KeyslamFree online keyboard simulator
Mechanical keyboard simulator
Click a full Mac keyboard on screen, or type on your own, and hear 15 real recorded boards: clicky, tactile, linear, buckling springs, Topre, a Rainy 75, a MacBook and typewriters. It runs in your browser, free, with nothing to install.
Updated
Short answer: this free mechanical keyboard simulator plays real recordings of 15 keyboards and typewriters as you click the on-screen Mac keyboard or type on your own. Pick a board and a strength from soft to slam. Most boards give Space, Return and Delete their own takes, and the typewriters ring a bell on Return.
Simulator
Mechanical keyboard simulator for Mac
Pick a board, set how hard you strike, then click the keys or type. On the keyboards, hold a key down to hear it come back up when you let go.
Last key: none yet · Keys pressed: 0
Sounds load the first time you pick a board. Use headphones for the clearest stereo.
Quick picks to start with
Each button sets a board and a strength. The address bar updates as you go, so the link you copy opens the same sound for anyone.
"Creamy" and "thocky" are community words, not measurements. For measured loudness and brightness, see the keyboard sound test with an A/B player.
Typewriter simulator online
Choose a typewriter below or in the board picker and the whole keyboard becomes a typewriter. Every letter is a real typebar or typeball strike, and Return plays a bell from a separate recording, a nod to the bell that tells a typist the line is nearly full.
| Typewriter | What you hear | Letter strikes per band | Return sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selectric | IBM Selectric II: the electric typeball strike, with a bell on Return. | soft 6, medium 1, hard 6, slam 6 | 2.5 s, from Typewriter bell & carriage reset by knufds |
| Olivetti | Olivetti Lettera 22: a manual portable's snappy typebars and a bell. | soft 6, medium 6, hard 6, slam 6 | 1.0 s, from Typewriter ding_near_mono.wav by _stubb |
The typewriter packs treat every sound in their recording as a strike, so they have no key-up sound. Space and Delete use the same strikes as the letters. Some writers use a typewriter sound generator like this one to set a writing mood; if you need audio files for a video instead, see the free keyboard typing sound effects to download. To hear a typewriter on every key in your Mac's own apps, see typewriter sounds for Mac.
Real recordings, not synthesized
Nothing here is generated. Each board is cut from one real typing recording that its author released as CC0 (public domain) on Freesound; the typewriters add a second CC0 recording for the bell on Return. Keyslam finds every strike, pairs it with its key-up where the recording has one, and sorts the strikes by natural loudness into four bands: soft (about the 8th to 30th percentile), medium (38th to 62nd), hard (70th to 88th) and slam, the hardest ~8%. Each band is then leveled to a consistent target, and every board to the same overall loudness (-28 LUFS on a standard typing passage), so switching boards doesn't jump in volume. The table shows what that left for each key group.
| Board | Recording | Regular keys (soft / medium / hard / slam) | Space, Return, Delete | Key-up sounds | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MX Blue | Mechanical Keyboard 'Cherry Blue Switches' by EricsSoundschmiede | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (16 takes across the bands) | 6 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| MX Brown | Mechanical Keyboard Cherry MX Brown by majod | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (14 takes across the bands) | 4 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| MX Red | Keyboard clicking typing Cherry Red Mechanical by handygaber | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (16 takes across the bands) | 6 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| MX Black | leopold fc980m pd cherry mx black.flac by ujonathan | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (15 takes across the bands) | 4 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| Gateron Red | Typing on a mechanical keyboard by IRF1010N | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (12 takes across the bands) | 6 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| Topre | Keyboard Typing 2 (HHKB, Topre) by grcekh | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (3 takes across the bands) | 3 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| Leopold | Mechanical Keyboard Typing (Treble Version) by stu556 | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (15 takes across the bands) | 4 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| WhiteFox | Keyboard Typing 10 (WhiteFox, Mechanical) by grcekh | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (16 takes across the bands) | 5 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| Rainy 75 | Typing on a rainy 75 by Techrul | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (13 takes across the bands) | 5 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| Unicomp | Typing on a keyboard by SamsterBirdies | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (16 takes across the bands) | 6 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| Model F | IBM Model F keyboard typing by Fractal_ | 6 / 6 / 6 / 5 | Their own set, shared by all three (11 takes across the bands) | 5 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| Vintage Technics | Keyboard typing sounds: Unidentified Technics keyboard by zrrion | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (12 takes across the bands) | 6 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| Laptop | Computer keyboard typing and keystrokes - Apple MacBook Pro 2018 by khenshom | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Their own set, shared by all three (10 takes across the bands) | 5 takes | Same takes as Space and Delete |
| Selectric | Typewriter, IBM Selectric II by secretmojo; Typewriter bell & carriage reset by knufds | 6 / 1 / 6 / 6 | Return only (the bell); Space and Delete use the regular strikes | None in this recording | Bell and carriage return, 2.5 s |
| Olivetti | typewriter-olivetti-lettra-22.wav by keithpeter; Typewriter ding_near_mono.wav by _stubb | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | Return only (the bell); Space and Delete use the regular strikes | None in this recording | Bell, 1.0 s |
Counted from the sound files this page loads, November 2, 2026. A count of 1 means the band had one usable strike. When a band is empty, this page borrows the nearest band and adjusts its level.
How the simulator works, and its limits
- Same takes as the Mac app. The browser loads each board as one losslessly compressed file of the same strikes the app plays, then cuts them apart in memory.
- You choose the strength here. Natural varies each press a little around medium, the way ordinary typing does, with Space and Return landing a bit harder. In the app, MacBooks with Apple's motion sensor pick the strength from how hard you actually hit, read about 800 times a second.
- Each key keeps its own take and a small fixed pitch offset, so a fast run of letters doesn't sound like one sample on repeat. Keys on the left sit slightly left in stereo, keys on the right slightly right.
- Browser audio adds delay that depends on your browser and device. The Keyslam keyboard sound app for Mac uses a C audio core with an audio buffer of about 5 ms.
- Only this tab hears you. Shortcuts with Cmd or Ctrl don't play here, and macOS usually keeps some keys, like Fn and the media keys, to itself.
- Phones often don't say which key you pressed, so the type box plays a sound for each character instead.
- Nothing leaves your device. The sounds play in your browser; what you type here isn't sent anywhere.
More on where the recordings come from and how the packs are built is on the Keyslam about page.
Keyboard simulator questions
Is the keyboard simulator free?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no account, no download and no time limit.
Can I use this as a keyboard tester?
Partly. When the browser receives a key that is on the on-screen layout, that key lights up and stays outlined, so it is a quick way to check that the main keys on a keyboard register. The layout has no Esc or function row. It can't measure rollover, ghosting or key chatter, and keys macOS handles itself (Fn, brightness, media keys, Touch ID) usually don't reach a web page. Use a dedicated hardware tester for those.
Can I share a board and strength with someone?
Yes. Pick a board and a strength, then press Copy a link to this sound. The link adds the board and strength to the address, for example ?board=selectric&strength=hard, and opens the simulator with that sound selected.
How close is the browser simulator to the Mac app?
It plays the same recorded strikes and key-up sounds, and each key keeps its own take, as in the app. The differences: here you choose the strength, browser audio adds some delay, and sounds only play in this tab. The Keyslam app plays them for every key you press in any app on your Mac, and on supported MacBooks it reads how hard you type.
Does the on-screen keyboard work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Tap keys on the on-screen keyboard, or tap the type box and use your phone's own keyboard. Several fingers at once work too.
Hear it on every keystroke on your Mac.
Keyslam plays these 15 boards in all your apps for $3.99 once, with a 7-day free trial and no account.