If you've ever been to an office or a lecture hall, you know the sound of dozens of people typing on keyboards can be as loud as a herd of buffalo and just as distracting. Thankfully, innovations have been made to reduce the noise of keyboards, from the development of near-silent switches to the addition of sound-dampening materials inside keyboard cases.
Most of the noise keyboards make comes from the operation of the switches themselves. Mechanical switches are typically the loudest, while scissor switches and rubber dome switches are quieter alternatives. Other factors like the case materials and how heavily you type also contribute to typing noise.
Should you trust us? We test each keyboard in the same way, on the same standardized test bench, to produce fair, comparable reviews. We also buy each one ourselves, ensuring complete independence from manufacturers. See just how we test keyboards and judge for yourself. We've tested over 250 keyboards, and below are our recommendations for the best quiet keyboards. If you're looking for more picks, check out our articles for the best keyboards for typing, the best keyboards for programming, the best low-profile keyboards, and the best gaming keyboards.
If you work in an open office, in a shared workspace, or at home with your family, the Logitech MX Keys S is a great option and the best quiet keyboard we've tested. It also has white backlighting that can increase or decrease in brightness according to the lighting conditions around you. This stylish full-size board is straightforward, making it nice and easy to use regardless of your tech knowledge. You can pop the USB receiver into your computer or pair it using Bluetooth with up to three devices simultaneously and start typing away. As a plus, the flat profile and solid plastic case do a great job minimizing typing noise since the case doesn't have a lot of hollow space to add resonance.
This keyboard's flat profile also makes it comfortable to type on, as you don't have to strain your wrists upwards to reach the tops of the keys. And on the topic of keys, there are rounded indents in the middle of each keycap to guide your fingers to the center and improve typing accuracy. If portability is a concern, Logitech also makes a smaller version called the Logitech MX Keys Mini. This more compact version doesn't include a wireless USB receiver, so ensure your device supports a Bluetooth connection.
The Logitech Signature K650 is an overall good budget board that's perfectly suited for the less tech-savvy. While it has little customization software and doesn't feel as high-quality as the pricier options on this list, it has a few ergonomic features to keep you comfortable while you type. The built-in wrist rest does a nice job supporting your wrists, while the deep-set keys mean the tops are right beneath your fingertips without straining your wrists upwards. It uses rubber dome switches, which are among the quietest switches you can get. They feel a bit mushy, but they're nearly silent during use.
This keyboard connects wirelessly using either the included USB receiver or via Bluetooth. You can pair the keyboard with one device per connection style and switch between them using a dedicated key in the function row. As an added plus, there's also a row of dedicated media keys to help you skip through playlists or adjust the volume of any media you're listening to while you work.
The best cheap, quiet keyboard we recommend is the Dell KB216. Unlike our other picks, this is a wired-only model. Its all-plastic construction feels a bit flimsy and looks very plain, but it has a similar low-profile design compared to our more expensive picks above. While it doesn't offer any ergonomic typing angle adjustments, it sits flat on your desk, and you don't need to angle your wrists sharply to reach all the keys comfortably.
Unfortunately, the typing experience is also a bit mushy-feeling, but, most importantly, its rubber dome switches are very quiet. There aren't any clicking or rattling sounds while typing, which can be an issue on other keyboards at this price point. Thankfully, as a wired-only model, you also don't ever need to worry about remembering to recharge it or change the batteries. However, it does mean you have less freedom to move it around your desktop, and it doesn't support connection to multiple devices simultaneously. When it comes down to it, if you're only looking for the most affordable keyboard that won't bother those around you and don't mind giving up more expensive features like wireless connectivity, backlighting, or dedicated media keys, this keyboard fits the bill.
If you'd like to prioritize ergonomics but still need your keyboard to be as quiet as possible, we recommend the Logitech Wave Keys. While its design isn't as extreme as some ergonomic keyboards, it has a gentle curved key layout that tents upwards a bit towards the middle and produces a more neutral typing posture. It does a good job of limiting how steeply you need to angle your wrists while typing. This design, combined with its relatively lightweight and extremely quiet rubber dome switches, can help limit fatigue and your risk of strain over long periods.
The overall design is quite compact, but it does have a comfortable integrated wrist rest. This adds to the total footprint and means it isn't a super portable option, but it's still easy to move between spots in your home or between hotdesks in the office, as it connects wirelessly with a USB receiver or via Bluetooth with up to three devices at once. Keep in mind that its compact design spaces the keys slightly closer than most standard keyboards. While this might take some adjustment, the ergonomic layout ensures comfortable typing once you’re accustomed to it.
