Check Your Mouse Polling Rate in Hz

Polling rate is how often your mouse reports its position to the computer, measured in Hertz (Hz). A 1000 Hz mouse sends an update every 1 ms; a 125 Hz mouse sends one every 8 ms. Higher rates mean smoother cursor motion and lower input lag.

Browsers normally coalesce mouse events to a single per-frame update, which can lower the apparent rate. Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera) expose getCoalescedEvents(); this tool uses it to reconstruct the raw event stream and reliably distinguish 125, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000+ Hz mice. On Safari and Firefox, readings above 1000 Hz may be capped by the browser.

Several factors lower the reading: browser event coalescing, display refresh rate, CPU load, USB polling stability and slow cursor motion. For the most accurate result use Chrome or Edge, close other tabs and move the mouse at a steady fast pace.

Most modern gaming mice support 1000 Hz, which competitive FPS players prefer for the lowest input lag. For everyday productivity 125–250 Hz feels perfectly smooth. Premium wireless mice now offer 4000–8000 Hz, but only Chromium browsers can confirm rates above 1000 Hz.

Click duration is the time between the button going down (pointerdown) and coming back up (pointerup). It reflects how long you physically hold the button — typically 50–150 ms. It is not full system click latency, which would also include OS, browser and display delays.

σ (sigma) is the standard deviation of polling-rate samples — how much the rate fluctuates around the average. A lower σ means a more stable mouse. Gaming mice on a quality USB port typically stay under 30 σ (green). Consumer mice run 30–80 σ (amber). Values above 80 σ (red) usually indicate a USB issue (long cable, hub bottleneck), CPU contention, or a worn switch — try a different port and close other tabs.

It counts cases where a new pointerdown event lands within 50 ms of the previous pointerup on the same button. Real human clicks need 80+ ms to release-and-press again — anything faster is almost always a worn micro-switch firing twice for one physical press. Even one or two phantom clicks per session usually means the switch is degrading; many gaming mice (especially with Omron switches) develop this within a year of heavy use.