How To Type With Long Nails – there’s a tool now!

It’s been kinda wild out there…until now.

Want to have long nails but wondering how on earth you’re going to type? Or maybe you already have long nails and want to know what everyone else is doing because you’re getting chipping, lifting or sore hands.

Well, the struggle is real. Here’s where we’re at and why I invented the Tippy Type:

You can try typing with the actual nail itself. But that’s pretty tricky to do. And terrible for your nails.

My nail slides around because the tip of my nail is an uneven and small striking surface. There are typos. And for me at least, it kinda hurts because, well, it’s my nail and not meant to be hitting keys like that. It can also cause lifting of your nail extension or breakage of your nail. And if you’ve ever experienced it, lifting nail extensions can be very painful and damaging, literally breaking your natural nail in half in the middle of the nail bed – yikes! When I would get lifting and need to make an emergency appointment with my nail tech she would give me a look like – “what did you do?!” Because it’s not the fault of her work, and she’s right. I’m not treating my nails like the beautiful decoration they are or protecting my investment, I’m using them as tools. And as we’ve all heard our nail techs say, “Nails are not tools!”

Some people do type with their nails and seem to be ok with it! To each their own and I understand doing it because we haven’t had a better way (until now!) but for me, I really can’t type very well and my nails get destroyed!!

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You can try typing with other parts of your finger. But it’s awkward, uncomfortable and can cause sore fingers.

To avoid typing with your actual nail itself, you can invent all kinds of awkward finger positions to strike the keys. If you have a laptop or other keyboard with flat keys you can you straighten your fingers, making them very stiff, so you can strike the keys with the top 1/3 of your finger. Or you can try typing with the sides of your fingers. There’s a lot of weird hand positions to try, but all of them are pretty unnatural and over time you may notice your fingers or hands hurt. My fingers always get exhausted from the strain of holding them so stiff for so long. Other articles about typing with long nails will recommend the best keyboards for long nails are those with a flat keyboard because they are better than others for avoiding contact with your actual nail, but you’re still using stiff fingers or crazy hand positions to type. Also, I still find myself making a ton of typos because I’m typing with large parts of my fingers that make it imprecise. 

If you have a traditional external keyboard with more 3-D keys vs a laptop keyboard with flat keys, despite your best efforts, your nail itself will likely still strike some keys causing typos and a clack-clack noise which is distracting and can be loud to those around you in person or on your video conference.

Using weird hand positions is better than typing with your actual nail but still it’s not ideal. I totally understand people who just choose to give up having long nails so they can type more comfortably and well! It’s not easy.

You can use a Tippy Type! More comfort, more accuracy, more work done 🙂

I invented the Tippy Type because of the issues above. Before now, there hasn’t been a really good solution to the typing with long nails problem. There are (to our knowledge) no keyboards for long nails or made with long nails in mind. 

I was about to join the short nail club because I was concerned with my poor typing…I’m a working professional so to sit in front of a client or colleague making a million typos or loud noise from nails hitting a keyboard is just embarrassing. But I really love long nails, they bring me so much joy and I love expressing myself through the different colors and artwork.

 With a Tippy Type you can:

• Have a natural curvature to your fingers making typing much more comfortable – no more stiff fingers or awkward finger positions!
• Use the tip of your finger to type – hence, the tippy in Tippy Type. Because there is clearance for your nail and you can curve your fingers, you can type more normally like someone without nails would type – with the ends/tips of your finger! This makes the whole typing experience much more natural, faster, and more accurate.
• Protect your nails! And your investment in your beautiful nails. We all know good nails aren’t cheap. And just like you wouldn’t use subpar shampoo on a beautiful fresh hair dye, you need to protect and value your nail investment. Using a Tippy Type will reduce strain on the nail resulting in less damage and longer lasting manis!

xo Sara, Founder/CEO Tippy Type

Finally there’s a real solution to typing with long nails! Learn more about the Tippy Type Keyboard Cover