Search for a quiet keyboard and you will find plenty of words like silent, whisper and noise-free. You will find almost no numbers. Keyboard makers, unlike dishwasher or fan makers, do not publish a noise rating for most of what they sell. So instead of ranking keyboards, this page explains what makes one loud, what each maker actually claims, and how to read those claims.
The short version: the switch decides most of it, the big keys and the case decide much of the rest, and the few decibel figures that exist were each measured in a different way.
Where keyboard noise comes from
A keystroke makes noise in three places.
- The bottom out. The key hits the end of its travel. On a mechanical switch, Cherry calls this the "bottom out" noise.
- The top out. The key springs back and taps the top of its housing. Cherry calls this the "top out" noise.
- The rest of the keyboard. Logitech's SILENT TOUCH white paper says the noise "is not just caused by the finger hitting the keycap." When the keycap touches the top shell, that makes sound too. It adds that big keys like the space bar "make more noise because of their larger mass", and that their balance bars (stabilizers) "create extra noise."
Every quiet keyboard design goes after one or more of those three. It helps to know which one a maker is talking about.
Membrane, scissor and mechanical
Membrane. Under each key sits a rubber dome. Cherry, which makes all three types, says membrane keystrokes "produce minimal noise when typing" and calls them ideal where "a quiet keystroke is preferred."
Scissor. Laptop-style keys add a small scissor frame over a smaller dome, which gives a shorter travel. Cherry says scissor keyboards "are very quiet", with a warning: "when implemented properly!" That warning matters: a loose scissor frame or a rattling space bar undoes it.
Mechanical. Each key has its own switch with a stem and a spring. Cherry says mechanical keyboards "are noticeably audible in their operation, which can be annoying to some users." They come in three families. A clicky switch signals the actuation point "by an audible click", Cherry says, while a tactile switch gives a bump you feel and a linear switch "provides neither tangible nor audible feedback." Logitech's buying guide adds that "Tactile switches are a bit noisier than linear switches."
So if quiet is all you want, a well-built membrane or scissor keyboard is the natural start. Silent mechanical switches exist for people who want the mechanical feel without the full sound.
Silent switches: what each maker says
A silent switch is a normal switch with damping added where the stem stops. Here is what each maker says about its own, in its own words.
Cherry. The MX Silent Red and MX Silent Black use a two-part stem. Cherry says "the 'bottom out' and 'top out' noise is significantly reduced without affecting the popular MX RED or MX BLACK switching characteristics." Its product pages say the operating noises "are reliably minimized by a patented damping." The Silent Red is listed at 45 cN operating force, 1.9 mm pre travel and 3.7 mm total travel. The Silent Black is 60 cN, 2.0 mm and 4.0 mm. Cherry publishes no decibel figure on either product page or in the Silent Red datasheet we read.
Gateron. For its KS-9 Silent 2.0, Gateron says "Silent pads are installed above and below the shaft core to achieve the mute effect." Its Zero Degree Fully Silent switch uses "rebound double shoulder mute pads and bottom-touch mute pads." For its low-profile KS-33 Silent 2.0, a Gateron blog post claims damping rings that cut "bottom-out and return noise by over 30% compared to standard low-profile switches." It gives no test conditions and no decibel figure.
Kailh. Kailh is the one switch maker we found that prints decibels. For its Midnight MX Silent tactile switch it lists "Product Noise Test With Keycap: 35db Without Keycap: 30db", and calls the switch's advantage that "the mute value reach 30 db." On its Box Silent Pink page it says "we defined the noise of silent red is 30db when we tested it on the dumb house." That page is about the Pink but names the Red, and neither page gives a distance or a weighting.
Keychron. Keychron says its Silent Switch "can minimize noise to an incredibly low level." Its Low Profile Silent Switch has "a silencer pad, significantly reducing noise during operation." No figures.
Razer. Razer says its Yellow Linear switch is "Enhanced with sound dampeners" and "smooth and silent", and that its Yellow switches "feature built-in silicon dampeners to further reduce bottoming-out sounds." The Pro Type Ultra pairs them with foam: "The silent mechanical switches and sound dampening foam on this keyboard offer a quieter typing experience." No figures.
Logitech. The MX Mechanical comes with a choice of three switches, which Logitech names Tactile Quiet, Clicky and Linear. Logitech gives no figure for any of them. The word quiet in that name describes the switch against the clicky option.
The one keyboard figure we found, and its conditions
Logitech's SILENT TOUCH white paper is the most detailed noise claim any keyboard maker we read has published. It compares the silent MK295 combo (K295 keyboard) with the ordinary MK270 combo (K270 keyboard).
The conditions: the tests were run by Foxconn CMC, which Logitech describes as an independent accredited lab, in an anechoic chamber with under 6 dBA of background noise. The white paper says that "To follow the ISO7779 measurement condition, the sound equipment was placed 1 meter from the center of the keyboard and mouse," with measurements "taken at four different angles."
