How to check your pulse without a watch: a step-by-step guide

Short answer

You can check your pulse with two fingers and a clock. Sit quietly for five minutes, place the pads of your index and middle fingers on the inside of your wrist below the base of your thumb, press lightly, and count the beats for 30 seconds, then double it — or count for a full 60 seconds if the beat feels irregular (1, 2).

A normal resting pulse for adults is 60 to 100 beats per minute. Lower can be normal if you are very fit, asleep or on beta-blockers; higher is normal during exercise or when you're ill or dehydrated (1).

Rhythm matters as much as the number. A pulse that feels irregular — jumping, pausing or racing — even at rest can be a sign of atrial fibrillation. Checking your pulse by hand is a surprisingly good first screen: in a systematic review it picked up 94% of people with atrial fibrillation, though it also flagged many who didn't have it, so an ECG is needed to confirm (3).

If you've felt your heart pounding or skipping and wondered whether you're overreacting, you're not. Noticing it and checking is a sensible step.

Note: this article is for general education and is not medical advice. Chest pain, fainting, severe shortness of breath, or a very fast or very slow pulse with dizziness are emergencies: call 911 or your local emergency number. Check with a doctor before pressing on the neck (carotid) pulse if you have known narrowing of the neck arteries. This guide is published by Welltory, which makes one of the apps mentioned. Welltory is a general wellness product: it helps you track and understand your data and does not diagnose or treat any condition.

What is your pulse?

Your pulse is the wave of pressure that travels through your arteries each time your heart beats. Where an artery runs close to the skin over a bone, you can feel that wave with your fingertips. Counting it tells you your heart rate (beats per minute); feeling its pattern tells you your rhythm (regular or irregular).

The two easiest places to feel it are the wrist (radial artery) and the neck (carotid artery) (2). You can also feel a pulse in the groin, behind the knee, on top of the foot and inside the elbow, but these are harder to find on yourself.

How to check your pulse on your wrist

1. Rest first. Sit or lie down for five minutes. Avoid caffeine and smoking beforehand (1).

2. Turn one hand palm up, elbow slightly bent and arm supported.

3. Find the spot. Place the pads of your index and middle fingers of the other hand at the base of your thumb, then slide them slightly inward into the groove next to the tendon (2).

4. Press lightly. If you feel nothing, press a little harder or move your fingers slightly.

5. Don't use your thumb — it has its own pulse and can confuse the count (1).

6. Count. Using a clock or your phone's stopwatch, count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply by two. If the rhythm feels uneven, count for a full 60 seconds (1).

7. Write it down with the time and what you were doing.

How to check your pulse on your neck

1. Sit or lie down so you don't get lightheaded.

2. Place your index and middle fingers on one side of your neck, in the groove just below the jaw and beside your windpipe (1).

3. Press gently. Only press on one side at a time, and don't massage the area.

4. Count for 30 seconds and double, or 60 seconds if irregular.

Be careful with the neck pulse. Pressing on the carotid artery isn't safe for everyone, for example if you have narrowing from plaque; check with a doctor first if you have known vascular disease (2). For most people, the wrist is the simpler choice.

What is a normal pulse?

Based on 1 and 2.

Our guides to normal resting heart rate, high resting heart rate causes and a low resting heart rate: athlete or concern? go into the ranges in more detail.

How to measure your resting heart rate properly

Your resting heart rate is most useful as a trend, so consistency matters more than precision on any single day.

• Measure first thing in the morning, after waking and before getting up, coffee or your phone.

• Same position each time — lying or sitting.

• Count for a full 60 seconds for best accuracy at rest.

• Repeat for several days and use the average.

• Note what might affect it: a late meal, alcohol, poor sleep, a cold, stress, a hard workout the day before.

A resting heart rate that creeps up by several beats over a week, without an obvious reason, can be an early sign that you're run-down, getting ill or overtraining.

How to tell if your pulse is irregular

A normal pulse feels like a steady, even beat, though it naturally speeds up a little when you breathe in and slows when you breathe out — especially in young people.

