Should Your Physical Keyboard Be Flat Or Tilted?

Comfort is everything. Whether you're gaming or busting out some focused work, you've gotta be comfortable, right? Believe it or not, it all starts with your keyboard. No, the question isn't whether you should switch to an ergonomic keyboard, since most of these end up being overrated. Nor is it about going for a smaller form factor. The real question is whether to tilt it or not.

It depends. Common wisdom suggests that the keyboard should be flat on your desk. There's a lot of truth to this, but the way you position your keyboard has everything to do with the position of your forearms. When you're at work and sitting upright, your forearms angle down, meaning that typing on a flat keyboard is more natural. Try it for yourself: extend the feet of your keyboard, sit at your desk, and try typing. You'll notice that you'll start bending your wrists to overcome the tilt.

So, if that's true, why do gamers tilt their keyboards? Are all gamers straining their wrists? No. The flat keyboard rule only matters for situations when you're sitting upright. Most gamers don't have perfect posture when gaming and choose to recline their chairs slightly. In this position, a positively tilted keyboard (the upper portion angled with the tiny feet extended) is perfect because your torso is leaned back, and so are your shoulders. When this happens, the wrists naturally angle upward. Hence, the tilt makes sense. As a rule, if you're kicking back with a video game, tilting your keyboard is more natural. If you're sitting at a desk upright, knock down that keyboard flat on the desk.

Overrated as they may be, the best ergonomic keyboards like the Logitech Ergo K860 can also do negative tilt – the position where the spacebar portion is tilted upwards. Should you try this? Again, it depends on your body position relative to the desk. One could argue negative tilt is the most natural wrist position. Yet, that will help you only if you're sitting upright at your desk. Your hands will naturally drop down and follow the angle of your wrists, which can be more comfortable for longer typing sessions.

However, for gaming or any other sitting position, the negative tilt will likely do more harm than good. You see, when you're reclined in a chair, your hands will sit a bit higher than the keyboard, so you'll basically have to strain your wrists upwards to overcome the angle of the keyboard. The same thing applies to office settings where your desk is a bit high. Negative tilt is worth trying, but it's a more niche position, if you can call it that. The classic tilt and the flat keyboard position will suit you in all situations, work and otherwise.