How to clean a laptop screen: The best ways to freshen up your monitor

Dust and grime seem to be drawn to laptop screens like bees to honey. It goes without saying, then, that it’s a good idea to clean your laptop screen from time to time as a part of proper device care. Doing so will help to restore your display to its former glory and make it infinitely more pleasant to look at, so there really is no good reason not to.

As the tips below show, you don’t necessarily need any specialist equipment – a microfibre cloth and some water is likely all you need to get started. Of course, you do have the option to purchase something more heavy-duty – an alcohol-based cleaning solution, for example – but this sort of stuff is mostly for severely gross screens (or severely germophobic individuals).

Whether you’re dealing with dust or dirt, then, here’s everything you need to know about how to clean your laptop screen.

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How to clean a laptop screen: Using a lint-free cloth

For general cleaning purposes, look no further than the lint-free microfibre cloth. These things are fairly common, and often come included with glasses and smartphones. But if you don’t have a cloth immediately to hand, you can buy them fairly cheaply from Amazon.

Gently wiping your laptop with the cloth should do the trick, effectively removing any dust from the screen. However, dampening the cloth with a tiny bit of water is also fine. Be sure to unplug and turn off the laptop, allowing some time for the screen to fully cool down. Also be careful to make sure the screen has dried completely before you close the lid. Do not apply water directly to the laptop, or a dirty screen will be the least of your worries.

How to clean a laptop screen: Using a screen cleaner

For tougher jobs, you might use an LCD screen-cleaning solution. Laptop cleaning kits such as this one are readily available and, just as before, you should use them with a lint-free microfibre cloth.

As before, shut down your laptop, unplug it, and let it cool down before proceeding (the extra cautious among you might also want to remove the laptop’s battery, if possible). Dampen (but don’t soak) the microfibre cloth with the cleaning fluid and gently wipe your laptop’s screen. Again, take care to avoid getting any fluid where it shouldn’t go such as on the keyboard or inside the monitor. You can then use the dry side of the cloth to gently wipe down the screen and remove any streaks left by the cleaning solution.

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When buying cleaning solutions, it’s important to avoid alcohol-based products as this can damage your screen, and not to spray the cleaning fluid directly onto the laptop screen.