One-Hand Typing Free Download

by Peter

On this site I provide free downloads of the One-Hand Keyboard typing software.

Give the free one-handed typing apps for Mac and Windows PC a try. They will allow you to type with one hand very easily, provided that you used to be a two-handed touch typist.

Anyone who used to type on the home row with two hands will be able to learn to type with one hand in minutes.

FREE Download

Give the demo apps a try. See if one-handed typing works for you. There is no obligation to buy.

The Mac demo is available on the Mac App Store.

P.S.

If you do find these free trial apps useful, please post two things as a comment below.

1. Why are you typing with one hand? Injury? Medical condition?
2. How is demo working for you?

{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }

Karen Callaghan December 19, 2012 at 9:05 pm

I can type one handed I just like to keep practicing. Also I am trying to give up cigarettes. I do not smoke inside and when I want a smoke I have to go outside so instead I will practice typing for something to do

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RC December 28, 2012 at 7:15 am

I think this app is pretty awesome. I use it just because I like typing with one hand at times. Not for any medical reason what-so-ever.

I do believe however that it is grossly overpriced. I think it should be in the $10 range, but that’s just my opinion.

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princ January 2, 2013 at 2:04 am

because one hand keboard easy to write and no problem

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L McCroskey September 12, 2013 at 5:42 pm

Not bad, but it’s made for people that use their left hand. In other words, keys on the left side of the keyboard work as usual and pressing the modifier (caps lock) will mirror the keys that are on the right side of the keyboard. I need a right-handed version. I need the keys on the right side to stay the same, and the modifier should mirror the keys that are on the left.

1)medical condition
2)Product works as advertised, but for the left hand only.

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Peter September 12, 2013 at 5:51 pm

Hi, thanks for the comment. OHK should work for right-hand typists as well; I’m not sure why you’re having trouble.

Caps-Lock works as a permanent switch to turn the one-hand layout on. You shouldn’t be pressing it for every letter, as is done with some other one-hand layouts.

When you press a key, either the left OR right key will be inputted; whichever is more likely. “H” will be predicted before “G”, etc. Then, as you continue to type, better predictions will continually replace the word in the textfield.

Does that help? Write me back if you’re still having trouble! (Are you using Mac or PC?)

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L McCroskey September 12, 2013 at 7:10 pm

Yeah, I just realized while testing it does mirror both sides. The problem is that it’s not working all the time. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. For example, I’m going to hit the “a” button 3 times in 2-hand mode, then I’m going to hit it 3 times in 1 hand mode, and here is what comes out: aaaaa;
Now I will do the same with the “s” key: ssslll
Now the “d” key: dddddd
Now the “f” key: ffffff
So you see, it is hit or miss. It seems to like some buttons more than others. I am using a PC with Win7Pro 32bit, Core2Duo E7400 @ 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM.

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Peter September 12, 2013 at 7:22 pm

Right, the results are only good if you commit to typing *real words* with one hand. Tapping random letters won’t produce good results, as predictions are based on real words. You shouldn’t switch between 1/2 hand modes either, in the same word.

For example, turn OHK on via Caps Lock. Then tap the keys: “yhi”.

The word in the textfield will change to “the”.

Tap “hillo”, and “hello” is produced. See how that works?

If you tap Tab, then, other predictions will be shown. In the Mac app, there’s a nice little window that pops up to show all available predictions… try it if you have access to a Mac.

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L McCroskey September 12, 2013 at 7:30 pm

Interesting. I don’t think that will work for us, as we have to deal with a lot of acronyms. For example Pennsylvania Value Added Assessment System is way too long, so we like to say PVAAS. There’s no way for us to type that using your software. Still, this is a great idea and it has helped quite a few people. Please keep developing this software. I’m certainly going to keep an eye on it.

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Peter September 13, 2013 at 5:20 pm

You’re right, it is hard to type words that aren’t in a dictionary. My solution is to make it easy to add words to your dictionary. Hunt and peck the word once, and thereafter you can type it with one hand.

If you’re able to try the Mac version, this functionality is already built in. (Unfortunately the Windows version is a bit behind.) And a great update to the Mac app is coming soon, which will make typing unique words even easier.

Thanks for trying OHK!

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L McCroskey September 19, 2013 at 3:41 pm

I just wanted to let you know that we are trying your software out. Since you talked about word prediction previously, it prompted me to take a closer look at some of the other solutions on the market. It turns out that word prediction is actually quite common. Swype and Naturally Speaking use it, as well as other products. Since the full-blown version of your software includes a dictionary to which we can add funky words (like PVAAS), there was no reason why we shouldn’t evaluate it. I’ll let you know how it goes! Thanks for your input.

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Peter September 20, 2013 at 12:40 am

Great, glad to hear you’re trying out the app! I’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions. Please email me directly: support@onehandkeyboard.org

Thanks!

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JEANNE September 15, 2013 at 10:23 am

Im looking at this because of an accident (bike) injury: triple-fracture at shoulder level. (Dominant side.) Already lost ten days of writing, and learned I’ll need reparative surgery.
Tried Demo. Seems promising. Im encouraged and hopeful.
Does one need to use regular keys for quotation marks, parentheses, etc.?
Usable on writing app? Email? Evernote? etc?
Thanks.

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Peter September 15, 2013 at 5:43 pm

Hi Jeane, it should be useable in any app; Evernote, Mail, etc. Let me know if you have any problems with a particular app. I’ll also reply to your email.

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Ethan S. October 3, 2013 at 1:40 am

I really love this keyboard. I don’t currently have any injuries, but I do enjoy learning new (more efficient) ways to type. One thing I would like to see is the tilde as a backspace key, or a better description of where the extra keys like quotes and apostrophe go, since the left home row stops at a and the right has the apostrophe AND enter. a Ctrl Shift for enter and maybe a mirroring of the number row if you press and hold tab while typing would be amazing. My primary use case for this is so I have to move my right hand off the mouse less, as I frequently alternate between typing and mousing in my job (and I’ve got 4 1080p monitors so there is a lot of distance to travel).
One other thing that seems to be tricky is windows that grab the keyboard and forward all keystrokes, bypassing your software. Is there any way it could register itself as a Windows IME method so that it works even when something gets hooked?

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Peter October 3, 2013 at 8:21 pm

Hi Ethan, thanks for the comment. I’m glad the one-handed typing method is working for you.

Send an email to support@onehandkeyboard.org … I’d love to discuss your suggestions further.

Thanks! Peter

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Maritza Hernandez April 1, 2016 at 3:57 pm

I want to learn how to write un the computer with INE hand?

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Judy Frohnaple August 13, 2016 at 2:12 am

I’m trying to access the one hand typing guide but staylimber.com only gives me an error message: DNS not found.

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