Keyboard Test
How to use it: click the keyboard, then press every key on your physical keyboard. Keys light up while you hold them and turn green once they have worked. Press RESET to start again.
This free keyboard test shows whether every key on your keyboard works. Press each key and watch it light up on the on-screen keyboard: keys you have tested stay green, so you can see at a glance which ones are missing. The keyboard tester also shows how many keys you can hold at once and flags keys that may be chattering.
It works in your browser with any wired, wireless or Bluetooth keyboard, on Windows, Mac, Linux and ChromeOS. Nothing is installed and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
How to use the keyboard tester
- Click the keyboard picture so the test can hear your keys.
- Press every key on your keyboard, one at a time.
- Watch each key light up while it is held and stay green after you release it.
- Check the Keys tested counter. When every key you have pressed is green, those keys work.
- Press RESET to clear the board and test again.
If you click outside the box, the test pauses and asks you to click back in. A web page only hears keys while it has focus.
What the keyboard test shows
| Readout | What it means |
|---|---|
| Keys tested | Keys that worked, out of those on the board |
| Held now | Keys you are holding at this moment |
| Most at once | The most keys held together |
| Fast repeats | Presses very soon after a release |
| Last key | Character, key code and hold time |
| Other keys | Keys not on the picture, such as the numpad |
The picture is a tenkeyless keyboard: the main keys, function row, arrows and navigation keys. Numpad keys, media keys and extra keys on some layouts still register; they appear under Other keys.
Works with any keyboard layout
The tester places keys by their physical position, using what MDN, the web developer reference, describes as the code of the physical key, which “ignores the user’s keyboard layout”. When you press a letter key, the picture shows the character your layout produces. On a French AZERTY keyboard, the key in the Q position shows A; on a German QWERTZ keyboard, the key in the Y position shows Z. Read more about keyboard layouts.
Test keyboard ghosting and rollover
Hold several keys at once and watch Held now and Most at once. If you hold a key and it does not light up, your keyboard is not registering it in that combination. Microsoft’s quick check for this is to hold A, S, D and W, then press every other key in turn.
The number you can reach depends on the keyboard. Some register up to six keys plus modifiers, others every key at once. Our guide to keyboard ghosting and N-key rollover explains the limits and what anti-ghosting really means.
Check for chattering keys
Keyboard maker Wooting describes key chatter as getting “multiple inputs from a single key press”, which happens when the metal contacts bounce and the keyboard’s debounce delay is too short. On screen it looks like double letters when you type one.
The tester counts a fast repeat when a key is pressed again less than 30 milliseconds after it was released. A gap that short usually means the switch bounced rather than you pressing twice, and the key gets a red outline. To check a suspect key, press it slowly ten times and see whether Fast repeats goes up. If it does, see keyboard keys not working for fixes.
Keys a browser cannot detect
A web page only sees keys the keyboard reports and the operating system passes on. Some keys never reach the page:
- Fn is usually handled inside the keyboard, so it may not show at all.
- Print Screen on Windows: Microsoft notes that browsers generally cannot detect it. If your browser sends only the key release, the tester still counts it.
- The Windows key opens the Start menu and moves focus away, so the test pauses.
- Some shortcuts, such as Alt+Tab or Cmd+Tab, are taken by the operating system before the browser sees them.
- Caps Lock on macOS behaves differently: MDN notes it only sends a key down event.
If a key does not light up, try it in another program as well. If it works there, the operating system or browser is catching it, not the keyboard.
What to do if a key does not work
- Press the key firmly and in different places, especially on long keys like Space, Enter and Shift.
- Try the keyboard in another USB port or on another computer.
- Check that no accessibility feature such as Filter Keys or Sticky Keys is turned on.
- Clean around the key. Our guide to cleaning a keyboard shows how.
Our full guide to keyboard keys not working goes through every step.
More keyboard tests
| Test | What it measures |
|---|---|
| KPS test | Key presses per second |
| Spacebar counter | Space bar presses |
| Typing speed test | Words per minute |
| APM test | Clicks and keys per minute |
For key delay rather than key function, read our guide to input lag.
Frequently asked questions
How do I test my keyboard keys online?
Open this keyboard test, click the keyboard picture and press each key. Keys turn green once they have registered, and the counter shows how many you have tested.
Why is a key not lighting up in the keyboard test?
Either the key is not working, or the operating system or browser is catching it first. Fn keys and some shortcuts never reach a web page. Try the key in another program to tell which it is.
Can this keyboard tester check ghosting?
Yes. Hold several keys at once and watch Held now and Most at once. A key that does not light up while others are held is being blocked in that combination.
What does Fast repeats mean?
It counts presses that came less than 30 milliseconds after the same key was released. That usually points to a chattering switch that registers one press as two.
Does the keyboard test work with laptop keyboards?
Yes. Laptop keyboards work like any other. Some laptop keys, such as Fn and certain media keys, are handled by the laptop itself and may not appear.
Is anything I type saved or sent?
No. The test runs in your browser and only counts key presses while the page is open. Nothing is stored or uploaded.