APM test, how many actions a minute?

An APM test measures your actions per minute: how many keys, mouse clicks and scroll steps you can make in a minute. APM comes from real-time strategy games, where fast players give hundreds of orders a minute. Click the pad to get ready, then press keys, click and scroll. The clock starts with your first action and runs for 10, 30 or 60 seconds. You get your APM, an effective APM, your fastest second, a split of keys, clicks and scrolls, and your most used keys.

How to use the APM test

1. Pick Time: 10 s, 30 s or 60 s.
2. Click the pad (or focus it and press Enter). It says Ready.
3. Start doing things: type, click, scroll over the pad. The first action starts the clock, and the pad shows how many actions you have made.
4. While the round runs the page takes over the keys so nothing else on the page reacts. Press Escape to cancel.
5. When the time ends, read the cards. Click the pad again to go again.

APM and effective APM

APM is actions times 60, divided by the seconds. 150 actions in a 30 second round is 150 x 60 / 30 = 300 APM.

Raw APM can be inflated by pressing one key over and over, which is why players talk about effective APM. This page uses a simple rule you can check: an action is dropped when it is the same key or mouse button as the one before and comes less than 250 ms later. If 30 of your 150 actions are quick repeats, the effective count is 120 and the effective APM is 120 x 60 / 30 = 240. It is this page's own rule, not an official standard, so compare scores only with scores from this page.

Reading the other cards

• Fastest second shows the most actions in one clock second, with the pace that would give over a minute. 6 actions in a second is 360 a minute.
• Keys, clicks, scrolls shows the split. Turn off Count scroll steps on the pad if you want only keys and clicks.
• Most used keys lists the five keys you pressed most. If one key dominates, your effective APM will be lower than your APM.

Things to know

• Scroll steps on the pad are grouped, so a long spin of the wheel counts as a few steps and not hundreds. The page counts at most one scroll step every 60 ms.
• Held keys do not repeat. The page ignores the repeat the keyboard sends when you hold a key.
• Keyboard shortcuts with Control or Command are left alone, so the browser can still use them.
• A real game also counts what the actions do. This test only counts presses, so it measures speed, not skill.

For a pure typing score, use the typing test. For a single key, try the spacebar counter.