Spring Swapping 101: Tuning Weight and Feel

You can love everything about a switch except how heavy it feels. The smoothness is great, the sound is right, but the spring is too light and you keep mistyping, or too heavy and your fingers tire by the afternoon. Spring swapping fixes exactly that. It’s one of the cheapest, highest-impact mods in the hobby, and it changes a switch’s entire personality without changing the switch itself.

This guide explains how spring weight actually works, how to choose replacement springs, and how to do the swap cleanly.

What a spring actually controls

The spring sets two related but distinct things: how hard you have to press to start moving the key, and how hard you have to press at the bottom of the travel. Spring weight is usually quoted as the bottom-out force in grams, the force needed to fully depress the switch.

Swapping springs does not change the bump on a tactile switch or add a click. It only changes the resistance you feel pushing down and the speed at which the key returns. A light spring feels fast and effortless but is easier to actuate accidentally; a heavy spring feels deliberate and controlled but can fatigue you over long sessions.

Spring types you’ll encounter

Not all springs are simple coils. The main varieties:

Spring type	What it does
Standard (linear-rate)	Even resistance increase through the press; the default behavior
Progressive	Light at the top, ramps up sharply near bottom-out; discourages bottoming
Slow / extended	Longer spring with a different return curve; often feels “springier”
Two-stage	Resistance changes partway down, a more pronounced version of progressive

Most people start with a simple change in standard spring weight, say moving a 62g switch to a 50g or a 67g spring, before experimenting with progressive or slow springs.

Choosing a weight

A few rules of thumb:

• If you bottom out hard and tire quickly, go lighter. Lighter springs reduce the force your fingers fight on every keystroke.
• If you keep triggering keys by accident, go heavier. More resistance gives you a margin before the key registers.
• If you love a switch’s feel but it’s “almost right,” a 5 to 10g change in either direction is often all you need.

Buy a small assortment of weights the first time. Feel is personal, and the only reliable way to find your number is to try a few in the same board.

What you’ll need

• A switch opener (or careful hands and a small flathead)
• Replacement springs in your chosen weight(s)
• Tweezers
• Optionally, spring lube for ping reduction
• Patience for a repetitive task

The swap, step by step

1. Open the switch. A switch opener presses the four housing clips at once; without one, gently pry the top housing off the bottom with a flathead, working around the clips. Take care: clips can snap if you force them.
2. Remove the old spring. Lift out the stem if needed, then take out the spring with tweezers.
3. Seat the new spring. Place it on the bottom housing’s center post. Make sure it’s straight and fully seated; a crooked spring will feel wrong and may bind.
4. Reassemble. Drop the stem back in (orientation matters on tactiles: the legs face the leaf side), align the top housing, and press until all four clips snap home.
5. Test before committing. Swap a handful first, drop them in your board, and type. Confirm the weight is right before doing the whole set.

Doing it at scale

Swapping a full board’s worth of switches is tedious, and there’s no way around it. To stay sane:

• Set up an assembly line: open all, swap all, close all.
• Keep a small dish for springs so they don’t ping across the room.
• Take breaks; rushing leads to crooked springs and broken clips.

A full set takes a while, but the payoff is a board tuned exactly to your hands.

A note on ping

Some springs ring: a faint metallic “ping” on release. If you hear it, lightly lubing the springs (a thin coat, not a soak) usually quiets it. If you’re already opening every switch to swap springs, it’s the natural moment to address ping too.

The takeaway

Spring swapping is the cleanest way to retune a switch you almost love. Decide whether you need lighter or heavier, buy a small assortment, and test a few before committing to a full board. It’s repetitive work, but for the cost of a bag of springs you can make a great switch feel like it was made for you.