# Which letters have the most wear on your keyboard? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300 "2010-08-15T03:03:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![maisoui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@maisoui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maisoui)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/21 "2010-08-16T00:51:17Z")
I responded E, S, N, L, and K. Also the space bar is worn. The E, S, and K are _gone_. This keyboard is 15 months old. I don’t believe K is a very high-volume letter, but I do medical transcription and all of my expansions for drugs have a K at the beginning to distinguish them from others. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/22 "2010-08-16T02:46:56Z")
I do Wheel of Fortune proud…RSTLNE. C, I and O as well, the left Shift key, the right-hand side Enter key and the right-most third of the space bar, which I also use my thumb for. This is based on shininess, not letter fading. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/23 "2010-08-16T03:55:44Z")
W, A, S, D, E, F, J, K, L, R, T… I and O, but not so much. And the left shift and space bar. This is based on shine - I replaced a keyboard with several worn-away letters a few months ago. I know J and K are only from resting my fingers there before I start typing. There was actually a little dust on my right shift button. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/24 "2010-08-17T00:39:38Z")
It’s interesting how S is so common yet T is not all that common to have wear. I just noticed that only the right side of my space bar is shiny, too! I guess I only hit space with my right thumb! I never knew that before. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/25 "2010-08-17T01:43:29Z")
None of the keys shows any particular wear. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/26 "2010-08-17T07:39:41Z")
I have no idea why, but apparently I’m hell on wheels for N and (to a lesser extent) M. My WoW keyboard doesn’t show any wear. My old laptop’s N is completely gone. This laptop’s N is half-missing. The full-size keyboard I’m using right now has the N and M completely blurred out; the N didn’t last 48 hours. Oh, and I’m definitely a right-thumb spacer. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/27 "2010-08-17T08:09:32Z")
Admit it, you’re just using this poll to try and figure out people’s passwords, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/28 "2010-08-17T09:04:01Z")
I doubt that would work. The letters in my password aren’t especially worn on my keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/29 "2010-08-17T14:20:49Z")
You forgot to ask about function keys. My F3, F4, and F10 are getting shiny compared to the others. Why yes, I’m in the mainframe a lot… I’m actually surprised F8 isn’t worn more as it also sees a lot of poking throughout the day. “A” is worn down to just the left bar. The right side is almost gone and the cross-bar is gone. The bottom half of “S” is gone. This is all on a roughly 15 year old IBM-branded keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/30 "2010-08-17T19:31:59Z")
Q,W,E,S - Thank you WoW. I changed a couple on my key mapping which is why I have the Q and E instead of the A and D. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/31 "2010-08-17T19:49:33Z")
L and M No idea why - neither letter is in my name or my username. Maybe I LOL a lot? The right side of my spacebar is shiny, and there are shiny palm-sized wear spots under each side of the spacebar. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/32 "2010-08-17T19:54:10Z")
The spacebar. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/33 "2010-08-17T20:15:10Z")
My keyboard is ~1985 vintage (IBM Model M) but no key sshow wear. Just dirt! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/34 "2010-08-17T20:19:35Z")
M is totally gone. K, L, and N are mostly gone. C is about half there, half not. Most other letters are unscathed. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/35 "2010-08-17T20:44:33Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] My keyboard is ~1985 vintage (IBM Model M) but no key sshow wear. Just dirt! [/QUOTE] You could grind 1/8" off those keytops and still read the letters as they’re double-shot molded, unlike pretty much everything else on the planet that’s just screen-printed onto the caps. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/36 "2010-08-17T20:57:42Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > [QUOTE=control-z] > My keyboard is ~1985 vintage (IBM Model M) but no key sshow wear. Just dirt! You could grind 1/8" off those keytops and still read the letters as they’re double-shot molded, unlike pretty much everything else on the planet that’s just screen-printed onto the caps. [/QUOTE] My keyboard just got cooler! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/37 "2010-08-17T22:56:46Z")
While a couple of the letters are worn, it’s the left \, the space bar, and 0 on my 10 key that have the most wear. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/38 "2010-08-17T23:40:01Z")
I entered all of the letters that were at least half worn away. There were eleven of them. Four are completely gone. V is nearly gone, and I’m guessing that’s only true because of Ctrl-V for pasting. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/39 "2010-08-17T23:47:25Z")
I’ll look again when I get home, but my work computer has almost completely lost E, N and M. The H key is at about 55%. Everything else is largely intact. I’ve had my work computer keyboard for probably about four years. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300/40 "2010-08-21T03:15:22Z")
My hp Pavilion dv7-4065dx Entertainment Notebook with 17" screen is only 2 weeks old, along with MS Office 2010, so there’s no wear yet, except for the hp & Windows HELLp buttons (if there was one). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-letters-have-the-most-wear-on-your-keyboard/550300.md?page=3)