How to clean a computer mouse
Level of difficulty: Easy
Computer mouse is the most useful, versatile & practical part of a computer system whether it’s a laptop or a desktop. A mouse can use either of the technologies i.e., it can be a ball mouse which identifies the movement on the “x” & the “y” axis and the other one is the infrared technology or there can be any other optical design too. The performance of computer mouse can decrease if the dirt or any other material is accumulated inside it which is either due to the usage or it can be due to the improper cleaning (maintenance).
Materials Needed:- Manual by a manufacturer
- Dry Clean cotton cloth
- any computer cleaning solution
- Cotton swabs
- paperclip
- Small knife
- screwdriver
- alcohol.
Step 1
One needs to shut down the system. Make sure that it is disconnected from power supply. Locate the computer mouse port and disconnect the mouse. A mouse is usually connected to the back of the system or it may be attached to a USB port.
Step 2
Locate the manual for the computer mouse. Read the user’s manual or the manufacturer manual for the mouse. Follow the guidelines for cleaning the mouse. One can skip this step if user manual is not there.
Step 3
Computer mouse is generally cleaned by applying the cleaning solution on the dry cloth and using the same cloth on the mouse. Make sure that excessive solution is not used as it would make the mouse surface either slippery or oily while cleaning.
Step 4
Take the cloth in hand and run through the computer mouse wire so that the dirt and dust can be cleaned from the wire. One can skip step 5 & step 6 if one uses any other technology other than the ball mouse technology.
Step 5
In this step one needs to clean the ball of mouse. First locate the mouse cover underside computer’s mouse and take out the ball cover by pulling in the direction of arrow. Use a clean dry cloth to clean the ball and keep aside the cover and the ball.
Step 6
In order to clean the ball and the cover, clean the rollers by removing the grime and dust using cotton swabs & alcohol or by chipping the dirt with paperclip, screwdriver or small knife. After this the ball & the cover can be replaced.
Step 7
Now one can attach mouse to its port. Turn on the computer and check if the computer mouse is functional.