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Keyboard Switches, Explained

After reading, you'll understand every number on a switch spec sheet, know why the advertised force is not the force your finger feels, and be able to tell in ten seconds whether a switch will physically fit your keyboard.

Updated August 23, 2026 · Companion to our Office review

In this guide

First-time switch buyers get tripped up in a predictable order. They pick a colour, because red, brown and blue have become shorthand for linear, tactile and clicky. They compare a single force number, which turns out to be measured at the point the switch registers rather than at the bottom of the stroke. Then the switches arrive and half of them will not seat, because the keyboard's sockets have three holes and the switches have five pins. None of that is obscure information, but almost none of it is on the product photo.

The 30-second version

  • Hot-swap belongs to the keyboard, so no switch you buy can make a soldered board swappable, and the PCB decides whether it takes three pins, five, or both.
  • The advertised force is not the whole story, because the actuation figure is measured at the contact point and the end force at the bottom of the stroke, and the two can differ by 10 gf or more.
  • A force curve beats a force number, and Cherry, Gateron and Akko all publish force-travel diagrams that show where a tactile bump sits and how steeply the spring ramps up.
  • A shorter actuation point is a preference, not an upgrade, because the same sensitivity that registers a deliberate press sooner also registers a resting finger sooner.
  • Silent and low-profile are different products, one adds damping pads inside a standard-height switch and the other is a physically shorter switch that needs its own keycaps and its own PCB.

The products this guide is about

Our verdict on each, with the full reasoning on the companion review.

What actually matters

  • Switch type - linear, tactile and clicky describe what happens mechanically inside the housing, not just how it sounds. A linear stem slides straight down, a tactile stem has a bulge that fights a leaf spring partway through, and a clicky switch adds a separate moving part that snaps against the housing to make the noise.
  • Actuation force - the load in grams-force or centinewtons at the moment the contacts close. It is the number every maker prints, and it is the only force figure some of them publish at all.
  • Bottom-out force - the load once the stem reaches the bottom, listed as end force, final force or total travel force. If you press keys all the way down, this is the number your fingers actually work against all day.
  • Pre-travel - how far the key falls before it registers, usually around 2 mm on a full-height switch. Makers also call it the actuation point or operating position.
  • Total travel - how far the key falls in total, typically 4 mm for a standard linear and less for silent and low-profile designs. Cherry's damped MX2A Silent Red gives up 0.3 mm of travel to the damping pads.
  • Pin count - a 3-pin switch has a centre post and two metal contacts, while a 5-pin switch adds two plastic legs. The extra legs make the switch sit straighter in a 5-pin PCB and stop it fitting a 3-pin one until you clip them off.
  • Factory lubing - grease applied to the stem rails and spring during manufacture, which removes the scratchy feel and most of the spring ping. It is the single biggest quality difference between a cheap switch and a good one at a similar force.

The specs, in plain English

gf and cNTwo units for the same thing. Most Asian manufacturers quote force in grams-force and Cherry quotes it in centinewtons, and the two are close enough that 45 gf and 45 cN sit within a few percent of each other. Do not treat a cN figure as a different scale.
Operating force / actuation forceThe load on the stem at the instant the switch registers a keypress. It is measured partway down the stroke, not at the bottom. A tolerance like plus or minus 8 gf tells you how much variation to expect between individual switches in the pack.
End force / final force / total travel forceThe load once the stem is fully down. Watch how it is stated: Gateron writes it as a ceiling, such as under 110 gf, which is a limit rather than a typical value, while Akko gives a target with a tolerance and Cherry gives a single figure measured against the hard stop.
Pre-travel / operating positionThe distance the key moves before the contacts close. Around 2 mm is standard, 1.9 mm is common on damped switches and speed-style switches go shorter. A tolerance of plus or minus 0.6 mm on a 2.0 mm spec is a wide window.
Force-travel diagramA graph of force against travel with the operating and reset points marked. It shows the tactile peak on a bump switch, how quickly the spring ramps up towards bottom-out, and how far the key has to rise before it resets. Gateron puts one in each data sheet PDF, Cherry on each switch page, Akko on the listing.
3-pin vs 5-pinA description of the switch's underside. Both have the same two metal contact pins and central plastic post, but a 5-pin switch adds two plastic locating legs. Those legs need matching holes in the PCB, and if the board does not have them you clip the legs off with flush cutters, which is permanent but harmless.
Hot-swap socketA small metal receptacle soldered to the keyboard PCB that grips a switch pin without solder. It is a feature of the keyboard, so a board is either built with sockets or it is not. Some keyboard makers state their sockets accept both 3-pin and 5-pin switches, and some do not.
POM, PA66, PC and UHMWPEThe plastics switches are moulded from. POM, also sold as acetal, is slippery and self-lubricating and is the usual choice for stems. PA66 nylon and proprietary blends make bases sound deeper and duller, polycarbonate tops sound brighter and pass light better, and UHMWPE turns up in enthusiast stems for an unusually smooth feel.
SMD LED supportThe LED lives on the keyboard's circuit board, not in the switch, so the switch only needs to leave room for it and let the light through. Listings will say whether a switch takes an SMD LED and whether the housing is transparent, and an opaque housing means the backlight will barely show.

