This keyboard latency test times every key press and release your browser sees and turns them into five readings: the steps your keyboard reports in, how long each press lasts, how far apart two keys pressed together arrive, how fast you can tap and how even your rhythm is. One thing first: no web page can time the full delay from a key going down to the computer receiving it, because that happens inside the keyboard before the browser hears about it. What a page can see is when key events arrive, and their spacing gives away the keyboard's polling rate. It works with USB, 2.4 GHz wireless and Bluetooth keyboards on Windows, Mac, ChromeOS and Linux.
How to test keyboard latency
- Choose Free typing and type normally for 20 to 30 seconds. After about 30 key events the Report steps reading appears and firms up as you type.
- Choose Tap speed and tap one key as fast as you can for 10 seconds. You get taps per second, your press times and how evenly you tapped.
- Choose Two keys together and press two keys at the same moment 20 times, such as F and J with both index fingers.
- Read the verdict under the charts. Switch the chart between Report steps, Press time, Chord split and Tap rhythm.
- Press Copy results for a summary, or Save CSV for every event with its time, to compare keyboards or settings.
Use Chrome or Edge for the step reading. They time key events to about 0.1 ms, while Firefox and Safari usually round to 1 ms, which hides steps shorter than 2 ms. The test reads the resolution from your own data and tells you which one you have.
What the results mean
| Readout | What it tells you | Normal result |
|---|---|---|
| Report steps | The time grid your key events arrive on | 1 ms at 1000 Hz, 8 ms on most office keyboards, 7.5 to 15 ms on Bluetooth |
| Press time | Middle value from key down to key up | 40 to 100 ms when tapping fast, 60 to 150 ms in normal typing |
| Tap speed | Taps per second over 10 seconds | Often 5 to 7 with one finger, more with two fingers alternating |
| Chord split | How far apart two keys pressed together arrive | Under 10 ms. 0 means they came in the same report |
| Tap jitter | The spread of the gaps between your taps | Mostly your fingers; the keyboard adds at most one step |
The test ignores the repeats your system sends while a key is held, and shows that repeat rate separately, because it is a system setting and not keyboard speed.
How the polling rate reading works
A USB keyboard does not send each key the moment it is pressed. The computer collects its reports on a fixed clock: every 8 ms at 125 Hz, every 1 ms at 1000 Hz. Every key press and release therefore lands on that grid, and the gap between any two events is a whole number of steps. The test collects the gaps from your typing and checks how well they line up with steps of 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10 ms, plus the 7.5, 11.25 and 15 ms intervals typical of Bluetooth. The Report steps chart folds every gap into an 8 ms window: one tall bar at 0 means 8 ms steps, bars at every millisecond mean 1000 Hz, and a flat spread means steps finer than your browser can show.
When no step fits, the verdict says so rather than guessing: either the keyboard reports at 1000 Hz or faster, or small timing noise on the computer hides the steps. Events that arrive within half a millisecond of each other came in the same report and are counted separately.
Polling rate, debounce and the keyboard's own delay
Polling rate. At 125 Hz a key waits between 0 and 8 ms for the next report, 4 ms on average. At 1000 Hz the wait is at most 1 ms. Keyboards sold at 4000 or 8000 Hz cut it further and use more processor time. For typing, none of this is noticeable. Mice report on the same kind of clock, and the mouse polling rate test reads it from mouse movement.
Debounce. Metal switch contacts bounce for a few milliseconds when they close. Firmware either reports the first contact and ignores the bounce, which adds no delay, or waits until the contact settles, which adds the debounce time, commonly 5 ms. A debounce that is too short lets bounce through as a double press, which the keyboard checker flags as typing twice.
Matrix scan and travel. The controller scans the key grid many times a second, and the key has to travel to its actuation point before anything happens. Neither is visible to a browser, so lab reviews measure them with test rigs that press the key and watch the USB signal.
Wired, wireless and Bluetooth
A cable and a good 2.4 GHz gaming dongle can both report at 1000 Hz, and in this test they look the same. Bluetooth works on a radio schedule, so its steps are longer and less even, and many Bluetooth keyboards slow the link after a few seconds of idle to save battery. If the first key after a pause feels late, that is why. Low batteries and a receiver behind the computer can add dropouts; plug the receiver into a front port or use an extension cable to bring it closer. If a Bluetooth keyboard keeps disconnecting, see the guide for when bluetooth not working on a PC.
