Not everyone prefers a loud clacky keyboard that startles the neighbors with a barrage of high-pitched keystrokes. You might want a silent keyboard for your workplace or home office. While not all mechanical keyboards are annoyingly loud, finding a silent option is not as simple as choosing your favorite form factor or design.

A lot of variables together determine the sound signature of a mechanical keyboard. When buying a pre-built keyboard, you might not have control over every aspect of it, but you can still keep an eye out for a few features that will ensure you get a silent typing experience. I won't get into mods or customizations that can improve the sound of a keyboard — only features you can look for which are already available on pre-built keyboards.

6 PBT keycaps

The thicker the better

Let's start with the keycaps — the thicker they are, the deeper they'll sound. You'll mostly find manufacturers using ABS or PBT for keyboard keycaps. The former is cheaper to produce, but is prone to an unaesthetic shine that develops on the keycaps after use (even within months, in some cases). PBT keycaps, on the other hand, are relatively more expensive to manufacture, but are more durable and sound better.

Keycaps aren't the biggest determinant of a silent keyboard, but they aren't inconsequential either.

"Better" sounding, in this case, can be understood as hefty or deep. Although this isn't strictly silent, PBT keycaps are generally quieter than their ABS counterparts. This is due to the more premium construction which contributes to a "thocky" and muted sound, unlike ABS keycaps, which feel light and cheap, and sound significantly clackier. Keycaps aren't the biggest determinant of a silent keyboard, but they aren't inconsequential either.

The great thing about PBT keycaps is that they are seeing rapid adoption on even budget mechanical keyboards, so you no longer have to pay top dollar for the luxury.

5 Pre-lubed switches and stabilizers

Friction is the enemy of silence

Whenever you press a mechanical switch, the spring and stem present inside scratch against each other. This friction can produce an unpleasant sound that can range from a minor vibration to loud noise. Similarly, when you press some of the larger keys, such as the Spacebar, Enter, Shift, and Backspace, the motion of the stabilizers underneath leads to friction, and consequently, unwanted sound.

The scratchy sound following every keypress and the rattling sound from the stabilizers will be minimized, providing you with a pleasant and smooth typing experience.

If your keyboard comes with pre-applied lube on both the switches and stabilizers, it can result in a significantly more silent typing sound. The scratchy sound following every keypress and the rattling sound from the stabilizers will be minimized, providing you with a pleasant and smooth typing experience. Lubing can make a great difference to how your switches sound, which is why enthusiasts always incorporate it into their custom-built keyboards.

4 Gasket mount

A bed of roses

The mounting style of a mechanical keyboard refers to the way in which the plate is attached to the top or bottom housing of the keyboard. Keyboards can feature a top mount, bottom mount, tray mount, and sandwich mount, among others. More recently, gasket mounts have become more popular, even on budget mechanical keyboards, due to their deeper, softer, and more premium-feeling sound.

This muffles the sound of keystrokes, minimizing rattle and distracting pings, thus making the keyboard more silent.

Gaskets are simply rubber or silicone pieces placed between the plate and the keyboard housing (on both top and bottom) to reduce vibrations, as they provide a cushioning effect. This muffles the sound of keystrokes, minimizing rattle and distracting pings, thus making the keyboard more silent. Gasket-mounted keyboards used to be way costlier, but in the last few years, you can find them even on sub-$75 keyboards.

3 Sound-dampening foam

Filling the void with silence

The inside of a mechanical keyboard, despite being populated by a plate, PCB, and switches, remains quite empty, unless filled in with several layers of foam. An otherwise hollow keyboard will sound terrible — the sound of keystrokes will be exacerbated by all the empty volume inside. Hence, manufacturers need to add materials such as PORON foam, PET sound pads, IXPE pads, and silicone foam to improve the sound.

Sound-dampening foam tightens the typing experience, eliminating stray vibrations and noise when typing, and results in a deep, muted sound signature.

Layers of foam are added between the plate and the PCB, and then between the PCB and the bottom shell. Sound-dampening foam tightens the typing experience, eliminating stray vibrations and noise when typing, and results in a deep, muted sound signature. Again, this "thocky" sound doesn't always need to be silent, but adding foam generally makes a keyboard much more silent than it would be otherwise.

2 Silent switches

Switch it to silent mode

Finally, we arrive at the biggest determinant of a silent typing experience — the switches. You probably know that mechanical keyboard switches come in three broad varieties — linear, clicky, and tactile. While clicky switches are known for their signature loud sound, tactile and linear switches are preferred by those looking for a more muted, silent keyboard.

I'd suggest picking a linear switch for your first silent keyboard.

When buying a silent keyboard, you can easily shortlist models that have linear or tactile switches. You can also check reviews of particular switch models to compare various linear and tactile switches against each other. Personally, I'd suggest picking a linear switch for your first silent keyboard. You can later experiment with a silent tactile switch and see if the added "bump" is something you want.

These days, there are more models of switches than you can keep track of. Gone are the days of just Cherry, Gateron, and Kailh switches. Every keyboard manufacturer seems to have multiple proprietary models of their own now. Hence, you need to pay attention to the switch specifications when comparing various keyboards — look at travel distance, pre-travel, actuation point, initial force, actuation force, and total force.

1 Bonus: Low-profile form factor

Naturally more silent than others

Another option is to pivot from regular keyboards to low-profile keyboards, if a silent typing experience is what you crave. Low-profile keyboards are inherently more silent than keyboards with regular-height keycaps and switches. Due to the significantly lower travel distance and slim housing, there's little room for loud keypresses or a hollow-sounding typing experience.

Professionals and those used to laptop keyboards will appreciate the option to go low-profile when buying a silent mechanical keyboard.

You might sacrifice an especially thocky or creamy sound, but low-profile keyboards can be incredibly silent, especially when manufacturers use specially-engineered silent switches. Professionals and those used to laptop keyboards will appreciate the option to go low-profile when buying a silent mechanical keyboard. Today, you have tons of excellent low-profile options from brands like Asus, NuPhy, Keychron, and Lofree.

Go buy yourself a silent keyboard

Buying a killer silent keyboard is not difficult at all when you know what features to look for. Focus on silent pre-lubed switches, pre-installed foam, a gasket mount, and PBT keycaps. You can also pick a low-profile keyboard for the ultimate silent typing experience. I didn't mention things like the case and plate materials, as every case can be made to sound silent, and the plate material doesn't affect the sound as much as the other factors I mentioned above.