Polling Rate Test — Measure Your Mouse in Hz.
Your mouse tells the computer where it is hundreds of times a second. Move the pointer in fast circles inside the pad and this test times those reports to estimate your polling rate in hertz — and shows the nearest standard: 125, 500 or 1000 Hz. It reads coalesced events for accuracy and is honest about what a browser can and can't see.
Move to measure
Move in fast circles here
Online polling rate test.
Keep the pointer moving quickly — a still mouse sends no reports, so the rate only climbs while you move.
Get an accurate reading
- Move fast and keep movingReports only fire while the mouse moves. Slow drifts undercount the rate — swirl quickly and continuously for a few seconds to let the average settle.
- Use a Chromium browser for the best estimateChrome and Edge expose coalesced events, which recover the individual reports a browser batches together. Firefox and Safari give a rougher figure.
- Watch the average, not the peakA single lucky pair of events can spike the Max. The Average over a few seconds of steady motion is the number that matches your real polling rate.
- Close heavy background tabsA busy CPU makes the browser drop and batch events, dragging the measured rate below what your mouse actually sends.
How to use the polling rate test
- 1Move inside the pad. Swirl the pointer in fast, continuous circles. The big number shows your live report rate in hertz as you move.
- 2Keep going for a few seconds. Let the Average and Max settle. The more samples you feed it, the more stable the estimate becomes.
- 3Read the nearest standard. The tool snaps your average to the closest common rate — 125, 500 or 1000 Hz — so you can tell at a glance which tier your mouse is in.
- 4Compare with your software. If the estimate is far below what your mouse driver claims, your browser may be capping event delivery, or your USB port and CPU load are throttling it. Cross-check with the DPI analyzer for the other half of your sensor settings.
How the polling rate test works
Polling rate — also called report rate — is how many times per second your mouse reports its position to the computer, measured in hertz. A 1000 Hz mouse reports every 1 ms; a 500 Hz mouse every 2 ms; an old 125 Hz office mouse every 8 ms. This test records the timestamp of each movement report and converts the gaps between them into a frequency: 1000 divided by the interval in milliseconds gives the rate in Hz.
The honest complication is that a browser doesn't hand your page every hardware report one by one. To save work it coalesces several reports into a single movement event, often aligned to your screen's refresh rate (so a 144 Hz display can make it look like the mouse only reports 144 times a second). This tool asks the browser for the coalesced sub-events hidden inside each event, which recovers the individual reports and gets much closer to the true rate — where the browser exposes them.
Because of that batching, a browser-based test can confidently distinguish a 125 Hz mouse from a 1000 Hz one and confirm roughly which tier you're in, but it can't certify an exact number the way a USB analyzer can. Treat the reading as a strong estimate. If you own a very high-rate mouse (4000 or 8000 Hz), no browser will show the full figure — that ceiling is the browser's, not your hardware's.
When to check your polling rate
New gaming mouse
Confirm a mouse advertised at 1000 Hz is actually reporting near that tier and not stuck on a lower default in its software.
Cursor feels laggy
A low polling rate adds input delay and makes fast aiming feel mushy. This test tells you whether the rate is the culprit.
After changing settings
Bumped the report rate in your mouse's control panel? Re-measure to check the new setting actually took effect.
Comparing USB ports or hubs
Some ports and cheap hubs throttle report rate. Test the same mouse on different ports to spot a weak one.
Diagnosing stutter
Inconsistent reporting shows up as a jumpy Current value and low stability — a clue that the port, cable, or CPU load is dropping reports.
Battery vs wired
Some wireless mice drop their polling rate to save power. Compare wired and wireless modes to see the difference.
Polling rate glossary
- Polling rate
- How often a mouse reports its position per second, in hertz. Common values: 125, 500, 1000 Hz; newer mice reach 4000–8000 Hz.
- Report interval
- The time between two reports. It's the inverse of polling rate: 1 ms at 1000 Hz, 8 ms at 125 Hz.
- Coalesced events
- Multiple hardware reports the browser merges into one movement event. Reading them back recovers the true report timing.
- Refresh-rate cap
- A browser habit of delivering move events aligned to the display's refresh, which can hide a mouse's real, higher rate.
- Input lag
- The delay between moving the mouse and the pointer responding. A higher polling rate shaves a small, consistent amount off it.
- Overclocking
- Forcing a mouse to report faster than its default via software or firmware — sometimes stable, sometimes not.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is a browser polling rate test?
Accurate enough to place your mouse in the right tier — it will clearly separate a 125 Hz mouse from a 500 or 1000 Hz one — but not exact to the hertz. Browsers batch mouse reports and can align them to your screen's refresh rate, so a naive test would undercount badly. This tool reads the coalesced sub-events browsers hide inside each movement event to recover the real timing, which gets much closer, especially in Chrome and Edge.
What is a good polling rate?
For gaming, 1000 Hz (a report every 1 ms) is the modern standard and what most gaming mice ship at. 500 Hz is perfectly fine for most people, and 125 Hz — typical of basic office mice — is noticeably laggier for fast aiming. Above 1000 Hz (4000 or 8000 Hz mice) the gains are small and only matter on very high-refresh monitors; browsers can't display those rates fully anyway.
Why is my measured rate lower than my mouse's spec?
Usually the browser, not the mouse. If it's delivering events at your monitor's refresh rate, a 144 Hz screen can make even a 1000 Hz mouse read around 144 Hz without coalesced-event support. Other causes: the rate is set low in your mouse's software, a heavy CPU load is causing dropped events, or a slow USB port or hub is throttling reports. Move fast and continuously, and use Chrome or Edge for the closest figure.
Why does the number sit at zero until I move?
A mouse only sends reports while it's moving — a perfectly still mouse sends nothing, so there's nothing to time. Keep the pointer swirling inside the pad and the rate climbs as samples come in. Stop moving and the Current value falls back toward zero because no new reports are arriving.
Does polling rate actually matter for gaming?
Yes, but with diminishing returns. Going from 125 Hz to 1000 Hz cuts report delay from about 8 ms to 1 ms, which is a real, feelable improvement in responsiveness for fast games. Going from 1000 Hz to 8000 Hz shaves fractions of a millisecond that only the fastest players on the fastest monitors might notice — and it raises CPU usage. For almost everyone, 1000 Hz is the sweet spot.
Can this test measure an 8000 Hz mouse?
Not fully. Even with coalesced events, browsers don't reliably surface reporting above roughly 1000 Hz, so an 8000 Hz mouse will typically read around or below 1000 Hz here. That's a browser ceiling, not a fault in your mouse. To verify very high rates you need a dedicated USB analyzer or the mouse maker's own utility.