How To Clean Microsoft Surface Laptop Keyboard

Dont Eat Near Your Laptop

Oil and food crumbs are one of the best ways to make your laptop dirty. So if you dont want to win the award of having the dirtiest laptop in your neighborhood, you may opt to keep your food away from your laptop. Just choose one task at a time from eating and using a laptop. You cant do it simultaneously or youll risk a faster bacteria build-up.

Carefully Use A Disinfectant Wipe Or Rubbing Alcohol

Think of all the germs and bacteria that are harboring on your keyboard. In fact, studies show that keyboards are much dirtier than a toilet seat. It’s best to remove the keys, if possible , before cleaning them. However, if you’d rather not try removing the keys on your own, you can still disinfect them.

What you’ll need is a damp disinfectant wipe or a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol. You never want to clean your keyboard with a soaked cloth, as that can damage the hardware that lives underneath the keys. Wipe all surfaces of the keyboard down — buttons, keys, cover — and allow it to dry before plugging it back in or turning it on. You can gently overturn the keyboard if you’re worried that too much liquid has dripped inside beneath the components.

How To Clean A Laptop Keyboard

After a few months of use, oils, dust, and drips of coffee build up in our best laptops keyboard. Here at Digital Trends, were not immune to this even though were experts on these things. Were going to share our laptop cleaning secrets with you.

Weve laid out the best ways to clean your laptop keyboard, whether youre simply trying to disinfect or you need a deep clean. But there are a few critical steps to take before you start scrubbing.

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How To Clean Laptop Keyboard After Spill

This is an emergency situation for all laptop users and you may want to know what to do in case that a drink is spilled on your laptop. In worse situations, you want to read this because you already experienced it, and did not know what to do, and now you are reading this using your new laptop. So if your reason belongs to any of those two, here are the steps for you:

How Do I Reset My Surface Pro Keyboard

If youve tried all the above suggestions and your physical keyboard still isnt working properly with your Surface Pro, you can try resetting it.

To reset your Surface Pro keyboard, open Device Manager and select Keyboards> your keyboard name > Uninstall> OK and then select Search for updates> your keyboard name > Update drivers> Search automatically and then restart Windows.

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Remove All Of The Keys

Gently remove the keys, one by one, with the help of a small flat tool. You can buy at the nearest electronics store for the tool that you need or you can also find from a bunch of materials that could be found in your house. Do not attempt to use your finger because it might be too large to pry off the keys. Also, make sure to store them in a container so that you wont accidentally lose them.

Can I Clean The Surface Laptop

Last year, I was using my Surface Laptop 2 to watch some Plex while cooking a particularly bubbly curry. It was too close to the pan, and some korma sauce managed to make horrible little yellow dots on the Alcantara keyboard. I made the mistake of trying to clean this and well, it made things worse.

No matter what I tried, the stain wouldnt come out and I tried a lot: Microsofts own advice, fabric cleaners, soap, nail polish remover, even diluted bleach. The stain just got muckier and muckier, and the only real consequence was making my laptop smell faintly of nail polish remover, while still looking like trash. Or more accurately, making its owner look like he needed to wash his hands more often.

The long and the short of it is this: you cant clean the Surface Laptop keyboard if it gets stained by curry. Sorry.

So I looked into other options.

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Update Surface Keyboard Drivers To Repair Surface Pro Type Cover Not Working Issue

The improper Surface Pro keyboard driver also could cause Surface Pro keyboard malfunctions, ceasing the type cover work. To update it and get the best-matched Surface cover driver for the Surface Pro laptop, you can manually download the Surface cover driver via Microsoft support page to repair Surface Pro 4 type cover not working hitch.

If you would like an easy channel to pack the Surface keyboard drivers downloading and updating into a one-stop step, you could use Driver Talent, a popular driver issue troubleshooter, automatically downloading the most compatible Surface cover driver for Microsoft Surface Pro laptops.

Why My Laptop Keys Are Not Working

Open the Start menu and type Device Manager. Press Enter, and expand the Keyboards section. If that doesnt bring the keys back to life, or if the Keyboard icon isnt even visible in the Device Manager, head to the laptop manufacturers support page and install the latest drivers for the keyboard.

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Why Is My Surface Laptop Keyboard Not Working

Like Microsofts Surface Pro range of devices, the Surface Laptop series can also experience keyboard issues.

Most of the above solutions should also apply to your Surface Laptop if youre having problems with its physical and touch keyboards. If youre still experiencing issues, try applying some general Windows 10 keyboard fixes.

