- Alex -

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Your mouse is subject to a lot of wear and tear as it gets used extensively in Windows. One of the things that is most detrimental to mouse performance is dirt. As you move the mouse around, it picks up lint, dust, and other dirt and transfers it into the insides of your mouse where it gradually builds up deposits of this dirt on the rollers and ball inside the mouse. In addition, when you touch your mouse with sweaty or dirty hands, it can develop a sticky coating on its textured surface. Even though this happens only gradually, eventually your mouse will feel pretty nasty to the touch and perform erratically, causing the cursor to jump and stick, and making accurate use of the mouse impossible.

But there's no reason to throw away your mouse and buy a new one, since you can restore it to almost perfect condition again by taking only ten minutes and giving it a thorough cleaning with some basic household cleaning items. We'll show you how to turn that filthy rodent back into the precise pointing tool it used to be. But make sure you first shut down your computer and unplug the mouse from the system to be safe.

Look at this filthy rodent

I dug through a box of old used mice at my company and came up with a prime candidate for cleaning. It looks extremely nasty and feels even worse. And that's only the outside. Let's take a look at the inside. Turn the mouse over and look at the underside. You should see a circular plastic piece that holds the mouse ball in place. Twist this piece counterclockwise as indicated by the arrows to remove it and the ball.