When Silence Is Golden: The Quietest Keyboards You Can Buy

Size: 60% | Connection: Bluetooth | Switch type: Membrane | Battery life: 24 months

Pros:

• Completely silent
• Comfortable switches
• Long battery life

Cons:

• Lacks precision of mechanical boards
• No backlighting

For a keyboard that isn’t just quiet—it’s silent—there are few that can match the Logitech K380. This membrane keyboard is compact and wireless, with extensive battery life and an attractive, soft look to its keycaps. It works with Windows PCs, Macs, Android and iOS devices, and can even connect to up to three systems at once, so you can swamp them as needed. It uses standard AA batteries, so after the two years of charge runs dry, you can simply pop some new batteries in and start working again—no recharge time required.

As a 60% keyboard, this model lacks the numpad and Insert, Delete, and other associated keys. It has arrow keys though for those niche uses, and it has all the most important keys for day to day typing. You also get a backlight for seeing your keys in darker spaces, too. Every configuration, whether you choose the Windows or Mac option, enjoys media keys and dedicated switching keys, and you can connect this keyboard to your laptop for a better typing experience.

Size: Full | Switch type: Membrane | Connection: 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth | Battery life: 24 months

Pros:

• Affordable
• Multi-device support
• Quiet, membrane switches

Cons:

• Lacks the precision of mechanical keyboards

The Logitech K780 is a quiet, versatile keyboard for home and office use. It has extensive battery life and can connect to multiple devices at once, and it includes a handy device stand that runs the length of the keyboard that’s perfect for supporting a tablet or phone. The keycaps have a unique, round look, but underneath are classic membrane switches with supremely quiet actuation.

This is a full-size keyboard, so you get the full complement of keys, including a full-size number pad and function key row with media playback controls. There are Mac and Windows key commands printed on the relevant keys, and it works with Mac, Windows, Chrome OS, Android and iOS—making this a great quiet keyboard if you’re a cross-platform user. This keyboard connects with up to three devices via either Bluetooth or the pre-paired Logitech Unifying USB receiver (which creates a 2.4GHz wireless connection between the keyboard and a device). Switch among devices by tapping one of three dedicated buttons off-set in white at the top left of the keyboard.

Size: Full | Switch type: Gateron Red/Blue/Brown | Connection: USB-C

Pros:

• Wide range of customizable options
• Very quiet for a mechanical keyboard
• Versatile backlighting

Cons:

• Expensive
• Not as quiet as membrane keyboards

The Keychron Q6 is a super quiet, super customizable keyboard that comes with everything you need for gaming or typing quietly right out of the box. It features two different layers of sound dampening foam, so despite the fact that it uses full mechanical switches, they don’t make a loud noise when they bottom out on the board. It also has a dual gasket design, which further dampens the sound of each keypress, making this keyboard exceptionally quiet for a mechanical board. The Gateron Red and Brown options are the quietest switches, with the blues adding a clicky effect to the actuation which anyone chasing a silent keyboard is unlikely to enjoy.

If you don’t like the standard switch options, however, you can swap them out to any compatible 3pin and 5pin MX switch options, or you can buy the keyboard barebones and add your own switches and keycaps later, exactly to your tastes. In either case, each switch is RGB lit for nuanced backlighting, and the board is entirely reprogrammable. There’s also a programmable, versatile dial that you can set to any command you like. The detachable USB-C cable makes replacing it quick and easy, and the board is easier to transport without an attach cable.

Size: 100% | Connection: 2.4GHz wireless | Switch: Membrane | Battery life: 36 months

Pros:

• Very affordable price with bundled mouse
• Extensive battery life
• Full size keyboard with numpad

Cons:

• Membrane isn’t as accurate as mechanical

The Logitech MK295 is a brilliant budget quiet gaming keyboard combo, since it comes with both a wireless mouse and keyboard. They’re both great, but the keyboard in particular is impressive, with its near-silent membrane switches and extreme battery life. It uses a pair of AAA batteries for power, so there’s no recharging, but with three years of charge time, you’ll never have to worry about this keyboard not having power. It comes with a 2.4Ghz wireless dongle so you can quickly and easily connect it to your computer, for a lag-free typing experience.

This is a full size keyboard so if you use your PC for data entry, you’ll love the numpad inclusion. The full size keys give plenty of room for larger hands, too. The keyboard features eight media key and shortcuts, too. It’s also quite durable, with high quality plastic construction, and it has strong water resistance, so no need to worry about accidental spills.

Size: Full | Switch type: Membrane | Connection: USB

Pros:

• An affordable gaming keyboard
• Quiet membrane interface
• Attractive RGB lighting

Cons:

• Lighting is zone-based
• Lacks precision and responsiveness of mechanical switches

The Corsair K55 is one of the best affordable gaming keyboards you can buy, and though it doesn’t have the mechanical switches of its more expensive contemporaries, it’s super quiet and comes with just about every other feature you could ask for. It’s great for gaming, comfortable for typing, has fancy RGB lighting driven by the excellent Corsair Utility Engine software, heaps of media controls, a comfortable wrist rest and the ability to reprogram every single key on the board for customized gaming.

The RGB lighting has many options for different colors and lighting effects, but the lighting is only zone-based, so you can’t personalize it to a granular level. It also features an IP42 rating for some slight moisture and dust resistance—useful if you spill the odd drink on your keyboard when in the middle of a game.

Size: 60% | Switch type: Scissor | Connection: USB, Bluetooth | Battery life: 30 days

Pros:

• Works great with all Apple devices
• Super quiet and accurate typing experience
• Extensive battery life

Cons:

• Expensive for a non-mechanical keyboard

Apple’s iconic Magic Keyboard is an icon for a reason: It’s excellent. Built on the same scissor-switch design that has made MacBook keyboards from the past couple of generations so lauded, this keyboard is comfortable to type on, supremely accurate and impressively quiet, all in one package. It looks good, feels good and you won’t hear much out of it more than a muted tap with every keypress. It connects to your PC over a Bluetooth connection and has about a month of battery life for each charge, though you can also plug it in via USB-C cable as well.

It’s compatible with Mac desktop PCs, MacBooks, iPad and iPhone devices, though if your PC has a Bluetooth connection it will work just fine with Windows, too. It has media commands mapped to the function keys, giving you the features of a large board in this compact style, and it has simple backlighting to make it easy to use in the dark. There’s no per-key mapping or RGB though, so don’t expect a wide range of lighting options.

Size: Compact 65% | Switch type: Membrane | Connection: USB-C and dongle

Pros:

• Ergonomic design
• Comfortable to type on for hours

Cons:

• Battery-powered
• Some may not enjoy the keys’ resistance
• Wrist rest is not removable

The Logitech Wave is the latest offering from Logitech and features an ergonomic “wave” that’s designed to keep your wrists and hands resting in more natural position. The result is you get a more comfortable posture when typing, making it so you can type for hours while easing any wrist or hand pain. The quiet keys use membrane switches with some resistance to give a punchy feel to the keys.

A single battery lasts a couple years, and you can connect to your setup via Bluetooth or the included USB-C dongle. Currently, it’s available in two colors, graphite and off white.

What our editors say: Executive editor Dave Johnson says, “The Logitech Wave is a very good compact keyboard for the right kind of user. This keyboard’s gentle ergonomic curve accommodates the natural angle your hands and made me miss the days when I regularly used an ergo keyboard on my desk (these days, my choice is a beefy mechanical keyboard that has an authoritative clack under each fingertip, but at the expense of less comfort overall due to the rectangular shape).”