You may be wondering how to properly clean a monitor screen, especially if you’ve been working from home for a while and are now returning to the office.
Dust accumulation and occasional fingerprint smudges might make it difficult to determine which cleaning chemicals (if any) and which type of cloth will avoid scratches on your display. We wouldn’t want the experience of utilizing the best home computers(opens in new tab) to be marred by an unattractive monitor screen, after all.
We’ve got you covered, with helpful advice on how to clean a computer monitor screen. Many of these methods can also be used to clean the screens of the finest laptops and the best touch screen monitors.
Table of Contents
How to clean a monitor screen
Before starting
For a thorough clean of your monitor, you’ll need the following:
One made of microfibers (or monitor dusting wipes)
Purified water
Second, the best thing to do is to turn off the monitor and unplug it. This protects you from any electrical current and can also protect the monitor if a drop of cleaning product gets in there by accident. When a monitor is off, dust and other buildup are easier to see on the screen.
How to clean a computer monitor.
Step 1:
Gently clean the screen by moving a dry microfiber cloth around in a circle. If you use something like a towel, you might scratch the screen because you don’t know what’s hiding in the fibers, and you’re pushing it into the glass.
You should use a microfiber cloth, but you can also use monitor dusting wipes. These usually say on the package what kind of monitor they work best with, so make sure to check that before moving forward.
Step 2:
Once most of the dust is on the cloth, you can wet it with distilled water. Why was it made? Tap water is easier to get, but mineral deposits can leave marks on the screen.
We can’t say enough that you should never clean your screen with anything that has alcohol in it. That’s because it can be corrosive and eat away at the finish of your display.
You can find screen cleaning fluid that is more specialized than the wipes we talked about before. But, just like with the wipes, it’s best to check the package before using it.
It’s important to remember that the cloth doesn’t have to be drenched, just a little bit damp. If you use more water or fluid than a damp cloth, water could leak into your electronics. Be very careful with how much water or fluid you use.
Step 3:
Gently wipe the screen with the damp microfiber cloth. Don’t use wide strokes. If the cloth picks up more dirt, you may need to wet it again before cleaning it. If you do use cleaning fluid, don’t put it on the screen itself. It might seem like a faster way to get things done, but it’s not good for the monitor’s health in the long run.
You can clean a monitor’s bezel and stand in a similar way to how you clean the screen, but you don’t have to be as careful. Still, make sure to put liquid on the cloth and not on the bezel.
Step 4:
Either let the monitor dry for a while or use a second, dry microfiber cloth to gently clean the screen and the area around it. To avoid getting an electric shock, don’t fully turn the monitor back on until it’s dry.
Helpful hints
If you have a stain on a screen that won’t come off, like a splash of coffee, you should mix water and white vinegar together (1:1 mix ratio). Then you can put this on your cloth and rub it away gently.
As we’ve already said, you don’t need to put any cleaning product directly on the monitor at any point in the process. Everything should go on your microfiber cloth or other wipe.
