How To Clean Your Office Keyboard

As anyone who works an office job will know, sometimes everything is just too busy to take lunch outside. Yes, it’s bad for you, but eating at the desk is the easiest route when you’re under the pump and in demand. Yes, ok, I’m making excuses because it’s what I prefer to do! 

But besides all the other problems that this entails, when we get down to the nitty gritty of years eating at our desk the nitty can get very gritty indeed. Specifically, the dirt, grime and crumbs lodged in your keyboard. 

How many crumbs do you think have fallen down the sides of the keys over the years as you munch your lunch? Possibly enough to make a sandwich! I poked around in mine recently and was horrified at the dust, dirt and grime hidden away underneath – I shudder to admit that when I turned it upside and banged it some debris fell out. 

For a quick clean at the office:

1. Unplug your keyboard.
2. Turn it over and shake out any dust and crumbs.
3.  Take a post-it note, fold it in half and slide the sticky side between and under the keys –it will pick up a lot of the dirt and grime without needing to remove the keys.
4. Wipe it down with alcohol wipes. If you have a cotton swab, use this to wipe down in between the keys. 

For a more thorough clean, most desktop keyboards allow you to pop off the keys to access the board beneath. Make sure to check your model to see if this removal is supported and that you won’t cause any damage.

1. Take a photo of your keyboard so you remember the key layout later.
2. Pop the keys off gently by levering a butter knife in the corner – this should not take much force. Be careful of the wire bar in the Shift and Space bar – this will need to click back in.
3. Blow out the board gently with compressed air or gentle dry wipe.
4. Wipe down and dry the keys and replace.
5. Give the keyboard one more wipe with a dry, lint free cloth. 

If your keyboard is broken, if you would like a more thorough clean or simply need your computer serviced, check out our local computer services listings. 

And maybe next time take that donut out for a munch in the sunshine ;)