How to Properly Clean a Keyboard

To clean your keyboard you are going to need a keyboard (mechanical or desktop style is preferable but a laptop-style keyboard will also work), paper towels, rubbing alcohol (or almost dry damp paper towels), a flat head screwdriver, a paintbrush, and a clean workspace.

Having a clear and open space to clean a keyboard is very important, especially when you start removing pieces. I choose not to but you can unplug or turn off your keyboard before cleaning it. Whether it is on or off will not affect the integrity of the keyboard but it will lead to some amusing happenings on your computer through some of these steps.

Before we get into the nit and gritty of cleaning your keyboard, cleaning it of any obvious spills or debris on the surface is important.

Not everyone had a mechanical keyboard as shown above but most desktop keyboards can have their keys removed to be cleaned. Obviously, you don't want to do this with a laptop or laptop-style keyboard so if that applies to you, do not remove your keys, I will get back to you later.

This should go without saying but this is not an Xbox controller that you are cleaning, it is very easy to mix up or lose keys from a keyboard while cleaning it so keep them in an organized manner that will be easy for you to put back later. Also be mindful of any additional parts on your keys, for instance, longer keys may have metal spring bars on the bottom as shown.

Now that your keys are removed, you can now clean out the debris and whatnot that has collected over the keyboard's use. Use a combination of the paintbrush and a paper towel with some rubbing alcohol (or the almost dry damp paper towel) to wipe the area clean. If you have access to canned air or an air compressor, this would be a great use for that as well.

No matter how careful you are, your keys will not be very clean and now that they are out, they are going to show how not clean they are. Use rubbing alcohol and a paper towel (or a small amount of water) to clean them. Do not forget about the sides of the keys, they will probably be the dirtiest.

Now that the keys and the space beneath them are clean, you can now replace them. I choose not to unplug my keyboard while I cleaned it but this step would be the reason why you might want to. It will take a little bit of force to replace your keys, that is totally normal. If your keys have any special pieces, do those keys first and put the special parts in before you put the key in. Having your phone handy so you can see where the keys go can also be very helpful.

For those with laptop or laptop keys, removing your keys is not really an option so cleaning around them with a paintbrush damp with rubbing alcohol is the best you can do. Obviously, I have a lot of room between my keys but a smaller brush or even a toothpick might be more applicable given your keyboard. Take your time going between the rows of keys and between the columns. I usually work from top right to bottom left and collect the debris collected there at the end.

Take a damp paper towel and run it down the length of the cord, if it is really dirty you can run it a couple of times. If you have a laptop, give the overall laptop a good wipe down with rubbing alcohol. DO NOT USE RUBBING ALCOHOL ON THE SCREEN. It will streak like no one's business and take more Windex than one bottle holds to work those out.

Now that you have cleaned your keyboard, you can now plug it back in or turn it back on if you turned it off and use it to your hearts content.