• How do I clean my Surface Pro keyboard?

  Wipe the keyboard with a soft lint-free cloth dampened with mild soap and water. Alternatively, you can use screen wipes or a small amount of isopropyl alcohol on a soft, lint-free cloth to remove stubborn stains.

• How do I unlock my Surface Pro without a keyboard?

  There are several ways to lock and unlock a Microsoft Surface Laptop. If you don’t have a keyboard available, you can press and hold the Power button, and then press the Volume Down button.

• How do I change the sensitivity of my Surface Pro keyboard?

  You can customize the settings of your Surface Pro keyboard by going to Settings > Devices. Select Typing to adjust the keyboard or Mouse & touchpad to change the sensitivity of the mouse.

• How do I make the Surface Pro on-screen keyboard bigger?

  You can quickly enable the on-screen keyboard by pressing Win+Ctrl+O. Then, to resize it, simply point the cursor to any corner of the keyboard and drag it to your desired size.

In The First Of A Weeklong Series Of Surface Tips We Show How To Seamlessly Transition Your Surface Book From Laptop To Clipboard Or Creative Canvas

As weve noted before, the Surface Book has many uses: a high-performance laptop for superior productivity, a creative canvas to complement your artistic side, and a mobile clipboard for easy collaboration.

Perhaps youve wondered: How does this versatile device change from laptop to clipboard? Or turn into a creative canvas suitable for drawing?

Heres a simple guide on how to safely detach and re-attach the Surface Books keyboard so the device always fits your needs.

Step 1: Charge it!

Both batteries in the Surface Book must be charged above 10 percent before the keyboard can be detached.

Keep the keyboard attached when Surface Book is not in use to avoid the hassle of charging the keyboard and clipboard separately,

Step 2: Detach!

There are two ways to detach the clipboard. Either press and hold the Detach button on the keyboard or click the Detach icon on the right-hand side of the Windows 10 taskbar.

Once youve pressed the Detach button or icon, you should see a red light appear on the Detach button. After a second, itll turn green and youll hear a click sound come from the hinge of the keyboard.

Grip the top of the clipboard and lift upwards while the light is green. It should come right off!

How to re-attach the keyboard

There are no tricks or buttons to pressjust slide the clipboard down onto the hinge and it will lock into place. A green Attached box will show on-screen to let you know that the connection is successful.

More tips to know

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Detach Surface Pro Type Cover

Microsoft describes the Surface as a tablet that can replace your laptop. If you plan to use it as a tablet from time to time, here is how you detach the Type Cover safely. First I recommend you do this maybe over a table or soft surface like a bed until you get used to doing it regularly.

Grip both the Type Cover and bezel of the tablet at the opposite end.

Gently with some exertion pull in the opposite direction.

The cover should release with little effort. Now, how simple is that?

Clean The Chassis And Touchpad

The next phase is cleaning the laptops outer surfaces. Dampen a larger section of your microfiber with your cleaning product . Moving outward from the keyboard, start with the palm rest and touchpad, then move to the screen border or bezels. After that, close the laptop and work on the lid and underside.

As with the keyboard keys, circular motions are effective. Never rub too hard, but only use about as much pressure as it takes to push down a keyboard key.

For stubborn stains, especially coffee, you can apply a tiny amount of diluted dish soap directly to them and let it sit for a minute to break down the stain. Only try this on level surfaces, so the soap doesnt run or drip anywhere. Afterward, work the stain with microfiber dampened with water. Remove any soapy residue, and be liberal with using clean sections of your cloth.

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Check Windows File Errors

System files or driver files may be corrupted in Windows. This may be the reason why the surface keyboard is not working properly. But you don’t have to worry about this problem can be solved. Windows itself provides a utility that will scan and verify errors in Windows system files. If it finds any errors, it will automatically try to fix it. You need to follow a few steps to check and repair Windows file errors.

Note: Before starting these steps, make sure your surface is plugged in, as this may take a while.

1. Search for “command prompt” in the search box on the taskbar.

2. Even if you are logged in as an administrator, please select “Run as administrator“.

3. You may receive a warning, please click OK.

4. In the command line, type SFC / Scannow and hit Enter.

5. This will start the scanning process.

6. Restart the computer after the scan to make it effective

How To Clean Specific Stains On Alcantara

According to the official Alcantara website, there are a few specific cleaning instructions you need to follow. The table here should provide you with a better understanding of the best cleaning options-

When cleaning the Microsoft Surface Pro, you are expected to use a lint-free cloth. It may be a wiser option to opt for specifically designed lint-free cloth. You can find a few good options for the best lint-free cloth from MIMAATEX.

