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4 things you should do to clean your laptop
- Tiny dust and debris in the ports can cause damage to your laptop, so it's important to clean them regularly to prevent costly repairs.
- Using compressed air to blow out dust in hard-to-reach areas of your laptop can improve its performance and longevity.
- Regularly cleaning your keyboard and removing skin oils can prevent damage to the appearance and functionality of your laptop over time.
Laptops are tools that often come along with you on the go, and interact with a number of different foreign objects that can make them dirty. It's important to keep them clean, because aside from looking sharp, a clean laptop is poised to better hold up over time. Things like dust, crumbs, hair, and even skin oils can not only make your laptop look dirty, but can also cause damage. If you find that your laptop doesn't look the cleanest, you might not know where to start. Using some types of cleaners and tools to freshen up your laptop can do more harm than good, which is why some of the best laptops today aren't cleaned as often as they should be.
We're going to review four key ways to clean your laptop, and why each of them can prevent your computer from aging poorly. Or, worse, suffer more serious damage.
Check the ports
Bits of dust and debris can end up damaging your laptop
Ports are usually forgotten when it's time to clean a laptop, but they shouldn't be. Tiny specks of dust and debris can get inside the ports of your laptop and cause problems. They'll usually go unnoticed until you try to plug a cable into a port with something lodged inside, and at that point, it may be too late. If something gets caught between the cable and your laptop's port, the pins on either your cable or your laptop could get broken. Depending on what kind of laptop you have, a broken port could be a costly and difficult repair.
With that being said, modern connectors hold up very well compared to the brittle ones we've seen in the past. You don't need to go crazy checking your ports every time you plug in a cable. However, cleaning them out every once in a while can be good practice. It's especially good to remember if you ever know that crumbs or dust may have gotten into a port.
It's important to keep in mind that sharp objects and metal should never go inside a port. Instead, look for a cheap cleaning tool like the one pictured above. It costs less than $10 and has a rubber tip for gently cleaning out foreign objects, and a brush end for moving dust and microscopic pieces of debris.
: Is Your Computer REALLY Safe? 🤔 (ThioJoe)
Blow out your laptop with compressed air
Start by cleaning the easy spots, but consider removing the bottom cover
Compressed air is your friend while cleaning laptops and computers, because it's a safe and easy way to clean those devices. The canned air can blow out pieces of dust and debris that are in hard spots to reach. More importantly, the air inside compressed air canisters doesn't contain the same moisture that might be found in environmental air. Technically, it doesn't include typical air at all, but that's beside the point. Compressed air can be used to clean keyboards, ports, hinges, and more.
You should start by cleaning those areas of your laptop first, spraying the air with the canister right-side up. Tilting it down or to the side too much can result in liquid coming out of the nozzle. Then, if you're comfortable, consider taking off the bottom cover of your laptop. It usually just requires taking off a few screws and releasing a few clips. This allows you to access your laptop's cooling system, and if it includes a fan, there's a good chance you'll find dust inside.
For reference, I took off the bottom case of my M2 MacBook Air, which does not include a fan. Still, you can see specs of dust that have made their way into the laptop. The M2 Mac Mini pictured above shows a larger fan assembly, and you'll notice space near the blower that can collect dust. Most laptops still use active cooling for thermals (i.e., a fan), and thus could use a compressed air blowout at regular intervals. This can improve thermal thresholds for your system and help keep it running at peak performance for years down the road.
Clean your keyboard and remove skin oils
Over time, your skin oils can ruin the color and finish of your keycaps
Most people clean their laptop's keyboard to remove dust, hairs, and maybe a few crumbs. That's a good idea, because small crumbs can get between the keyboard and your laptop's display, causing the latter to crack. However, you shouldn't stop there. Every time you type on your laptop's keyboard, skin oils from your fingertips are released onto your laptop's keys. Over time, this can be a detrimental factor to your laptop's appearance and health.
That's for two main reasons. First, the skin oils might transfer from your keys to your laptop's display when you close it. This will make the laptop's screen dirty, but can also permanently damage it. The skin oils can erode your screen's oleophobic coating, which is why you see laptop displays with the keyboard layout imprinted on it. This can't be fixed beyond a certain point, and users will be faced with three options: trying to remove the oleophobic coating altogether (a bad idea), living with the damage, or replacing the entire display assembly.
Though it isn't as major, the second reason is that the skin oils might erode the keycaps themselves. This is why you'll notice laptop keyboards with keys that appear really shiny or are losing the clarity of their lettering. Again, this kind of damage necessitates a keycap swap (if possible) or a full keyboard replacement. That's why you should clean your keycaps with a microfiber cloth and cleaning solution frequently. Remember, spray the solution lightly onto the microfiber cloth as opposed to directly onto the keyboard.
Wipe down the screen with care
You don't need fancy accessories to do it, but you should be careful
Of course, the most noticeable part of a dirty laptop will be the screen. Keeping it clean is fairly simple, as you just need a microfiber cloth and the appropriate cleaning solution. While you don't need to drop $20 on Apple's official polishing cloth — or an equivalent option from your laptop OEM — you shouldn't pick from the bottom of the barrel. Ultra-cheap microfiber cloths aren't made of the same quality as more expensive ones, since they stretch more and are less stiff. There are plenty of good ones out there, but you shouldn't be afraid to invest in a quality one.
As far as the cleaning solution goes, you should look to your laptop's manufacturer for the specifics. However, general advice calls for a solution of 70% isopropyl alcohol. In essence, you shouldn't be using the same household cleaner that you clean your countertops with for your laptop. Again, it's important to apply the solution to your microfiber cloth first, and then use the moistened cloth to clean your display.
Why you should clean your laptop regularly
Laptops, for most people, are tools that help us get things done for work or school. You don't need to obsess over making sure your laptop is clean at all times. You should probably clean the keycaps and display of your laptop every week or two, and can deep-clean the laptop every few months. Things like taking off the bottom cover and using compressed air only need to happen about once a year. However, cleaning it regularly — and remembering these four focus areas — can be crucial to preserving the life of your computer.
