Note: This post, originally from October 2018, answers a question that a lot of people have been searching for, on iFixit and on the web. We’re republishing it now, with some timely updates, in the hopes it might help folks looking for help while working from home.
Your laptop is probably dirty. My laptop is probably dirty. At this point in the 21st century, it’s just about inevitable that we all have a speck of dust or two [or three] living where our fingers hang out every day. The good news is keyboards are one of the most modular pieces of modern laptops [with some exceptions, obviously], and are therefore not too difficult to deep-clean should the need arise.
The first question you should ask yourself is how thorough you would like to be. This process can be quick if all you need is a wipe down, or it can be incredibly lengthy if you have a tendency to eat nachos while you type or like to nitpick when you clean. We’ll go all the way to the nitpicky steps in this guide, but feel free to stop wherever you feel satisfied.
What You Will Need
- Opening Picks or something else to pry keyboard keys off your laptop
- Q-tips
You may think you can get away with keeping your laptop on while you do this, and you may be right—but believe us, this process is much easier with your laptop shut off.
Step 2: Loose Debris
This is hands-down the easiest step of keyboard cleaning. If you are a busy person, or just don’t have much patience for cleaning, this is still something you should do every now and then to keep larger pieces of gunk from seeping into places you don’t want them.
Take your open laptop and hold it upside-down, so the keyboard is facing the ground. If you have a friend nearby, ask them to hold it for you—it’s easier to see what you’re doing when you don’t have to hold and clean. Run compressed air or a microfiber cloth back and forth across the upside-down keyboard to dislodge any loose debris that may be hanging out around or under your keys. If you notice something is still stuck under a certain key, try tilting the laptop to different angles to get it out. Most laptop keys have tiny edges on them that can trap debris, making it hard for larger pieces to escape out the cracks you see between the keys and the chassis of your laptop. If there’s something under there that you can’t quite get out with compressed air, it’s time for brute force tactics—skip to “Icky Stic-keys” below. Otherwise, it’s time for a wipe down!
Step 3: Grease & Grime
In our experience, this is the most common type of laptop filth. It’s easy to forget about how grimy your keyboard is until someone else points it out, or one of the keys gets stuckkkkkkkkkk. The solution is simple: a little isopropyl alcohol! Wet a microfiber cloth or a cotton swab with the alcohol, and start wiping. You may have to go over trouble spots a few times, but you should be able to get rid of most residue [and bacteria!] this way. After this step, your keyboard should look good-as-new!
Note: Isopropyl alcohol over 90% is generally free of impurities, so you don’t need to worry too much about getting it where it shouldn’t be, but it’s still a good idea to be careful! Whatever you use to wipe the keyboard should be damp, not dripping wet.
Step 4: Icky Stic-keys
Update, May 2020: Since first publishing this post, we’ve learned a lot more about MacBooks sold between 2015 and 2019 with “butterfly” keyboards. These problematic keyboards can malfunction in ways that make them seem “stuck” or to have grit underneath, but without any real means of fixing them. We recommend checking Apple’s list for its Keyboard Service Program to see if your MacBook qualifies for a free keyboard repair—once Apple’s stores and repair centers are open again. Prying off butterfly-style keycaps should be approached as a last resort.
If you’ve got a sticky key or large debris stuck under one of your keys, find something thin that you can pry with [we use our Opening Picks, but other soft plastic or wood implements can work—just avoid metal]. Techniques for prying vary from keyboard to keyboard, but even thin keys can come off in one piece if you are careful. The exception here is spacebar keys, which can be extremely difficult to pry off without breaking. Proceed with caution! Once you have the sticky key removed, use a Q-tip with some alcohol on it to carefully wipe away sticky residue where the key was, as well as any residue on the key itself.
Underneath the key you’ll find the actuation hinge, [also known as a key retainer, or “that white plastic thing”]. This hinge can also be a source of stickiness. If yours looks goopy, wipe it down with alcohol or soak it for a minute in some hot, soapy water—just make sure it’s dry before you put it back on the keyboard! If you do take out the hinge [or if it comes out with the key] make sure you take note of the way it is oriented in there—they can be a pain to put back if you don’t know how they are supposed to go in.
If you do happen to lose [or break] a key or a hinge during this process, don’t stress! It’s easy and fairly cheap to replace an individual key, or the whole assembly.
