Spring Weights Explained: 45g to 67g and Beyond

Spring weight is the spec people argue about most and understand least. It’s measured in grams, it’s printed on every product page, and it shapes how a keyboard feels more than almost any other number. Yet most beginners pick a weight by accident and live with it for years.

This guide explains what those gram figures actually mean, how weight changes the typing experience, and how to find the range that suits your hands.

What “grams” actually measures

When a switch is rated at, say, 50g, that number describes how much force the spring pushes back with at a particular point in the keystroke. The trouble is that vendors aren’t always measuring the same point.

Two figures matter:

• Actuation force: the force required to press the key down to the point where it registers.
• Bottom-out force: the force at the very bottom of the keystroke, when the stem hits the housing.

Bottom-out is always heavier than actuation, because a spring compresses harder the further it’s pushed. A switch listed as “50g” might mean either, so always check which one a vendor is quoting before comparing two switches.

The practical ranges

Here’s how the common ranges tend to feel in everyday use.

Range	Feel	Tends to suit
35-45g	Very light, almost feathery	Fast typists, light touch, long sessions
45-55g	The popular middle ground	Most people, all-rounders
55-67g	Firm and deliberate	Heavy-handed typists, people who hate accidental presses
67g+	Heavy, gym-for-fingers territory	Enthusiasts chasing a specific feel

These are general tendencies, not laws. Stem shape, travel, and whether a switch is tactile all change how a given weight reads to your fingers.

Light springs: speed and slips

Lighter springs require less effort per press, which can mean less fatigue over a long day and slightly faster repeated presses. The downside is accidental actuation: if you rest your fingers on the keys, a very light switch may register a press you didn’t intend. Light springs reward a deliberate, floating typing style.

Heavy springs: control and effort

Heavier springs resist casual contact, so misfires are rare and the board feels planted and intentional. They also push your fingers back up faster, which some typists love. The cost is effort. Over thousands of keystrokes a heavy spring can genuinely tire your hands, especially if you bottom out hard on every key.

Fatigue isn’t only about weight

A point most guides skip: typing fatigue comes as much from how you type as from the spring. People who slam every key to the bottom feel heavy springs far more than people who type lightly and stop at actuation. If a board tires you out, the fix might be a lighter spring, or it might be learning not to bottom out.

This is also why “lighter is less tiring” isn’t universally true. A spring too light to support your resting fingers can cause its own kind of tension as you hover to avoid misfires.

How to find your weight

The reliable method is a switch tester with a spread of weights, or progressive springs that ramp up partway through the travel. Type a few sentences on each, ignore the numbers, and notice which one disappears under your fingers. The right weight is the one you stop thinking about.

If you can’t test, start in the 45-55g range. It’s popular precisely because it suits the widest range of hands, and it’s a sane default to deviate from once you know which direction you want to go.

The takeaway

Spring weight is a feel preference, not a quality ranking. There is no “best” gram value, only the one that fits your hands and typing style. Check whether a vendor quotes actuation or bottom-out before comparing, start near the middle if you’re unsure, and remember that how you type matters as much as what the spring is rated.