Build Your SetupAll tools

DPI analyzer

Set a distance, hold the button down and move your mouse exactly that far in a straight line. We count what it reports.

Last run–
Average–
Versus 800 DPI–
Run-to-run spread–

Recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari read raw counts here, skipping pointer acceleration. Measure 10 cm (4 in) or more, three times, and turn off any smoothing in your mouse software.

How the DPI analyzer works

A mouse sensor doesn't send positions. It sends counts: small steps of movement, many times a second. DPI, or more exactly CPI (counts per inch), is how many of those steps it reports for each inch you move it. So the only honest DPI test is physical: move the mouse a distance you know and count what arrives.

That is what this DPI analyzer does. Clicking the pad locks your pointer, so it can't stop at the edge of the screen. While you hold the left button, every count the mouse reports is added up. When you let go, the total is divided by your distance. Move 4 inches and collect 3,200 counts, and your mouse is running at 800 DPI. Enter the DPI on the box or in your mouse software and the DPI checker shows how far off it is, run by run and on average.

How to measure your DPI accurately

  1. Pick a distance you can measure. A ruler or tape measure is best. No ruler? A bank card is 85.6 mm (3.37 in) wide, a sheet of A4 is 21 cm wide and US Letter is 8.5 in. Longer is better: a 1 mm slip is 1% of 10 cm but more than 1% of a card.
  2. Line it up. Lay the ruler along your pad and put the side of the mouse on the zero mark.
  3. Hold, slide, let go. Click the pad, then hold the left button, slide in a straight line to the end mark and release. Keep the mouse on the pad the whole way: lifting it loses counts.
  4. Repeat. Do three to five runs. The average evens out where your hand started and stopped, and the spread tells you how steady the runs were.

What can skew a DPI test

Pointer acceleration. Windows "Enhance pointer precision" and the acceleration on macOS change how far the pointer moves depending on how fast you move. That ruins a measurement. Recent versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari can ask for raw counts that skip it, and the note under the tool tells you whether yours did. If it says it couldn't, turn acceleration off and leave the Windows pointer speed on the middle notch (6 of 11), where one count moves the pointer one pixel. Some browsers also scale movement by your display scaling when raw counts aren't available, which is one more reason to use a browser that has them.

Mouse software. Angle snapping and smoothing can straighten your path or hold counts back. Check you are on the DPI step you think you are: a DPI button pressed by accident, or a per-game profile, is the most common reason for a big gap.

Your surface. Glass, glossy desks and some printed pads make sensors skip. A plain cloth pad gives the cleanest reading.

Is my mouse's DPI wrong?

Probably not by much. A sensor can run a few percent fast or slow at a given setting, and that is normal. If you are within 5%, there is nothing to fix. If you are 5 to 10% out, measure again over a longer distance; if the gap holds, it is just how your sensor runs, and you can set the next step up or down, or adjust your in-game sensitivity to suit. More than 10% usually means acceleration, the wrong DPI step, or a run where the mouse lifted.

What matters for aim is consistency, not the exact number. If you move between mice, measure both and match them with the eDPI calculator, or carry your aim into another game with the sensitivity converter.

The maths: a DPI calculator in one line

DPI = counts ÷ inches moved. For centimetres, divide by 2.54 first: 10 cm is 3.94 in, so 3,150 counts over 10 cm is 800 DPI. The tool measures the straight line between where you pressed and where you let go, so a stroke that drifts a little off horizontal still reads right. Deviation is the gap to the advertised figure as a share of it: 840 measured against 800 advertised is +5%.

Questions

Are DPI and CPI the same thing?

For mice, yes. CPI (counts per inch) is the exact term, since a mouse counts steps rather than printing dots, but most brands and games say DPI.

What DPI should I use?

400, 800 and 1600 are the usual choices. Most CS2 pros tracked by prosettings.net use 400 or 800. A higher DPI with a lower in-game sensitivity gives finer steps for the same overall speed, so 800 or 1600 is a good default. What you feel is the combination, which the eDPI calculator works out.

Why does my result change between runs?

Your hand never starts and stops in exactly the same place. A spread of a percent or two is normal. A bigger spread usually means the mouse lifted, the surface is skipping, or the stroke was too short.

Does the DPI tester work on a Mac, Chromebook or phone?

It works on Windows, macOS and ChromeOS in any recent desktop browser. Chrome on Linux can lock the pointer but can't skip acceleration, and the note says so. Phones and tablets have no pointer lock, so the mouse DPI test needs a computer.

Does anything get installed or sent?

No. The counting happens in your browser and nothing leaves the page. Press Esc at any time to get your pointer back.

Shopping for a new mouse? The mouse finder narrows it down by grip, weight and use.