Step 5: Nitpick
When you popped your sticky key off, you may have noticed that it was like, really gross under there. Pet hair and small crumbs have a tendency to find their way under keys and go unnoticed for years. You may not care about this [remember, we did use compressed air earlier! No more dust!]. Or, if you’re of the nit-picky population, it may slowly begin to eat away at you until you decide that something must be done. If you are ready to go all the way, set aside a couple hours and start prying those keys off, one by one. Make sure you keep your hinges and keys organized, and remember that compressed air and Q-tips are your friends!
We hope these tips help you feel empowered to exterminate the free-loading dust bunnies living in your laptop keyboard. If you got hung up somewhere along the way, you can try looking for a laptop-specific keyboard disassembly video online, or check out our iFixit guides that come with step-by-step photos and more precise instructions!
What fixes have you found for sticky, stuck, or crunchy laptop keys? Let us know in the comments, or tell us on our social channels: Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Got questions for Ask iFixit? Ask away! Leave them in the comments, or send them on social media with the hashtag #AskiFixit.
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Ife Ogunfuwa
Just as you are typing the last words of your quarterly report, one of your keyboard keys starts sticking. Luckily, you have a few simple options available to clean out your keyboard. Sticky keys can happen because of dirt and debris in the keyboard, but they can also be a result of spilled drinks or other stickiness. These solutions from www.wikihow.com address both of these problems.
Method 1:
Shaking out the keyboard
- Unplug the keyboard. If you have a laptop, turn it off.
- Turn the keyboard upside down. You can also hold it at an angle, as long as part of the keyboard is pointing towards the floor.
- Gently shake the keyboard. Let the crumbs shake out to the floor or table.
- Brush away any extra crumbs. If there’s trash on the keyboard, brush it away.
- Check the keys again. See if they are working.
Method 2:
Blowing out the keyboard
- Buy a can of compressed air. You can find it at almost any place where electronics are sold.
- Turn the computer off. If you have a desktop, unplug the keyboard from the computer.
- Use the air to gently blow around and under the keys. Don’t tilt the can, as it can pour out liquid.
- Brush away any debris. If dirt or food is blown out, brush it away from the keyboard.
- Try the keys again. See if the keys are unstuck.
Method 3:
Cleaning sticky keys
- Wipe up any spills as they happen. If you spill a drink on your keyboard, unplug it and wipe it down.
- Clean the keys with alcohol if the drink dries. Make sure the keyboard is unplugged first, or your laptop is powered down. If the spill is mostly on top of the keys, use a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol to clean the keys.
- Rub the tops of the keys. Make sure they are free from stickiness.
- Use the cotton swab to go around the edges. Going around the edges should help with sticky keys, as it releases the bottom part of the key from the keyboard.
- Check to see if your keys are unstuck. Once the alcohol is dry, check your keys to see if they are better.
Method 4:
Removing keys to clean the keypad
- Gently pry up the jammed key. Use a screwdriver or other flat instrument to get under the key, and pull up slightly on one of the edges. You can also use your nail.
- If you are working on a laptop [whether PC or Mac], the key is held in place by a flimsy plastic clip, which also serves as the spring. The keys are attached in slightly different ways on each type of keyboard; so removing them will be different on each type. If you’re unsure if or how your laptop keys come off, consult your manual.
- Das keyboards [called by their company the best mechanical keyboards on the market] should not be fixed by prying at the keys. They provide a special clip that will pop individual keys off of the keyboard.
- Don’t remove all the keys at once, as you may have trouble remembering where they all go. Don’t do more than a couple at one time.
- Carefully wipe the inside of the button and the slot from which it was removed. Clear out any obstructions or crumbs that are jamming the key or the hinges underneath. You can use tweezers or toothpicks to help.
- Use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean off any sticky areas. Be sure not to have so much alcohol on the swab that it drips.
Let the key and keyboard fully dry. You don’t want to leave any liquid underneath the keys, even rubbing alcohol.
- Insert the keys back into their original places. Gently press the key down. It should snap back into place.
- If using a laptop, insert the clip into the position it originally held before you place the key back into its spot.
- Check your keys. They should be unstuck now. If not, you may need to take it to someone who repairs computers.
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Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
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