wooden table
01

How steno works

Several keys, one press, one word

A steno layout has only 22 keys and a number bar. The left hand writes the consonants that start a syllable, the thumbs write the vowels, and the right hand writes the consonants that end it. You press all the keys for a syllable together and let go: that is one stroke. K, A and T pressed at once writes "cat". There is no key for every letter, so missing sounds are built from combinations (T, P and H together are the starting N), and learning those combinations is the first month. The software looks each stroke up in a dictionary of more than 100,000 entries, and the set of rules behind that dictionary is called a theory. Common words and phrases get short chords of their own, called briefs, which is where the speed comes from. A practice session is 15 to 30 minutes of drills at a desk, and it feels closer to practicing scales than to typing.

02

What to check in a keyboard

  • Rollover is the thing that matters. Steno chords can use ten or more keys at once, and most laptop and office keyboards stop registering after four to seven. Run a free online rollover test on the keyboard you own: lay your palm across the keys and see how many light up.
  • If yours fails the test, you can still learn on it. Turn on the software's arpeggiate setting, which lets you press the keys of a chord one after another and send it with the space bar. It is slow, but it is enough to find out whether you like steno.
  • When you buy, look for N-key rollover (often written NKRO, or full anti-ghosting) and plug it in by cable. Many wireless keyboards drop to six keys at once over Bluetooth.
  • Hot-swappable switches are worth having. They let you pull out the stock switches under the steno keys and push in lighter ones later, with no soldering.
  • A grid layout (called ortholinear), where the keys sit in straight columns, matches a steno machine. An ordinary staggered keyboard works too: steno uses the top two letter rows and four keys on the bottom row for the vowels.
  • Avoid clicky or stiff switches. Ten of them pressed together are tiring and loud.
  • Before each session, start the software, switch its output on, and press one test chord with the paper tape window open. The tape shows exactly which keys registered, so you catch a dropped key before you drill it into your hands.

Test your keyboard, and the community's notes

A small keyboard in a yellow case with its keys in straight columns, on a wooden surface
Keys in straight columns
03

Your first two weeks

Tick each line off the tape as you finish it

The setup guide

04

What trips beginners up

What to expect, and three habits to drop

  • You will be far slower than your normal typing for months. Hobbyists who practice daily commonly take six months to a year to pass their old speed, so keep typing normally for work.
  • The layout takes a week or two to memorize, and the chords for the missing letters take longer. Ten words a minute at the end of the first month is normal.
  • Short daily sessions work and long weekend ones do not. This is finger memory, and it fades in the early weeks if you skip days.
  • Do not practice for speed. A misstroke repeated fast becomes a habit, and the fix is to slow down until every stroke comes out clean.
  • Do not memorize hundreds of briefs before you finish the theory. Learn to write any word by its sounds first, then add briefs for the words you use most.
  • Do not look up every word in the dictionary and copy the shortest entry. Dictionaries hold several ways to write most words, and the textbook's way is the one that stays consistent.
  • Sore hands mean the switches are too heavy or you are pressing too hard. Keys only need to reach the point where they register.
The two halves of a split keyboard and a trackball on a wooden desk
05

Where people take it

Open one to see where to start

Everyday typingEmail, chat, notes and journaling in steno instead of letter by letter. This is where most hobbyists are headed, and the base kit covers it.

Start here

Pick one thing you type every day, such as a chat reply or a journal line, and write it in steno once a day with the textbook open. Go back to normal typing for everything else until that one thing stops being slow.

Code and shortcutsWriting symbols, editor commands and whole snippets as single chords. Programmers build a personal dictionary for their own language and tools.

Start here

The next time a symbol, a shortcut or a word you type constantly takes more than one stroke, open the dictionary editor and give it a one-stroke chord of your own. Write the new chord ten times before moving on.

Captioning and court reportingThe professional path. Certified reporters write 225 words a minute on machines that cost thousands, after roughly two years of school. A free introductory course lets you test the idea first, and it accepts hobbyist keyboards.

Start here

Read how the free six-week introductory course works and what it asks you to bring. It is run by the professional association and is built to tell you whether the career suits you before you pay for school.

NCRA A to Z program
Other languagesVolunteers have built layouts and dictionaries for languages well beyond English, and some of them need nothing more than a plugin.

Start here

Look up whether your language has a steno layout and dictionary already, then install its plugin and try the first ten words.

Steno layouts and supported languages

Open a direction to see its first step. None of them needs gear beyond the keyboard in the kit.

06

Where to learn

  • A free online textbook is the backbone. There are two good ones for hobbyists, each teaching its own theory, and both start from the layout and assume no experience.
  • Read the short comparison of theories before you commit. The practical difference for a beginner is which textbook you prefer reading.
  • Free drill sites feed you words that use only the chords you have covered so far and track your accuracy. Most of your practice time goes here.
  • The community chat has a beginners' channel where people answer layout, setup and hardware questions.