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Dry It Up For Few Days

You have to prevent your electronic components from having a short circuit with each other so you have to make sure that your laptop is completely dry before using it. Wait for a few days before trying to turn it on. The actual number of days before your laptop completely dries up actually differs greatly so we cant assure anything on that. But maintaining it disassembled for a few days would make it dry up faster than assembling it right away after cleaning it.

How To Fix Surface Keyboard Not Working Error On Windows 10

Jan. 24, 2022 / Updated by Bessie Shaw to Windows 10

Surface keyboard or Type Cover not working with any key press or touchpad movement’s error is not uncommon on Microsoft Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4 or the predecessor Surface laptops. When you tying or touching the trackpad, the whole type cover stays unresponsive, either the keyboard or the trackpad. Typically, the Surface Pro keyboard not working error is more likely to disappear after Windows 10 Anniversary Update on Surface Pro 3 and Windows 10 Creators Update on Surface Pro 4 laptops.

If you happen to get trapped in the Microsoft Surface keyboard or Type Cover no responding dilemma, you have below solutions to retrieve the keyboard back to normal performance.

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Spilled Coffee On Surface Laptop

I know its always a bad idea to have liquids around your computer, but I stupidly decided to test fate today. I was having a delicious cup of coffee this morning while on my Surface Laptop , when I knocked over my mug right onto my keyboard. I acted fairly quickly, unplugging my laptop and shutting it down before mopping up the coffee with a dry towel. I turned it upside-down, shook it a couple of times, tilted it from side-to-side, and blew some compressed air on it to get it to dry. I then turned it back on and tried it out, and it worked normally. I turned it off an on again two more times to make sure it wasnt just a fluke, and finally powered it down once more to let it dry out. Right now Ive got it open and turned face-down over a washcloth to absorb any excess liquid.

So my question is: how screwed am I? Is there anything else I should do other than leave it alone for a couple of hours? No liquid got into any of the ports on the sides- just the keyboard.

I appreciate any advice.

For Grime That Wont Go Away

Were talking about the crud that builds up as a result of oils, skin cells, grease, food dust, and everything else that might contribute to the gross stains and plaque on your keyboard. You can approach this cleaning mission by using disinfecting wipes, but we prefer using a melamine cleaning sponge, which excels at cleaning up grime such as this.

Once you have the melamine sponge, soak it in water, ring it out, and let it dry enough so that you arent leaving streaks of water across your keyboard. Gently rub a corner of the sponge on the soiled parts of the keys until the grime is removed. Melamine can be a very abrasive material if used carelessly, so go slow and try to avoid rubbing off any key characters. The material is also very easy to cut out into the right shape, so feel free to snip off a portion for more customized work.

You can use another type of sponge in the same way, but it may not be as effective, especially when it comes to the more stubborn stains.

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Last Clean The Screen

Cleaning the display panel is the final, and most delicate, task. Dampen a fresh section of your microfiber with water and see how much you can accomplish with just that. Start from the edges and work your way inward, to avoid lodging cleaner or gunk bits under the bezel as you wipe.

It’s important to support the notebooks lid with your free hand behind where you are cleaning, so the laptop doesnt flip backward and the lid doesnt twist. And use no more pressure than is required to make the microfiber contact the screen.

Like with cleaning the chassis, diluted dish soap works well for tough stains or marks. You might try a dedicated screen cleaner as noted earlier. Whether water or that, be careful not to let any liquid drip into the edges of the screen. And most important: Never, ever spray the screen directly with any cleaner or water. Always apply it to your cleaning cloth first, and test for non-saturation and dripping before you apply cloth to screen. If you spray your liquid straight on, runoff can easily get under the screen’s bottom bezel, and critical electronics often live right there.

Right Way To Clean The Internal Parts

To clean its internal parts, you can use Isopropyl Alcohol in the affected area. Alcohol has much fewer chemicals than other cleaning materials which is extremely good for cleaning electronic components. Pour alcohol and use a brush to gently clean it. Be careful and use a brush that has soft bristles. Stiff bristles or too much force might pull off the internal components.

If you dont have alcohol, you can use distilled water as an alternative. Distilled water has no conductive minerals present that may short circuit your laptops electronic components or may cause corrosion. Make sure that no traces of your drink will be left after cleaning because your laptop might already work for some time but corrosion really takes a few days or weeks to appear, depending on the chemical that will dry up and react to your circuit.

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