Definitive Guide to Keyboard Sizes

When it comes to the keyboard world there is a huge diversity of choices and form factors – you can find keyboards specialized in gaming, wireless keyboards, hot-swap keyboards, low-profile keyboards, etc.

A very important factor in all of this diversity is to choose the correct size for your keyboard. This is important both when you are buying a keyboard, or when you are building yourself a custom board.

To make sure you fully understand what are the currently available keyboard sizes, and what are their advantages and disadvantages, we will quickly list all of them and give you some advice regarding what you should go for!

Standard Keyboard Sizes

Full-sized – 100 Percent

In most cases when people think of computer keyboard sizes, they think of standard 100% sized keyboards. These keyboards offer you all the keys you would need, including the Numpad.

The Numpad is quite handy since it allows you to quickly input numbers, so if your work is related to a lot of math and calculations, this keyboard size will be extremely useful.

full sized keyboard apex 5

The layouts are quite spacious on these keyboard sizes, so you will also find all of your function keys and arrow keys on dedicated buttons.

The main issue with the 100% keyboards is that they are quite big and bulky therefore are quite uncomfortable to use in many situations. Because of this fact, this keyboard size has fallen out of favor and is rarely used for custom builds nowadays.

If you however do not care about these limitations then a 100% keyboard should serve you well.

Tenkeyless(TKL) – 87 or 80 Percent

The next step in the keyboard sizes chart is the TKL or 80% form factor. TKL keyboards have become extremely popular lately because of their smaller form factor while retaining certain dedicated buttons like arrow keys and function keys.

tenkeyless logitech g pro keyboard

The main reason people leave behind the full-sized layout is to save some space on their desk while also retaining full functionality, and perhaps because they want to clean up the way their setup looks (aesthetics).

It is no mystery that TKL keyboards look quite a bit better than full-sized boards in terms of pure aesthetics while also allowing for wider mouse movements since there is more space for your hand.

If you are currently in a dilemma and do not know which keyboard form-factor you should go with from the standard keyboard sizes, then we would suggest going for a TKL keyboard since it is the safest option out there (not too big – not too small).

65 Percent Keyboard

The next step in the sizing chart is the 65% keyboards. These are even smaller than the TKL keyboards and they also lose the function keys row.

65 keyboard drop alt

At the same time even without the Numpad and the function keys, 65% keyboards retain a lot of functionality since they still have their arrow keys and allow access to the function keys through the Fn key.

These keyboards are very compact and allow for a lot of hand movement on the side. These keyboards are also extremely popular because they are extremely customizable and fit well with any setup.

A lot of gamers prefer the 65% keyboards because they can make full use of their desk space but also have dedicated arrow keys for games that do require them. This also extends to programmers since they need to navigate code with arrow keys a lot as well.

This keyboard size will allow you to maximize everything about your daily keyboard use and is the golden standard you should strive through in your journey. Basically what we are trying to say is that if you are pretty brave and are not afraid of new things you should start your keyboard journey with a 65% board.

60 Percent Keyboard

Lastly, the smallest size for a keyboard that we would recommend is definitely the 60% keyboards category. Compared to 65% keyboards, a 60% layout means you will also lose your dedicated arrow keys and will have to use the Fn key for most buttons not present on the keyboard.

60 gaming keyboard razer huntsman mini

This is a very used keyboard size since it was popularized by gamers, and you could even say that the Ducky One 2 Mini, one of the first widely available 60% keyboards literally shifted the market towards smaller-sized keyboards.

Nowadays it will be hard to find a single gamer that has never heard of 60% keyboards, does not want one, or does not use one already. Even this article you are currently reading is being written on a 60% keyboard.

This size will offer you the most mobility while also retaining functionality therefore this is also a keyboard size often seen being used by programmers.

At the same time this keyboard size might be a bit too small for a certain number of users, therefore, as mentioned above we think the 65% layout will fit most people better. If you however are pretty used to a 65% keyboard or a TKL keyboard, moving to a 60% will not be a huge issue.

Unused Keyboard Sizes

Besides the standard keyboard sizes you might also know about less popular layouts – 1800 Compact, 75% keyboards, 40% keyboards, numpad keyboards, split keyboards, etc.

1800 gaming keyboard akko 98

Although some of these sizes are super rare, or some of them do not have a huge market margin it is still important to mention that they exist.

You will also sometimes find super custom keyboard sizes and layouts that will simply not fit in any category and just be a 1 out of 1 type of keyboard. These keyboards are usually ultra rare and super expensive so most buyers won’t even know they exist.

The overall advice we can give is that first of all you should try out all of the standard keyboard sizes and when you have enough experience you can try out more unique keyboards that are rarer.

This is all you need to know about different keyboard sizes and their particularities!

About The Author

Chris (vile_is_dead)

Custom Windows ISO enjoyer, FPS optimizer, and aim improvement enthusiast. Will disassemble all of his peripherals (and sometimes PC parts) to mod them even if all of them work perfectly fine. Discord/Twitter: vile_is_dead

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