How to change the key repeat rate on a Mac

InputConfig is completely free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.

The key repeat rate is in System Settings, Keyboard: Key repeat rate sets how fast a held key repeats, and Delay until repeat sets how long you hold it before it starts. If holding a letter shows an accent menu instead of repeating, that is press and hold, and one Terminal line turns it off.

Steps

Open System Settings, Keyboard.
Drag Key repeat rate toward Fast.
Drag Delay until repeat toward Short.
Hold a key in a text field to test it.
If an accent menu appears instead, turn off press and hold in Terminal.

Set the two sliders

Key repeat rate. How fast a held key types again. Fast suits moving the cursor with the arrows.
Delay until repeat. How long a key is held before it starts to repeat. Short makes repeats start sooner, and Long helps if a key repeats when you did not mean it to.

If keys repeat by accident, lengthen the delay before you slow the rate.

Go faster than the slider

Terminal can set values past the slider's ends. Lower numbers are faster. Log out and back in for them to apply.

Terminal: A faster repeat and a shorter delay than the sliders allow.

defaults write -g KeyRepeat -int 1
defaults write -g InitialKeyRepeat -int 10

What happens: After you log back in, held keys repeat faster and sooner. Moving the sliders in System Settings sets them back to the slider's values.

That is caution, not something I measured: very fast values can make typing hard to control, so I would change one number at a time.

If a held key does not repeat

Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

Check for the accent menu. Holding a letter shows accented versions instead of repeating. That is press and hold.
Turn press and hold off. Use the Terminal line below, then quit and reopen the app.
Check Slow Keys. In System Settings, Accessibility, Keyboard, Slow Keys makes keys wait before they register.

Terminal: Repeat held letters instead of showing the accent menu.

defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

What happens: Held letters repeat in apps you open after this. Change false to true to get the accent menu back.

Repeat a key from a controller or a mouse button

The settings above only change the keyboard. InputConfig, free on the Mac App Store, can make a controller button, a mouse button or another key repeat a key like a real held key, or repeat it at a gap you choose with Repeats while held. The auto key presser page has the setup.

The short version

Faster. Key repeat rate toward Fast, Delay until repeat toward Short.
Faster still. KeyRepeat and InitialKeyRepeat in Terminal, then log out.
Accent menu instead of repeat. Turn ApplePressAndHoldEnabled off.

Change the delay first, because most accidental repeats come from a short delay.

Questions

How do I make keys repeat faster on a Mac?

In System Settings, Keyboard, drag Key repeat rate toward Fast and Delay until repeat toward Short. Terminal can go faster with defaults write -g KeyRepeat.

Why does holding a key on my Mac show accents instead of repeating?

That is press and hold. Turn it off in Terminal with defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false, then reopen the app.

Where is the key repeat setting on a Mac?

System Settings, Keyboard. The two sliders are Key repeat rate and Delay until repeat.

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Completely free. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon. Open source on GitHub.

Updated October 9, 2026