Why Your Keyboard Is Lagging & Ways To Fix It | WTFast
Imagine this, you are playing a racing game, and a sharp right turn comes in front of you. You see the turn and press the right arrow key on your keyboard to steer your car to the right. However, the car doesn't start turning to the right the instant that you pressed the button, and you crash into a wall. Because of this, you lost the race.
The scenario mentioned above is an example of keyboard lag. While it is not that common, there are tons of reports on the internet of people experiencing lag while using their keyboards. If you have ever experienced a similar situation like the one we explained in the racing game example, then you might be dealing with keyboard lag as well. Here is our take on why you might be experiencing keyboard lag and how you can fix it.
What Is Lag?
The term "Lag" is a synonym for the delay. In the world of computers, Lag is the time delay between an input command that the user makes using the input device and the appropriate output that is to be presented by the computer.
As you move your mouse or press any key on your keyboard, an input signal is sent from the input device to the computer. The computer processes that input and delivers an output. An example of output would be the movement of a crosshair on the screen. Or it could be the movement of your in-game character being displayed on the screen.
There is always a delay between an input that you make and the output that you get. However, most of the time, it is soo small that you barely even notice it. However, when the delay gets larger and larger to the point where you start to notice it, then it starts to become lag.
What Causes Your Keyboard To Lag?
There are several reasons why your keyboard is lagging. Firstly, it may have something to do with the keyboard itself or its settings within windows. There might be a driver issue, the wire of the keyboard might be damaged, or the USB port that you are plugging the keyboard into might have some issue.
However, since diagnosing the source of lag is quite difficult, there is no telling what kind of lag you are dealing with. You might be dealing with input lag and may be thinking that it is the keyboard that is lagging. Input lag is quite often confused with other kinds of lag. However, the input lag has nothing to do with any of your input devices, rather, it arises due to low framerate.
Fixes For Keyboard Lag
If you are experiencing keyboard lag, here are some fixes that you can try right now. We have carefully selected those fixes that have the highest probability of success. Try them out to see which one works for you.
Fixing Input Lag
The lag you are experiencing while using your keyboard may be due to input lag. It is especially true if you are also experiencing lag while using the mouse. In other words, if you experience a delay between the movements of the in-game crosshair and the movements of the mouse, there is a high probability that you are dealing with input lag.
Since input lag is related to low framerate, all the fixes that will remove any kind of input lag will have something to do with increasing the framerate of the particular game you are playing.
First of all, you will have to check the system requirements of the game that you are having an issue with. If your computer does not meet the requirements of the game, then you will have to get new hardware to at least meet the minimum requirements.
Another thing that you can do is help your PC perform a bit better. To do this you can try lowering the resolution of the game that you are playing, or you can try lowering the in-game settings. Also, you must make sure that no unnecessary applications are running in the background while you are playing a video game. There is no point in running hundreds of chrome tabs as you play a competitive game like Warzone.
Long story short, if you are experiencing keyboard lag, you can try upgrading your hardware so the computer can perform better, lower the graphics settings and resolution of the game you are facing the issue in, and make sure that zero unnecessary applications are running in the background. When your PC starts to crank out a higher framerate, you will definitely start to notice a lower amount of input lag and, consequently, a lower amount of keyboard lag.
Disconnecting & Re-Connecting
This is by far one of the most underrated and the most overlooked fixes for an issue with any device. When you remove the keyboard or any other particular device from the back of your computer and re-plug it into either the same USB port or another one, there is a high probability that whatever issue you are facing will get resolved. This also includes keyboard lag. So if you are experiencing lag while pressing the keys on your keyboard, you can try removing your keyboard and then plugging it back either into the same USB port or another one.
Keyboard Troubleshooting
To troubleshoot using the troubleshoot settings, first of all, you will have to click on the windows search bar located in the lower-left corner of the screen, type in "troubleshoot settings," and click on the "Troubleshoot settings” icon. A new window will open up on your screen. On this new window, click on "Additional troubleshooters." Now find and click on the "Keyboard" option in the “Find and fix other problems” tab and then click on the "Run the troubleshooter" icon.
A new window will pop up, and the computer will now start troubleshooting any problems with the keyboard and try to fix them. After the troubleshooting is done, you can click on "Close the troubleshooter" or simply click on "Close" to close this new window. You can also close the "Troubleshoot settings" window. Run a game and check whether the problem is solved.
Updating or Reinstalling Keyboard Drivers
If the drivers of your keyboard are either not up-to-date or got corrupted, then there is a chance that you might start to experience keyboard lag. To get your drivers updated, you will have to use the device manager. Type "device manager" in the windows search bar and then click on the "Device Manager" icon. A new window will open up on your screen. In this window, click on the right-facing arrow right next to "Keyboards," which will show you the keyboard drivers that are installed on your computer. To update the driver, simply right-click on the driver and then click on "Update driver."
Is It Actually Your Keyboard That’s Lagging?
The thing is, it may not be an issue with your keyboard that is causing you to experience lag. It is quite difficult to diagnose the source of lag because almost all kinds of lag will feel the same. The most common type of lag that gamers have to deal with is network lag. If you are experiencing keyboard lag while playing online games, then there is a high probability that the lag you are dealing with is network lag.
The main reason that gamers experience network lag is that there is an issue somewhere in the network connection that connects the gaming computer to the game server. This can include all sorts of things like bad routing, bent or damaged wires, or a wireless connection instead of a wired one to connect the gaming computer to the internet router.
WTFast - The Ultimate Solution For Network Lag
The problem with network lag is that it is way too difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to find working fixes for it. It is not like input lag, where you can just buy new hardware, and the lag is gone. You will have to spend quite a lot of time first diagnosing what is causing you to experience network lag, and you will have to spend even more time trying to figure out a solution for the lag you are experiencing.
What if we were to tell you that there is actually no need to spend all that time diagnosing the sources of the network lag that you are experiencing. Yup, that's right, there is a way that you can get rid of all kinds of network-related lag with the press of a button. We are talking about WTFast.
WTFast is a gamers' private network that eliminates not only network lag but all other kinds of network issues like rubberbanding, ping spikes, and jittering. WTFast also helps in reducing ping. WTFast works by switching your connection onto a network that is optimized for gaming with a routing that has the shortest distance between your computer and the game server. To get rid of network lag and potentially keyboard lag, check out WTFast today.