Usually harmless: an occasional skipped or extra beat, felt as a pause followed by a stronger beat (1).

Worth checking with a doctor: a pulse that is irregular most of the time — beats at uneven intervals with no pattern, sometimes called "irregularly irregular" — or that jumps, pauses or races even when you are calm (2). This can be a sign of atrial fibrillation, which becomes more common from age 65 (1).

How good is a pulse check at spotting atrial fibrillation? In a systematic review, checking the pulse by hand detected atrial fibrillation with a sensitivity of 94% but a specificity of 72% — it rarely misses it, but often raises false alarms. That makes it a reasonable first screen, especially in older adults, as long as an irregular result is confirmed with an ECG (3).

If you notice palpitations along with an irregular pulse, our guide to heart palpitations and supplements and our article on atrial fibrillation treatment cover what comes next.

Can you check your heart rate with your phone?

Yes, in two ways — both without a watch:

• Phone camera. Some apps measure your pulse when you cover the camera and flash with a fingertip: the light picks up tiny colour changes with each heartbeat. This is a short, deliberate reading, not continuous tracking. We explain how accurate it is in how accurate is HRV from a phone camera.

• Your fingers and the stopwatch. The manual method above is free, needs no app and lets you feel the rhythm, which a number alone doesn't show.

A camera reading and a manual count taken at the same time should be within a few beats of each other. If they're very different, re-check sitting still with good lighting.

A simple fitness check: heart rate recovery

Your pulse can tell you about fitness, not just rest. Heart rate recovery is how quickly your heart rate falls after you stop exercising. A fitter, well-regulated heart slows down faster.

In a classic study of 2,428 adults who had exercise tests, a drop of 12 beats per minute or less in the first minute after stopping was defined as abnormal. Over six years, 19% of people with abnormal recovery died, compared with 5% of those with normal recovery (4). That was a clinical treadmill test in people referred for heart testing, so it isn't a home diagnostic — but it explains why recovery is a useful number to watch over time.

How to try it at home, if you're already used to exercise:

1. Do a few minutes of brisk activity you're comfortable with — fast walking up a hill, cycling or stair climbing.

2. Stop, and immediately take your pulse for 15 seconds and multiply by four (counting quickly is fine here, because your heart rate is falling).

3. Rest for exactly one minute, then take it again the same way.

4. Subtract the second number from the first.

Track the result every few weeks under similar conditions. A bigger drop over time usually means your fitness is improving. Don't do this if you have chest pain, have been told to avoid exertion, or have a known heart condition, unless your doctor agrees.

What else can you check without a wearable?

Your pulse is one of several simple measurements you can take at home with no gadget:

• Breathing rate. Count how many times your chest rises in 30 seconds while sitting quietly, and double it. Ask someone else to count if you can, because people tend to breathe differently when they know they're being watched.

• How you feel each morning. A 1–10 score for energy and mood, written down daily, often reveals patterns faster than any device.

• Sleep timing. The time you went to bed and got up, noted for a couple of weeks, shows how consistent your schedule really is.

• Blood pressure, with a validated home cuff — see our guide to choosing a home blood pressure monitor.

• HRV, with a phone camera — see how to measure HRV without a wearable.

Together they give you a surprisingly complete picture of how your body is coping, without buying anything.

How to check someone else's pulse

Checking a partner's or parent's pulse works the same way, and it's often easier because you can see the wrist clearly.

1. Ask them to sit down and rest for a few minutes, arm supported and palm up.

2. Place your index and middle fingers on the thumb side of their inner wrist and press gently until you feel the beat.

3. Count for 30 seconds and double, or for 60 seconds if it feels uneven.

4. Note whether the rhythm is steady.

This is a useful habit if you live with an older relative: an irregular pulse found during a routine check is a good reason to book a doctor's appointment. In an emergency — if someone has collapsed and isn't breathing normally — don't spend time searching for a pulse. Call 911 or your local emergency number and start CPR if you are able to.