Green flags vs red flags

Green flags

  • A downloadable data sheet or an on-page spec table, not just a colour and one number.
  • Both an operating force and an end, final or total travel force.
  • A published force-travel diagram with the operating and reset points marked.
  • An explicit pin count, ideally with a note about whether it converts to 3-pin.
  • Named stem and housing materials, and a clear statement that the switch is lubed at the factory.

Red flags

  • One force number with no tolerance and no end force anywhere on the page.
  • No stated pin count, so you cannot tell whether it will seat in your board.
  • No rated lifetime in keystrokes, or a lifetime quoted with no test conditions.
  • Claims about smoothness with no mention of lubing, stem material or housing material.
  • A listing that says hot-swap as if it were a property of the switch rather than of the keyboard.

Who's who: the brands

  • Cherry - The German original, and the most consistent publisher of properties tables and force graphs, with the MX2A generation adding factory lubrication across much of the range.
  • Gateron - The volume leader in enthusiast switches, and the only maker here that offers a downloadable PDF data sheet with a force-travel diagram for nearly its whole catalogue.
  • Akko - A keyboard brand whose own switch lines punch above their price, and one of the few budget makers that prints both an operating force and an end force.
  • Kailh - Kaihua Electronics, best known for its Box-style housings and for making low-profile Choc switches used in slim and split keyboards.
  • Durock and JWK - Sister enthusiast brands whose switches show up under many boutique names, usually sold on smoothness and a heavier, fuller sound rather than on published spec sheets.

How to read a listing without getting fooled

Work through a listing in a fixed order and it stops being confusing. Start with your keyboard, not the switch: find out whether the PCB is hot-swap and whether its sockets take three pins or five, because that decides what you can buy at all. Then read the switch type and treat the colour as decoration. Then find both force numbers, and if only one is given, assume the bottom-out is meaningfully heavier than the figure shown. Next check pre-travel and total travel together, since a short total travel usually means either damping pads or a low-profile design rather than a defect. Then look for a force-travel diagram, because it answers questions the table cannot, such as how sharp a tactile bump is. Finish with materials, factory lubing and rated life, and note that a missing lifetime figure is common on budget switches and is worth pricing in rather than panicking about.

How much should you spend?

Switch prices are quoted per switch or per pack, and a full-size board needs somewhere north of a hundred, so small per-switch differences add up fast. At the budget tier you get factory-lubed linears from the big Asian makers in large bulk packs, and the compromises are wider force tolerances and often no published lifetime. The mid-range buys you named housing materials, tighter tolerances, better-documented data sheets and the enthusiast lines people actually recommend, which is where the Oil King sits. The premium tier is Cherry sold in small quantities and the boutique enthusiast switches, where you are paying for German manufacturing or hand-finished smoothness rather than for a spec that reads dramatically better. A sensible approach is to buy a cheap switch tester or a single budget pack first, learn what force and travel you like, and spend properly on the second set.

Questions, answered

Can I put any switch in a hot-swap keyboard?

Any mechanical switch with an MX-style footprint, provided the pin count matches or you clip the extra legs. What you cannot do is put an optical switch into a mechanical socket or the other way round, because optical switches have no metal contact pins at all. Low-profile switches are also out, since they are physically shorter and use their own PCB layout. Check the footprint before the feel.

What is the difference between a silent switch and a low-profile switch?

A silent switch is a normal-height switch with damping pads added inside the housing to soften the impact at the bottom of the stroke and on the return. A low-profile switch is a physically shorter switch with less total travel, usually around 3 mm, and it needs its own low-profile keycaps and a keyboard built for it. Gateron lists its KS-33 low profile as 3-pin with a note that the layout is not standard. One solves a noise problem, the other solves a height problem, and they are not interchangeable.

Does a heavier switch cause more finger fatigue?

Preference varies more than most people expect, and there is no single correct weight. What is worth knowing is which number you are comparing: a switch advertised at 45 gf may take meaningfully more to reach the bottom, so two switches with the same headline figure can feel quite different in use. If a keyboard feels like hard work, try a lighter spring before assuming the switch type is wrong. Trying a few weights on a switch tester is the cheapest way to find out what suits you.

Are clicky switches worth it?

They are worth it if you type alone and specifically want the sound, and a poor choice if anyone else can hear you. The click comes from a separate moving part inside the housing rather than from the bottom-out, which means you cannot quiet it down without removing the thing you paid for. Lubing a clicky switch dulls the click for the same reason. If you want feedback without noise, a tactile switch gives you a bump you can feel and a fraction of the volume.

Ready to choose? See our top pick, the alternatives, and the one we'd skip See the Keyboard Switches verdicts

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