The result, quoted: "The K295 keyboard's average Sound Pressure Level (SPL) was 16.90 dBA whereas the non-silent K270 was 30.05 dBA." The paper calls the silent keyboard "ten times quieter than the non-silent one", and says the noise reduction worked out from sound power was 95% for standard keys. The chart in the paper gives 92% for big keys.
That is where the product page claim comes from. The MK295 page says "Work in silence with 90% less clicking and typing noise," and that SilentTouch "eliminates over 90% of keyboard and mouse noise."
Three cautions before you use those numbers.
- They compare two Logitech keyboards and nothing else. The 16.90 and 30.05 were measured in the same room, the same way. They cannot be set beside Kailh's 30db or 35db for a switch, which has no stated distance, or against any figure from another maker.
- A percentage of energy is not how loud it sounds. The 95% comes from a difference in sound power, which is a measure of acoustic energy. Your ears do not hear energy in straight percentages. Our guide to dBA explains why the decibel scale works that way, and sound power vs sound pressure explains the two quantities the paper uses.
- An anechoic chamber is not your desk. A room with no echo and almost no background noise flatters every product. On your desk, the room and the desk add to what you hear.
Other Logitech keyboards carry quiet claims without figures. The Signature Slim K950 page promises "quiet typing" and says its low-profile scissor mechanism "is engineered to be extremely quiet." The MX Keys S page says "increased key stability reduces noise." Neither page gives a number, and neither says it uses SILENT TOUCH.
Low profile keyboards
Low-profile switches have a shorter travel. Gateron's KS-33 Silent 2.0 lists 3.0 mm total travel against 4.0 mm for its full-height KS-9 Silent 2.0, and Keychron lists 2.7 to 3.1 mm for the versions of its Low Profile Silent Switch. A shorter fall is the idea behind scissor keys too. No maker we read gives a figure showing that a low-profile switch is quieter than a full-height one of the same design, so treat it as one factor, not a guarantee.
Stabilizers, foam and o-rings
Stabilizers. The long keys are often the loudest on a keyboard. Logitech's white paper says it refined the balance bars on the space bar, enter and shift keys with a torsion spring that "drastically reduces the noise of keycaps impacting or touching the balance bar." On a mechanical keyboard, a rattling space bar is a stabilizer problem, and it will not go away with silent switches.
Foam. An empty case can resonate. Keychron sells foam kits for its Q-series keyboards and says foam "can further eliminate the hollowness of the keyboard and reduces the resonance on each keystroke." Razer builds "sound dampening foam" into the Pro Type Ultra.
O-rings. These rubber rings fit around the keycap stem and cushion the bottom out. Keychron says that with o-rings under your keycaps "you'll soften the landing and lower the volume." They do nothing for the top out, which is why silent switches damp both ends.
Keycaps
Keychron says keycap material and thickness change the sound. In its words, PBT keycaps "tend to sound deeper and less sharp than ABS plastic keycaps", while ABS "create a higher-pitched 'clack.'" It says thick keycaps, "often over 1.5mm", give a "more solid" sound. Deeper is not the same as quieter, and Keychron gives no figure. A keycap swap changes the character of the sound more than its level.
How you type
Cherry points out that a mechanical switch triggers "even before the key is fully pressed." You do not have to drive every key to the bottom. A lighter touch cuts the bottom-out noise on any keyboard, silent or not, and it costs nothing. A soft desk mat under the keyboard can help with the desk itself, though no maker we read puts a figure on that either.
Offices and video calls
Logitech's white paper names the problem: "loud typing and clicking sounds are a frequent disturbance on video conferences." On a call, the keyboard is often closer to your microphone than your mouth is, so a sound nobody in the room notices can reach everyone on the call. For a shared office or a home office, a silent linear switch, a scissor keyboard or a membrane keyboard are the safe choices. Our guide to a quiet home office covers the other sources of noise at the desk, from the computer to the printer.
How to choose a quiet keyboard
- Pick the type first. For quiet with no fuss, a well-built scissor or membrane keyboard. For a mechanical feel, a switch sold as silent, not one sold as tactile or linear.
- Avoid clicky switches in any shared space. Cherry says of its MX Blue that "Due to the clicking noise, these switches are not suitable for use in large offices."
- Read the claim for what it compares. "Quiet" or "90% less" is always against something. Find out what, and under what conditions.
- Never compare figures from different tests. A switch figure without a distance and a whole-keyboard figure at 1 meter are different measurements. To see where everyday sounds sit on the scale, use our decibel chart, not a maker's spec sheet.
- Check the big keys. Stabilizers and the space bar decide much of what a keyboard sounds like.
- Type lighter. It is the free upgrade.
We did not measure any keyboard or switch on this page. Every claim and figure is the maker's own, quoted from the page or document listed in our sources, with the conditions the maker gives where it gives any.