A keystroke is a single press of one key on a keyboard. Every time you tap a letter, number, or symbol while typing, that's one keystroke. When you type the word “hello,” you've made five keystrokes: one for each letter.

The term matters because keystrokes add up quickly. A professional typist might make 300 keystrokes per minute. A novelist writing a 300-page book makes millions of keystrokes. Computer programmers learn keyboard shortcuts to reduce keystrokes, saving time and effort on repetitive tasks.

Some software counts keystrokes to measure typing speed or track how much someone has written. Security systems sometimes record keystrokes to catch criminals or protect against hackers, though this raises privacy concerns.

The word can also suggest effort or work. If you're just a few keystrokes away from finishing your essay, you're almost done. If someone says they can solve a problem with a few keystrokes, they mean it's quick and easy to fix using a computer. Before keyboards, people used typewriters, where each keystroke struck a metal lever against paper, making a satisfying clack sound.