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How to clean a laptop screen – spring clean your portable machine

Is your portable gaming PC panel plagued by dust and dirt? Here's how to clean a laptop screen properly and keep your on-the-go experience crystal clear

How to clean laptop screen: ASUS ROG laptop with sparkle emoji on top left corner

Learning how to clean a laptop screen is essential, especially if you want to keep your portable powerhouse in tip-top condition. Even careful enthusiasts can end up with a mucky display, as even momentary touches leave stubborn smudges and marks.

 

It’s worth double-checking how to clean a laptop screen, as it’s easier than you think to permanently damage your panel. Using a damp cloth to tackle smudges is tempting, but it more often than not makes things worse. You’ll also want to avoid using any old liquid cleaner, as this could ruin your panel’s coating and leave irreversible blemishes.

Of course, you could just leave your display the way it is, but if you’re rocking the best gaming laptop with a high-resolution panel, you’ll want it to look its best. So, to help keep your on-the-go experience crystal clear, here’s how to clean a laptop screen and prevent gunk from obscuring your view.

How to clean laptop screen: Hand holding cloth In front of laptop screen

How to clean laptop screen dust

Like it or not, dust is one of life’s certainties, and it loves building up on laptop displays. It might be easy to remove, but haphazardly brushing it away causes more problems than it solves. While things like tissues and paper towels feel soft to the touch, they can wield abrasive properties that will harm your display. So, to avoid accidental scratches, you should stick with a microfiber cloth when wiping your panel.

Here’s how to clean laptop screen dust:

  • Shut down your laptop.
  • Use a microfiber cloth to gently rub the screen in a single direction.
  • Repeat until there’s no dust left on the screen.

Sadly, even the best gaming laptop options aren’t dustproof, so investing in a high-spec machine isn’t going to help. Ultimately, ensuring the area around you is dust-free will help keep it away from your display, but it will eventually creep its way back into your line of sight.

How to clean laptop screen: Person with blue gloves cleaning laptop on surface

How to clean laptop screen marks

Dust is one thing, but mysterious marks can also be a pain in the portable backside. While they are usually prints caused by enthusiastic, oily fingers, a variety of things can cause blemishes during use. Rather than think about all the gross things they could be, it’s best to simply use a cleaning solution and send them packing.

Laptop screen cleaners are available to buy, but it’s relatively easy to mix up your own solution at home. By adding 50% isopropyl alcohol to 50% distilled water, you can conjure up a potion that will remove most mucky marks. However, do not use any household products or chemicals on your display, as they’ll ruin its coating and leave permanent marks.

Here’s how to clean laptop screen marks:

  • Turn off your laptop and disconnect the charger.
  • Add a small amount of cleaning solution to a microfiber cloth.
  • Gently rub each mark using circular motions.
  • Use a dry microfiber cloth to wipe residual moisture.

With any luck, the laptop screen mark should now be gone. You might need to repeat the process a few times, but don’t apply extra pressure if it’s not budging, as this could damage your liquid crystal display.

Naturally, the above will help you also help remove dust and marks from desktop displays. Therefore, if your setup includes one of the best gaming monitor options on the market, applying the same steps will help keep it in tip-top condition.