Geek Trivia: The Speed Of A Computer Mouse Is Measured In What Unit?

Answer: Mickeys

In a light-hearted nod to the ubiquity of Disney’s Mickey Mouse character, a “Mickey” has been a long-standing measurement of mouse movement in the computer industry. The term was introduced through Microsoft documentation for their universal mouse drivers back in the 1980s.

Traditionally, a Mickey is 1/200th of an inch; the term is often used in a modified form to refer to more specific measurements such as “pixels per Mickey” (to indicate how far the cursor moves on the screen relative to the movement of the physical mouse), as well as “horizontal Mickey count” and “vertical Mickey count” to refer to horizontal and vertical movements.