Did you know that yesterday was National Clean Up Your Computer Day? The second Monday in February was designated with this title by the Institute for Business Technology, with the goal of reminding people to clean up their computers inside and out each and every year. The Rocket Yard is celebrating National Clean Up Your Computer day with a pair of articles. Yesterday we showed you how you can clean your computer digitally. Today, we’ll give you some pointers on cleaning the outside and why it’s good for your computer.
We know… National Clean Up Your Computer Day was yesterday. Meaning you should be off the hook from any arduous physical or digital computer scrubbing for the next 364 days. Fortunately, cleaning your computer externally is a much simpler process than the digital tidying up that you hopefully gave your computer yesterday.
Cluttered Desk, Cluttered Mac
First things first. Before you decide to give your computer a much-needed scrub down, you’ll want to make sure that the area surrounding your computer is clean. Not only can the dust and debris from around your desk clog ports, they can also block fan vents and even cause internal components to overheat in some extreme cases. And as we all know, overheating is never a good thing for a computer. Help keep it cool by keeping it clean.
Clean the Inside…
Disassembling and cleaning the interior of your computer doesn’t have to be as scary as it might seem, provided you have the right tools, such as a can of compressed air, a gentle cloth or brush.
Related: Give your Mac a digital scrub down to keep it running great
Before you begin, you’ll want to make sure that you have completely shut your computer down and disconnected all cables and removed any peripherals you might be using. You’ll also want to make sure you’re in a well-ventilated, static-free environment and discharge any static electricity before continuing. For more on discharging static electricity, check out this Rocket Yard article.
Once your computer is disassembled (using the proper instruction and the right toolkit), and any easily removable components such as memory have been removed, use a can of compressed air to gently remove loose dust, dirt and debris. For those hard to reach places, carefully use a gentle brush or microfiber cloth, being careful not to disrupt your computer’s components.
… And the Outside
Cleaning the outside of your is even easier, of course. Simply give the exterior casing a wipe down with a disinfectant wipe to remove dirt and kill germs. Next, use a microfiber cloth to clean your monitor. For best results when cleaning your monitor, spray your cleaning solution directly onto the cloth and wipe in small circular motions. Avoid using paper towels, tissues, or any other abrasive material that might scratch your screen.
You can then use your can of compressed air or cotton swab to remove dust and debris from your keyboard and mouse, and then follow with the use of disinfectant wipes. It’s especially important to disinfect these, as they’re the parts you likely touch the most often. And if you want to keep your keyboard from becoming filthy in the first place, NewerTech offers covers for many keyboard models.
There you have it! Cleaning your computer doesn’t have to be overly complicated. And doing so will help ensure that your machine is safe to use and looking its best.
Have computer cleaning tips of your own? Let us know in the comments section. And to learn how to give your computer a much-needed digital cleaning, check out this Rocket Yard article: eshop.macsales.com/blog/35030-national-clean-up-your-computer-day-digital-cleaning
