Why is the QWERTY keyboard laid out the way it is?

The layout grew out of a series of experiments by Christopher Sholes and his collaborators in the early 1870s and was settled when Remington manufactured the machine. The exact reason for the letter order is not firmly established. The best-known explanation, that it separates common letter pairs to prevent jamming, is widely repeated but has been challenged, and an alternative based on telegraph operators has gained support among some recent historians. [1] [2]

According to [newscientist.com](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2200664-the-truth-about-the-qwerty-keyboard/), an 1872 Scientific American article showed a Sholes machine with a second row beginning QWE.TY. Remington, a New York gunmaker, agreed to manufacture the machine and produced a prototype with a slightly different arrangement, QWERTUIOPY. Sholes reportedly objected and had the Y put back between T and U, and QWERTY came together. Remington's No. 1 Type Writer went on sale in 1874, and by 1890 more than 100,000 QWERTY keyboards were in use in the US. The first machine had its letters in alphabetical order, according to [latrobe.edu.au](https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2018/opinion/why-do-we-have-a-qwerty-keyboard). [2] [3]

The jamming theory holds that early typewriters had metal type bars that collided when neighbouring keys were pressed in quick succession, so Sholes rearranged letters to separate common pairs. [americanscientist.org](https://www.americanscientist.org/article/keyboards-codes-and-the-search-for-optimality) calls this the most compelling account, noting that it names a constraint and a mechanism and fits the different French AZERTY layout. The same article notes that th, er and ed still sit close together, so QWERTY is at best a good-enough solution. The Jargon File likewise says the job was far from perfect. [4] [5]

Critics say the evidence does not fit. New Scientist points out that E and R, and T and H, are close together, and reports a 1949 statistical analysis finding that QWERTY has more close pairs than a random keyboard. A second view, put forward by Kyoto University researchers in 2011 and favoured by some more recent historians, is that letters were rearranged to suit telegraph operators transcribing Morse code, since some letters easily confused in Morse sit close together. A third, more prosaic view is that the layout is a semi-random rearrangement of an original piano-style keyboard. Historian Jan Noyes concluded that there appears to be no obvious reason for the placement of letters. [2] [6] [1]

Two stories are often repeated. One is that QWERTY was meant to slow typists down; the Jargon File says this is wrong and that the aim was faster typing. The other is that salesmen could impress customers by typing TYPEWRITER from the top row. New Scientist says there is no historical evidence for it, though the Jargon File repeats it as a demonstration benefit. The original keyboard was meant for hunt-and-peck typing, not touch typing, which came later. [5] [2]

The layout persisted because so many people learned it. Several large makers combined in 1893 to form the Union Typewriter Company, and by about 1900 QWERTY was the standard. Later generations of touch typists made switching to any alternative difficult, even after springs largely solved the jamming problem. [6] [3] [5]