Keyboard Polling Rate Test
Click the box and roll your fingers quickly across neighbouring keys. The test shows your key event rate, the shortest gap between key events, and an estimate of your keyboard's polling rate.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Click here, then roll your fingers quickly across neighbouring keys, like A S D F, again and again.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
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What Is Keyboard Polling Rate?
Polling rate is how often your computer asks the keyboard whether anything has changed, measured in hertz (Hz). A standard USB keyboard is polled 125 times per second, once every 8 ms. Gaming keyboards usually run at 1000 Hz, once every millisecond, and some now offer 4000 or 8000 Hz.
A higher polling rate shortens the wait between pressing a key and the computer hearing about it. At 125 Hz that wait can be up to 8 ms. At 1000 Hz it is at most 1 ms. It is the keyboard equivalent of mouse polling rate.
Event Rate vs Polling Rate: What This Test Shows
Be careful with any website that claims to measure keyboard polling rate exactly. Browsers receive key events, not the USB reports underneath, and a keyboard only sends a report when a key changes. So this test shows two kinds of number and labels them clearly:
- Event rate: how many key presses and releases reached the browser in your busiest second. This depends on your typing speed, not the keyboard.
- Fastest gap: the shortest time between two separate key events.
- Estimate: an inference about the polling rate, based on the fastest gaps.
The estimate works because changes that happen between two polls are sent together in the next report. Two keys pressed 3 ms apart on a 125 Hz keyboard usually arrive in the same report, or a full 8 ms apart. On a 1000 Hz keyboard they arrive about 3 ms apart. Collect enough near-simultaneous presses and the smallest gap reveals the reporting interval.
How to Test Your Keyboard Polling Rate
- Click the test box so it has keyboard focus. Keys you press there won't type or scroll.
- Roll your fingers across four neighbouring keys, such as A S D F, as fast as you can, like drumming on a table.
- Repeat for 10 to 20 seconds. The estimate appears after 30 usable gaps.
- Read the estimate and the histogram. Bars clustered at 8 ms and above point to 125 Hz. Bars spread down to 1 ms point to 1000 Hz or more.
- Press Reset after changing a setting in your keyboard software, then test again.
Reading Your Result
| Fastest Gap | Estimate | Typical For |
|---|---|---|
| 8 ms or more | ~125 Hz | Office keyboards, laptop keyboards, USB default |
| About 4 ms | ~250 Hz | Some older or power-saving keyboards |
| About 2 ms | ~500 Hz | Budget gaming keyboards |
| 1 ms or less | 1000+ Hz | Gaming keyboards at 1000, 4000 or 8000 Hz |
Laptop keyboards are often connected internally rather than by USB and can behave differently. Bluetooth keyboards usually report at lower rates, so expect a 125 Hz-style result.
8K Keyboard Polling Rate Test
8000 Hz keyboards report every 0.125 ms. No browser test can confirm that: browsers coarsen event timestamps for privacy, and operating systems batch keyboard input before it reaches apps. An 8K keyboard will show "1000+ Hz" here, exactly like a 1000 Hz one.
To check an 8K setting, use the keyboard maker's software, which reads the setting from the keyboard directly. Also check that the keyboard is plugged straight into a USB port on the computer, since some hubs and front-panel ports can't sustain 8000 Hz.
Does Keyboard Polling Rate Matter?
For typing, no: 125 Hz is plenty. For competitive gaming, 1000 Hz is worth having, as it removes up to 7 ms from every key press. Above 1000 Hz the gains are tiny compared with other sources of delay:
- Switch debounce: mechanical switches wait several milliseconds for the contact to settle. Hall effect and optical switches avoid most of this.
- Actuation distance: how far the key travels before it registers. Rapid trigger keyboards shorten this a lot.
- Game and display: a game running at 144 fps takes about 7 ms per frame, and your monitor adds its own delay.
You can see how much of that delay your browser and screen add with the Input Lag Test.
How to Change Your Keyboard Polling Rate
Polling rate is set in the keyboard, not in Windows or macOS. Open your keyboard maker's app and look for Polling Rate or Report Rate, often under performance or device settings. Some keyboards change it with a key combination using the Fn key; check the manual. After changing it, press Reset here and run the test again.
Wired, Wireless and Bluetooth Keyboards
Wired gaming keyboards usually run at 1000 Hz. Wireless gaming keyboards with their own 2.4 GHz receiver often match that, and some reach 4000 or 8000 Hz with a newer receiver, though high rates drain the battery faster. Bluetooth keyboards are different: Bluetooth schedules data in fixed intervals, so they typically behave like a 125 Hz keyboard or slower and add a few milliseconds of delay.
If you use a keyboard that supports several connections, run the test on each. The estimate and the histogram usually make the difference between a receiver and Bluetooth obvious.
Laptop Keyboards
Built-in laptop keyboards are usually connected inside the laptop rather than over USB, so polling rate isn't quoted for them and can't be changed. They're fine for typing and most games. If you play competitively on a laptop, an external 1000 Hz keyboard removes one source of delay and is also easier to replace than a laptop keyboard when keys wear out.
Reading the Histogram
The chart below the test box groups the gaps between key events into 1 ms bars. The tall bar at 0 ms is presses that arrived in the same report. On a 125 Hz keyboard, the next bars appear only from 8 ms upward, with an empty stretch in between. On a 1000 Hz keyboard, bars fill in from 1 ms upward with no gap. If you see that empty stretch, the keyboard or its connection is reporting slowly.
Limitations
This test sees key events after the keyboard, the operating system and the browser have handled them. It can't read USB reports, and it can't separate rates above 1000 Hz. The estimate depends on you pressing keys close together; if your rolls are slow, it may read low. Treat the result as a guide and confirm exact settings in your keyboard software.
Related Tests
- Keyboard Ghosting Test: check how many keys register at once.
- Mouse Polling Rate Test: measure your mouse's report rate in Hz.
- Spacebar CPS Test: how fast you can press space.
Frequently Asked Questions: Keyboard Polling Rate
Can a browser measure my keyboard's polling rate?
Not directly. A keyboard only sends a report when a key changes, and the browser receives key events, not raw USB reports. This test shows your key event rate and estimates the polling rate from the smallest gaps between key events. It can reliably tell 125 Hz from 1000 Hz, but it can't measure rates above 1000 Hz.
Can I test an 8K keyboard polling rate here?
Only partly. An 8000 Hz keyboard reports every 0.125 ms, which is finer than browsers timestamp keyboard events and faster than operating systems usually deliver them to apps. Here an 8K keyboard will read as 1000+ Hz, the same as a 1000 Hz keyboard. Use the keyboard maker's software to confirm the 8K setting.
Why is my event rate much lower than my polling rate?
Event rate counts key presses and releases per second, which depends on how fast you type. Even very fast rolling across keys produces only a few dozen events per second. Polling rate is how often the keyboard could report a change, whether or not one happens, so the two numbers measure different things.
Does keyboard polling rate matter for gaming?
A little. Going from 125 Hz to 1000 Hz removes up to 7 ms of delay between a key press and the computer seeing it, which can matter in fast competitive games. Beyond 1000 Hz the gain is under a millisecond and other parts of the system, such as switch debounce, the game engine and the monitor, add far more delay.
Why does the estimate say 'Roll across keys faster'?
The estimate needs pairs of key events that happen within a few milliseconds of each other. Press several neighbouring keys in a fast roll, like drumming your fingers across A, S, D and F, so their presses land very close together. Slow, separate key presses don't give enough information.