How to Get Rid of Ants in Laptop? | A Detailed Guide

Laptops have become indispensable mobile devices in our highly digital world. You want to keep them safe and free of annoying insects like ants.

So, how to get rid of ants in laptop? The easiest way is to simply vacuum your laptop. Do this for few minutes to ensure that every little one of them will come out. The shaking and vacuuming will likely solve your problem. If any of them remains this will likely encourage them to leave.

What if you discover that you’re dealing with a swarm of ants that have made your laptop their new home? This means the problem is more serious than you initially thought. A more calculated move on your part may be needed. 

How to Get Rid of Ants in Laptop?

Clean the Laptop

Clean the Laptop

If vacuuming doesn’t work, try the old-fashioned way, get hold of a clean and dry piece of unused clothing, and just run this through your device. Pay special attention to the spaces in between the keyboard, as well as on the edges of your laptop. 

Take note that when doing laptop cleaning, caution should be taken. Just like most species, ants can attack when provoked or pushed to a corner. If they sense that your cleaning action is life-threatening, they could fight back by giving you a sting or two.

Also, keep in mind that ants hardly travel alone. On the contrary, they move in groups or in colonies, to be more specific. Thus, they have friends that will help them out when danger strikes.

Materials Used in Cleaning

These days, dry cloth is hardly the way to laptop cleaning. Materials like keyboard cleaners have been designed specifically to keep laptops free from stains. These stains result from crumbs of the food we eat while working with our laptops. They get to stick to the surface of the device and naturally attract ants searching for food. 

With a keyboard cleaner, you remove food crumbs and keep the ants away at the same time. The cleaner is much like a portable vacuum. It has a built-in nozzle that can suck food crumbs off of your laptop. 

The Vacuuming Option

Since ants travel with friends, manual cleaning for your laptop may be a bit risky. Some ant varieties can give a nasty bite when provoked. Good examples of these are the red fire species and the Argentine ant. The latter are the ants that are commonly found in California.

Try to vacuum the ants out of that laptop. This technique is quite effective. However, the downside of vacuuming a laptop is that you can only do it on the surface and the sides. The vacuum can’t reach the most of interior of your laptop, where some of the ants may have wisely crawled. 

Which Ant Species Are Difficult to Remove?

One type of ant that can be difficult to remove from your laptop is pharaoh ants. These red-colored pests are so small (about .078 inches or 2mm long) that they can easily squeeze in anywhere.

Pharaoh ants love food eaten by humans. They can settle into food crumbs that have found their way into your laptop.

To get rid of these invasive insects, you might need to physically open your device. This can be problematic but opening a laptop isn’t that difficult to do. 

Be careful and make sure your vacuum is not placed too close to the open laptop. The sensitive parts like RAM, capacitor, and CPU may be damaged if a vacuum is too strong.

Setting up an Ant Bait

Setting Up An Ant Bait

For this, you will need borax that you can mix with sugar or anything sweet. Place this mixture about three inches away from your laptop. 

Ideally, you’ll need to open your laptop to allow the hiding ants to come out when they think the time is right. Nighttime is the best time for them as most ant species are known to be nocturnal.

When those friendly ants come out from inside your laptop, you can be sure that they are on the hunt for food.

For more effective results, you may want to add a few drops of insecticide into your initial mixture.

The Pest Controller Touch

The Pest Controller Touch

If you see ants in your laptop and they have been there for quite a while, they may have started building a colony somewhere. This also means the queen ant has been brought in, and infestation has begun. 

When this is the case, the matter may no longer be in your hands. Most likely, you’ll have to allow a professional pest controller to step in. They should be able to locate the root of the problem and get rid of it in no time. 

If the problem proves to be more complex, a more extensive treatment might be needed. The pest controller will have to make several visits to your place, especially if they discover a mound somewhere in your backyard.

However, professional help can be costly, especially when your ant problem has become complicated. Still, you can expect a more effective resolution, so the expenses should be worth the trouble.

Hygiene and Regular Check-up

Hygiene and Regular Check-Up

Once the ants have been exterminated, you need to ensure that the same problem does not resurface.

Start by observing proper hygiene. You can do this through the following:

  • Make sure you have clean hands before using your laptop. Dirty hands lead to dirty laptops, and this can result in bigger problems.
  • If you’re hungry and want to grab a quick bite, please step away from the laptop area. The idea of eating while working may be convenient, but it can spell trouble. Food crumbs will fall off your laptop one way or the other. These serve as effective magnets for ants scouring for food. 
  • Keep your laptop spot and stain-free so ants will not want to pay a visit. Doing otherwise means you’re attracting potential harm to your beloved device.

Finally, give your laptop a regular check-up. Ask your friendly technician to open it up to see if everything inside is still working perfectly. Those ants may not be readily visible from the outside. Yet, when your laptop is open, you might be surprised to find them near the battery.

List of Sources

Know Your Ants

Pharaoh ants

Tips for Effective Ant Baiting