Gaming sessions can last well into the night, and the clacking sound of some gaming keyboards is bound to annoy roommates, parents, or anyone else you live with. If you want to keep complaints to a minimum, check out the Corsair K55 RGB PRO XT for the best quiet gaming option. It's a full-size keyboard loaded with gaming features, including RGB backlighting, dedicated macro keys, and a full suite of media controls. Its latency is extremely low and delivers a very responsive in-game experience.
It uses nearly silent rubber dome switches with a heavy tactile bump to get over. This tactile bump might give your fingers a workout but also prevents you from bottoming the keys out as easily, reducing the noise. This keyboard is also fully compatible with Corsair's iCUE companion software, so if you have any other Corsair devices, like a mouse or PC components, you can sync up all the lighting across devices to customize your setup.
We've removed the Microsoft Surface Keyboard from our recommendations because it's been discontinued, and the remaining stock is too expensive. Additionally, we've introduced a new 'Best Quiet Ergonomic' category, with the Logitech Wave Keys as our pick.
We've reviewed the article and confirmed that all picks are in stock and remain the best options in their categories; no changes have been made to the lineup in this update.
Jul 19, 2024 : We've removed the Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard as our cheap pick as it's recently gone up in price. Our new pick is the Dell KB216, a similar option that uses a wired instead of a wireless connection.
Apr 23, 2024 : With this update, we've changed our Notable Mentions section. We've added the NuPhy Gem80 and replaced the Logitech K380 with its successor, the Logitech Pebble Keys 2 K380s, which is available for the same price but has longer advertised battery life and better wireless versatility.
Feb 15, 2024 : We've checked all our recommendations and confirmed the price and availability of all our picks. We've also added a bit of detail to our 'Best Cheap Quiet Keyboard' category, with information about the variable pricing of the Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard and when it's at its best value.
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best silent keyboards. We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here is the list of all our keyboard reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no keyboard is perfect for every use, most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.
What do you think of our picks? Let us know below.
Looking for a personalized buying recommendation from the RTINGS.com experts? Insiders have direct access to buying advice on our insider forum.
Update: We’ve removed the Microsoft Surface Keyboard from our recommendations because it’s been discontinued, and the remaining stock is too expensive. Additionally, we’ve introduced a new ‘Best Quiet Ergonomic’ category, with the Logitech Wave Keys as our pick.
What do you think of these changes? Let us know
Thanks for the review, but please consider also tricks from the keyboard developers in your reviews! I’ve been using several Logitech Silent Wireless Keyboard K295 (MK295) items for more than 3 years and figured out that they’re silent only on the first 1-3 months of usage, and after 3-6 months they became very loud, even louder than other “non-silent” keyboards! This happened with all 5 items of my K295 keyboards after several months of usage, depending on the usage activity. Some of them I use at home, some - at offices, so the usage activity is different. But after 6 months all of them became non-silent at all! This fact sounds like a marketing trick to show the really silent keyboard in reviews, but this silence is just temporary! And, I’m afraid that Logitech uses the same trick for the Logitech MX Keys S and other models too! So, Could you please try to somehow include this trick checking in your next reviews? Thanks!
Hi murz,
We’re not against long term testing but to get there we need to overcome some challenges. Our keyboards are in storage after the review so we’d need build a machine that can wear out the keyboard and then we need to duplicate this for all the keyboards. It would be immensely cool to do. I can think of a machine that runs non stop until we ran 1'000'000 keystrokes but building this machine to be reliable is a challenge (can recover from a power loss, etc).
I’ll add this to our suggestion tracking because it’s really cool but also because it does have a great impact to the user experience long term and could lead to regret buying a specific keyboard. This is a very long term goal so please don’t be disappointed if we don’t add this to our reviews for the foreseeable future.
Thanks again for reaching out and even more the the concrete examples, this gives us a benchmark and a lead about which keyboards to pay attention to when designing the test and validating it.
Thanks for the review, but please consider also tricks from the keyboard developers in your reviews!
I’ve been using several Logitech Silent Wireless Keyboard K295 (MK295) items for more than 3 years and figured out that they’re silent only on the first 1-3 months of usage, and after 3-6 months they became very loud, even louder than other “non-silent” keyboards!
This happened with all 5 items of my K295 keyboards after several months of usage, depending on the usage activity. Some of them I use at home, some - at offices, so the usage activity is different. But after 6 months all of them became non-silent at all!
This fact sounds like a marketing trick to show the really silent keyboard in reviews, but this silence is just temporary!
And, I’m afraid that Logitech uses the same trick for the Logitech MX Keys S and other models too!
So, Could you please try to somehow include this trick checking in your next reviews? Thanks!
Update: We’ve checked all our recommendations and confirmed the price and availability of all our picks. We’ve also added a bit of detail to our ‘Best Cheap Quiet Keyboard’ category, with information about the variable pricing of the Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard and when it’s at its best value.
What do you think of these changes? Let us know