What the polling rate is
Your mouse doesn't stream its movement. It sends reports, each one saying how far it has moved since the last. The polling rate is how many reports it can send per second, measured in hertz. 1000 Hz means up to a thousand reports a second, one every millisecond. A mouse only sends a report when it has moved, so the rate you see depends on you keeping it moving.
How the polling rate test works
Move your mouse in quick circles inside the box. Your browser collects the reports between screen frames, each with its own timestamp, and the test counts them all. Every report also lands as a dot in the box: at 125 Hz the dots sit far apart, at 1000 Hz they run together into a line.
- Live is the rate over the last 300 ms.
- Average covers all your movement since the start. Pauses longer than 40 ms are left out: that's your hand stopping, not the mouse slowing down.
- Peak is the highest live reading, and the closest standard rate to it is what your mouse is most likely set to.
The graph shows the last eight seconds of movement, so you can see whether the rate holds steady or dips. Press Reset to start a fresh mouse Hz test, for example after changing the setting in your mouse software.
Why the reading can come out lower
You need to move fast enough. A report only goes out if the mouse moved at least one count since the last. At 8000 Hz and 800 DPI, filling every report takes 8,000 counts a second, which is 10 inches (25 cm) of movement every second. For a 4000 or 8000 Hz mouse, raise the DPI to 1600 or more for the test and circle quickly. At 1000 Hz, brisk circles are plenty.
The browser can cap what's seen. To read more than one report per frame, the browser has to hand over the reports it grouped together (coalesced events). Chrome, Edge and Firefox do. Older browsers, and Safari on some Macs, pass on roughly one per frame, so the reading stops at your display's refresh rate: 60, 120 or 144 Hz. The test measures your display too and warns you when the two match.
Settings and connection. Many mice ship at 1000 Hz but some default lower, and some wireless mice lower the rate to save battery. Check the polling rate in your mouse software. Plug a wireless receiver in close to the mouse, ideally on the extension cable that came with it, and some 4000 and 8000 Hz wireless mice only reach those rates with their own high-rate receiver. A busy computer can also hold reports back.
125, 500, 1000, 4000 and 8000 Hz in practice
- 125 Hz: a report every 8 ms. Fine for office work. On a fast monitor the cursor can look a little steppy.
- 500 Hz: every 2 ms. Smooth for most gaming and easy on battery.
- 1000 Hz: every 1 ms. The standard for gaming mice for over a decade, and plenty for most people.
- 4000 Hz: every 0.25 ms. Smoother motion on 240 Hz and faster screens. Uses more CPU and battery.
- 8000 Hz: every 0.125 ms, the highest rate sold today. The gain is small, it asks the most of your CPU, and wireless battery life drops sharply.
The delay a polling rate adds is, on average, half its interval: 4 ms at 125 Hz, 0.5 ms at 1000 Hz, 0.0625 ms at 8000 Hz. Going from 125 to 1000 Hz is easy to notice on a fast screen. Going from 1000 to 8000 Hz saves less than half a millisecond, which matters most to players on very fast screens.
Questions
How do I check my mouse polling rate?
Use this polling rate checker: circle the mouse quickly in the box for a few seconds and read the peak and the closest standard rate. Your mouse software shows the setting itself.
Why does my 8000 Hz mouse show 4000 or less?
Usually not enough movement, a low DPI, or the wrong receiver. Raise the DPI to 1600 or more, circle faster, and use the receiver that came with the mouse. A busy browser tab can also hold reports back, so close heavy pages.
Is 1000 Hz enough?
For almost everyone, yes. Higher rates help most on 240 Hz and faster monitors, and cost CPU time and battery.
Does the polling rate change my DPI or sensitivity?
No. DPI is how finely the mouse measures movement; polling rate is how often it reports it. The DPI analyzer measures the first.
Can I test a touchpad or a touch screen?
Yes. A touch screen or pen is labelled as such. A laptop touchpad reaches the browser as a mouse, so it reads like one: the figure is how often the touchpad reports your finger.
Thinking about a faster mouse? The best wireless gaming mice and the mouse finder are a good start. To check buttons and the scroll wheel, try the mouse test.