CPSForge

Mouse Polling Rate Test

Move your mouse fast, in circles, over the panel. The page timestamps every report your mouse sends and works out its rate in hertz.

—Median Hz
—Likely setting (Hz)
—Live Hz
—Peak Hz

Move your mouse here, fast and in circles

Uses coalesced pointer events where the browser supports them. A touch screen or touchpad measures its own sample rate, not a mouse.

What polling rate actually changes

Your mouse does not stream movement continuously. It sends a report at a fixed rate: 125 times a second on a basic mouse, 1000 on most gaming mice. Between reports the computer knows nothing, so a lower rate means a slightly older and choppier picture of your hand.

One 60 ms flick, sampled by your mouse

9Reports during the flick
8.0 msBetween reports
4.0 msAverage added delay
The faint line is what your hand did; the orange line is what the computer sees. At 125 Hz a fast flick becomes a few straight segments, which shows up as jagged cursor motion. At 1000 Hz the path is already smooth, which is why higher rates show diminishing returns: past about 1000 Hz you gain fractions of a millisecond, and 4000 to 8000 Hz mainly helps on very high refresh screens.

Reading your result

MeasuredProbably set toGap between reports
100–160 Hz125 Hz (office default)8 ms
200–300 Hz250 Hz4 ms
400–600 Hz500 Hz2 ms
800–1100 Hz1000 Hz1 ms
1800 Hz +2000–8000 Hz0.5–0.125 ms

If you read close to your monitor's refresh rate (60, 120, 144 Hz) regardless of setting, your browser is delivering one event per frame. Try Chrome or Edge, which support coalesced events. You can change the polling rate in your mouse's own software, and some mice have a button underneath for it.

Questions

How do I test my mouse polling rate?

Move the mouse quickly in circles over the test area for a few seconds. The page timestamps every position report the browser receives and shows the median rate in hertz, plus the nearest standard setting.

What polling rate should my mouse have?

Office mice usually run at 125 Hz. Gaming mice default to 500 or 1000 Hz, and some newer models offer 2000, 4000 or 8000 Hz. 1000 Hz is the sweet spot for most players.

Why does the test show less than my mouse setting?

Browsers may merge or throttle events, some only deliver pointer updates once per screen refresh, and moving slowly produces fewer reports. Move fast and in circles. Chrome and Edge report high rates most reliably; for 4000 Hz and above, the browser itself is often the limit.

Is a higher polling rate always better?

Not always. Each step up halves the gap between reports, but going from 1000 to 8000 Hz saves under a millisecond and costs more CPU and battery on wireless mice.

What is mouse Hz?

Mouse Hz is the polling rate: how many times per second the mouse reports its position and button state to the computer.