Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

Interaction to Next Paint (INP) measures the delay between a qualifying user interaction and the next frame the browser can paint. Unlike an initial page-load metric, INP reflects responsiveness while someone actually uses the page. Clicks, taps, and keyboard interactions count; ordinary scrolling and hovering do not. A page visit may have no INP measurement if no qualifying interaction occurs.

For an individual visit, INP is typically based on the slowest qualifying interaction, with limited outlier handling for pages with many interactions. Google's recommended field-data threshold is 200 milliseconds or less for a good experience; above 200 through 500 milliseconds needs improvement, and above 500 milliseconds is poor. Field reports commonly evaluate the 75th percentile of page views separately for mobile and desktop. These thresholds describe responsiveness, not conversions or server-side delivery.

A local business might investigate INP when an appointment calendar, multi-step estimate form, or expanding service panel takes too long to respond. Developers can examine input delay, JavaScript processing, and presentation delay rather than assuming that a fast initial page load means an interactive page is fast. Improvements often involve reducing long main-thread tasks and the amount of work performed after an interaction. INP cannot tell the owner whether a visitor's quote request was actually received; that requires separate functional testing and conversion tracking.