Reaction Time Test

Click the box to start. It shows a wait message, then after a random delay turns green. The moment you see green, click, tap or press Space. The page shows your time in milliseconds.

You get five tries per round, then the average and the best time. Clicking too early cancels that try and you start it again.

How to use this tool

1. Click, tap or press Space to start a try.
2. Wait without clicking while the box says to wait for green. The delay is random.
3. When the box turns green, react at once. Your time appears.
4. Repeat for five tries and read the average and best. Start over begins a new round.

What the result includes

The timer starts from the frame that turns green and stops at the input event. That means the figure includes the delay of your screen, your mouse or touch screen and the browser, as well as your own reaction. A fast display and a wired mouse tend to give lower times than a laptop on battery power or a phone with a slow screen.

Because of this, treat the number as a comparison on the same device, not an absolute measure of your nerves.

What is a normal time?

Simple visual reaction times for healthy adults are often somewhere in the region of 200 to 300 milliseconds, with a lot of variation between people and between attempts. Tiredness, distraction and age all matter. In sprinting, World Athletics treats a reaction to the starting signal under 0.100 seconds as a false start, because a response that fast is considered too quick to be a reaction to the sound.

Improving consistency

Use the same hand and device, rest your finger over the button and avoid anticipating the color change. If a try is far slower than the others, you may have been distracted; the average of five smooths that out. If the tab is hidden during a try, the test pauses and you continue with a click.