Free textbooks, drills and the community

Close-up of a black split ergonomic keyboard on a dark surface
A split keyboard up close
07

Why the kit is this small

The software, the textbooks and the drill sites are all free, so the only thing to buy is something better to press. The kit below is the route you can order today: a mechanical keyboard with N-key rollover, flat keycaps so one finger can press two keys at once, and lighter switches for later. There is a second route this page cannot put in the cart. Small makers sell keyboards built only for steno, with the machine's layout, light switches and flat keys already in place, for about what a mechanical keyboard costs. They sell direct and none are on Amazon. If you are sure steno is for you, one of those replaces the whole kit below. The community's hardware list has every model and where to order it.

Keyboards built only for steno

A compact keyboard with several keycaps pulled off and a wire keycap puller lying above it
Keycaps pull straight off
08

Set up the keyboard

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the cart. Clicking a card selects it there. The keyboard and the flat keycaps start in the kit. The lighter switches are for later and start out of it.

N-key rollover mechanical keyboard

essential · Core equipment

Steno chords press up to ten or more keys at the same instant, and most laptop and office keyboards stop registering after a handful. A mechanical keyboard with N-key rollover reports every key, so chords come out whole.

budget
Redragon K668 108-Key Hot-Swap Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard, Extra 4 Hotkeys

Redragon K668 108-Key Hot-Swap Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard, Extra 4 Hotkeys

4.5(1.5K)

$34.99

View on Amazon
mid-range
Keychron C2 Full Size Wired Mechanical Keyboard, Hot-Swappable, Retro

Keychron C2 Full Size Wired Mechanical Keyboard, Hot-Swappable, Retro

4.3(142)

$45.43

View on Amazon
premium
EPOMAKER Hack70 Planck Mechanical Keyboard with VIA Custom, 2.4Ghz/BT/Wired

EPOMAKER Hack70 Planck Mechanical Keyboard with VIA Custom, 2.4Ghz/BT/Wired

4.0(19)

$71.99

View on Amazon

Test the keyboard you own before buying: one that passes a rollover test is already a steno keyboard. Use the cable even on a wireless model. The two cheaper options are ordinary staggered keyboards. The dearest is a compact grid-layout board, the closest shape to a steno machine.

Flat blank keycaps

recommended · Keyboard parts

In steno one finger often presses two keys at once by landing on the crack between them, which sculpted, sloped stock keycaps make awkward. Flat keycaps of one even height turn two neighbors into a single surface.

budget
YMDK DSA Profile PBT Blank Keycap Set for Ergo Ergodox Planck Preonic Lily 58 Keyboard

YMDK DSA Profile PBT Blank Keycap Set for Ergo Ergodox Planck Preonic Lily 58 Keyboard

4.3(50)

$14.46

View on Amazon
mid-range
YMDK XDA DSA Blank Colorful PBT Keycaps Suitable for Ortholinear Layout MX Keyboard XD75 ID75 Split 36 Corne Split 46 Planck Preonic Niu40 (XDA 96)

YMDK XDA DSA Blank Colorful PBT Keycaps Suitable for Ortholinear Layout MX Keyboard XD75 ID75 Split 36 Corne Split 46 Planck Preonic Niu40 (XDA 96)

4.4(123)

$15.92

View on Amazon
premium
YMDK 127 Key White Blank ZDA XDA V2 Keycaps PBT Keycap for MX Keyboard 104 87 61 Melody 96 KBD75 ID80 GK64 SP84

YMDK 127 Key White Blank ZDA XDA V2 Keycaps PBT Keycap for MX Keyboard 104 87 61 Melody 96 KBD75 ID80 GK64 SP84

4.3(51)

$19.19

View on Amazon

You only need to swap the keys steno uses: the top two letter rows and the four vowel keys. Blank caps are fine, because steno is typed by position and the printed letters would be wrong anyway. Keep the originals.

Light linear switches

optional · Keyboard parts

For later, once practice runs past 20 minutes and your hands tire: stock switches are sprung for one key at a time, and a ten-key chord multiplies that force. Switches that need about 35 grams, well under the usual 45 to 60, fix it.

budget
Pack of Gateron ks-9 G PRO Switches for Mechanical Gaming Keyboards | Plate Mounted | Pre Lubed (Gateron PRO Clear, 65 Pcs)

Pack of Gateron ks-9 G PRO Switches for Mechanical Gaming Keyboards | Plate Mounted | Pre Lubed (Gateron PRO Clear, 65 Pcs)

4.4(6)

$10.66

View on Amazon
mid-range
G Pro 3.0 Keyboard Switches(White,35PCS)

G Pro 3.0 Keyboard Switches(White,35PCS)

4.6(144)

$11.19

View on Amazon
premium
Gateron Smoothie Linear Switches, Pre-lubed 40gf, 72PCS

Gateron Smoothie Linear Switches, Pre-lubed 40gf, 72PCS

4.5(73)

$18.71

View on Amazon

These only fit a keyboard with hot-swappable sockets, and some budget boards accept only one brand of switch, so check your keyboard's listing first. You need about 30 for the steno keys. The switch puller usually comes in the keyboard's box.