How to check and change your mouse DPI for gaming (2022)

DPI or dots per inch, aka CPI (counts per inch), is the stat that measures how sensitive your mouse is. The lower the CPI, the slower your mouse cursor, and the higher it is, the faster your mouse cursor will move for every inch your mouse is moved.

For example, if the mouse CPI is set to 1000, the mouse cursor will move 1000 pixels for every inch the mouse is moved.

If you have used a lot of computers, you might have noticed that on every computer, the mouse cursor moves slower or faster and is never the same. This is because everyone prefers a different mouse sensitivity and keeps their mouse at a different sensitivity.

Most mice have a standard CPI ranging from 800 to 1600, depending on the quality of the sensor. In contrast, gaming mice can have a CPI of over 20000 as the sensors are top quality because accuracy and precision are critical in gaming.

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How to check and change mouse DPI

The CPI of a mouse can be changed in many ways as various manufacturers have different ways of doing so. But you need to know what your current CPI is so that you can set it to something more suitable.

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Disable Mouse Acceleration

First, you need to disable mouse acceleration so that the cursor movement is consistent at every speed. Mouse acceleration is a feature that increases the rate at which your cursor moves in correlation to how fast you're moving the mouse.

So if you're moving the mouse slowly, the cursor speed will move at a slow pace, but if you move your mouse fast, the cursor will increase in speed.

With mouse acceleration enabled, if you move your mouse slowly for three inches, it will cover less distance on the screen, but if you move your mouse quickly for three inches, the distance covered on the screen will be higher. This adds inconsistency and makes it harder to build muscle memory for mouse movement.

It is recommended that mouse acceleration be turned off if you're gaming, as it will only hinder your performance.

To turn off mouse acceleration:

1. Search for "Mouse settings" in Windows search and press enter.
2. Go to "Additional Mouse Options" on the right, and under the "Pointer Options" tab, uncheck "Enhance Pointer Precision."
3. Click on Apply and OK to close the window.

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Check Mouse DPI

The DPI analyzer (Image by Sportskeeda)

To measure your Mouse's DPI, go to the mouse sensitivity website. Scroll down to see where all the options are, and put in "1" next to "Target Distance." This means you will be moving your mouse for 1-inch physically.

Click and hold the red target on the ruler at the bottom and move your mouse for 1-inch to the right without any vertical movement. Your DPI will be calculated and shown next to "Actual DPI."

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Change your DPI

Razer Synapse software (Image via Razer)

Once you have disabled mouse acceleration and measured the CPI, you can change your CPI and find out what's best for you.

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To change the mouse sensitivity through Windows settings, type "Mouse Settings" in Windows Search and press enter. On the right, click on "Additional Mouse Options." Under the "Pointer Options" tab, use the slider to increase or decrease the mouse sensitivity until you find what you prefer. Click on Apply and OK to close the window.

Various manufacturers offer sensitivity-changing options in their software itself. Suppose you have a gaming mouse, download and install the respective software from the official website and change the mouse CPI to your preferred settings. Also, check if your mouse has an extra 'DPI button' which changes the mouse sensitivity when clicked.

When playing games, the in-game sensitivity can be tweaked to change your sensitivity, which is easy to do through the respective game's control settings.