Common mistakes when taking your pulse

• Checking right after moving. Walking upstairs or rushing to find a clock raises your heart rate for minutes. Rest five minutes first.

• Using your thumb, which has its own pulse.

• Pressing too hard, which can block the pulse at the wrist.

• Counting for only 10–15 seconds. Short counts multiply small errors; 30 or 60 seconds is better.

• Comparing different conditions — after coffee one day, before it the next.

• Ignoring rhythm. The number can be normal while the rhythm isn't.

Living with a racing or skipping heart: the questions people ask next

Why can I feel my pulse in my ear or chest at night?

Lying on one side, especially the left, can make the heartbeat more noticeable. It's often harmless, particularly after caffeine, alcohol, stress or a big meal. If it comes with an irregular rhythm, breathlessness or dizziness, see a doctor.

Is a pulse of 100 at rest bad?

A resting pulse persistently above 100 beats per minute (tachycardia) is worth checking with a doctor, especially if you're not ill, dehydrated or anxious at the time. Common causes include fever, anaemia, thyroid problems, caffeine and some medicines.

Is a pulse of 50 too low?

Not necessarily. Many fit people and people asleep have pulses in the 50s or lower. It's a concern if you feel dizzy, faint, short of breath or unusually tired.

Should I take my pulse every day?

You don't have to. A few mornings a week is enough to know your baseline. Check more often if your doctor asks you to, or if you're tracking recovery from illness or training.

Before you blame yourself

Many people feel silly checking their own pulse or worry they'll "find something". Knowing your normal is not hypochondria — it's useful information. And if something does feel off, you've caught it early.

When to see a doctor

See a doctor if your pulse is often irregular, if your resting pulse is consistently above 100 or below 60 with symptoms such as dizziness, fainting or unusual tiredness, or if you have palpitations that keep coming back (1, 2).

Call 911 or your local emergency number if you have chest pain, fainting, severe shortness of breath, or a very fast or very slow pulse with confusion or near-fainting.

How to bring this up with your doctor

What to ask for, by name. "Could you check my heart rhythm with an ECG?" If symptoms come and go: "Would a heart monitor I wear for a few days help catch it?"

What to bring. A log of your pulse readings with dates, times, what you were doing, and how the rhythm felt; a list of medicines, supplements, caffeine and alcohol.

What to say, out loud. "When I check my pulse at rest, it's around [number], and sometimes it feels [irregular/skipping/racing], especially when [situation]."

If you're told it's anxiety. Ask: "Can we do an ECG or a heart monitor to rule out a rhythm problem first?"

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How Welltory helps — and what it cannot do

The limits first. Welltory is a general wellness product, not a medical device. It does not diagnose arrhythmias or replace an ECG.

What it can do is give you a regular, consistent reading without a watch, and help you see how your heart rate and stress respond to your days.

HRV and heart rate with your phone camera. You can take a spot measurement with your phone camera and flash — a short, deliberate reading, not 24/7 tracking (camera measurements). Measure at the same time each morning, before coffee and before your phone (accurate HRV measurements). We describe the full approach in how to measure HRV without a wearable.

Tag what you change. When Welltory detects a stress or recovery episode and asks "What happened?", you can tap a suggested tag, type, or answer by voice: "two coffees", "bad night", "palpitations", "hard workout" (My Patterns).

A record for your doctor. From the web app you can export your data as CSV: Dashboard → choose a chart → pick the time range → Export (export guide).

We discuss when a wearable is actually worth it in do you really need a new wearable?

How we made it

We based this article on the British Heart Foundation's guide to checking your pulse, Cleveland Clinic's instructions for taking your pulse, and a systematic review of pulse palpation for detecting atrial fibrillation. Search questions came from what people in the United States most often ask about checking their pulse. For the product section, we checked every function against the Welltory Help Center on October 23, 2026.

Made with AI tools, then edited and fact-checked by the Welltory team. See our Editorial & AI policy.

Jane Smorodnikova, co-founder of Welltory, built the methodology behind how we read physiological data.

Written by Tatsiana Yashyna.

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