Hall effect and rapid trigger
Hall effect keyboards sense the magnet in each key, so they know how far it is pressed rather than just on or off. You can set the actuation point, and with rapid trigger the key resets the moment it starts rising and fires again the moment it goes down. Run the tap speed test with rapid trigger off and then on: press times drop and tap speed rises when it is on, because releases register earlier. That is a real, measurable gain for fast repeated presses, such as counter strafing in shooters.
What end to end latency numbers mean
Reviews quote end to end or click to photon latency: from a key going down to a change on screen. It adds up from several parts:
| Part | Typical delay |
|---|---|
| Keyboard travel, scan and debounce | A few ms to over 10 ms, depending on the keyboard |
| Polling | Up to 1 ms at 1000 Hz, up to 8 ms at 125 Hz |
| System and game | At least one frame: 6.9 ms at 144 fps |
| Display | One refresh: 16.7 ms at 60 Hz, 4.2 ms at 240 Hz, plus the panel's own response |
The keyboard is one link in that chain, and often not the biggest. The input lag test covers the display side, the click latency test does the same job for a mouse, and the reaction time test measures the slowest link of all, which is you.
A key feels slow or misses fast taps
- Filter Keys or Slow Keys. On Windows these accessibility settings delay or ignore quick presses. Open Settings, Accessibility, Keyboard and turn Filter keys off. On a Mac, check Slow Keys in the keyboard accessibility settings.
- A wireless link going to sleep. Wake the keyboard with a key, move the receiver closer, or use the cable.
- A high debounce setting in the keyboard's software. Lower it in small steps and stop if keys start typing twice.
- A busy computer. Heavy background work delays when the system handles input. Close it and test again.
For key combinations that drop out under load, use the n key rollover test.
Limits of a keyboard latency test
The browser stamps each key when the system hands it over, after the keyboard, cable or radio and USB stack have done their work. So the test reads the polling step but not the time before it, and it cannot measure what happens on screen. Synthetic or remote input, such as remote desktop software, arrives on its own schedule and shows no keyboard steps. Treat press time, tap speed and jitter as measurements of you and your keyboard together: they are useful for comparing keyboards, switches and settings on the same computer.
Keyboard latency questions
Can a website measure keyboard latency?
Not all of it. A page only learns about a key once the system hands it over, so it cannot see the switch travel, debounce or matrix scan inside the keyboard. It can read the steps your keyboard reports in, which is the polling part of the delay, plus your press times, tap speed and timing spread.
How do I test my keyboard's polling rate?
Choose Free typing and type normally for 20 to 30 seconds. Key events from a 125 Hz keyboard land on an 8 ms grid and the test reports 8 ms steps; a 1000 Hz keyboard gives 1 ms steps. In Firefox and Safari, which usually round times to 1 ms, anything from about 500 Hz up looks the same.
What is a good keyboard latency for gaming?
For the part this page can read, 1 ms report steps are as good as it gets for nearly everyone. 8 ms steps add 4 ms on average, which is fine for typing and most games. A fast monitor saves more: one frame at 60 Hz lasts 16.7 ms, at 240 Hz 4.2 ms.
Does a Bluetooth keyboard add input lag?
Usually some. Bluetooth sends on a fixed radio interval, often 7.5 ms or longer, and many keyboards slow the link down after a few seconds idle to save battery, so the first key after a pause can be late. Gaming keyboards with a 2.4 GHz dongle or a cable avoid most of it.
What is rapid trigger on a keyboard?
Rapid trigger is a feature of Hall effect (magnetic) keyboards. The key resets as soon as it starts moving up, and fires again as soon as it moves down, instead of waiting for fixed points in its travel. In this test it shows up as shorter press times and a faster tap speed.
Why do some keyboard latency tests show 30 ms or more?
Tests that ask you to hold a key are timing your system's key repeat, a setting that is often 20 to 30 repeats a second, not the keyboard. This test ignores repeated keys and shows the repeat rate separately as a system setting.