To clean your phone without damaging it, first power it down and remove the case, then gently wipe surfaces with a dry microfiber cloth, using a cloth lightly dampened with water or a 70% isopropyl alcohol/water mix for deeper cleaning, always spraying the cloth, not the phone, and avoiding ports; use a wooden toothpick for ports and a soft brush for the camera lens.
Use a lint-free cloth slightly dampened with soap and water. Don't spray cleaners directly onto the device. Avoid aerosol sprays and cleaning solutions that contain bleach or abrasives. Keep liquids and moisture away from any openings on the device.
Do not use rubbing alcohol, paper towels, compressed air, dish soap or vinegar. All of these can damage your phone: Paper towels can scratch your screen, and vinegar could damage its coating. Do not use hand sanitizer on your phone screen, but do sanitize your hands before touching your phone.
Some cleaning products will damage your phone
For example, both Apple and Samsung advise against using bleach, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, aerosol sprays, window cleaners or high-concentration alcohol wipes (above 70%) on their devices.
The safest option is using disinfectant wipes with 70% isopropyl alcohol. For daily cleaning, consider a UV light product like PhoneSoap, which kills 99.99% of germs and bacteria.
It's best to avoid using general-purpose cleaning cloths or paper towels as they can be abrasive and may scratch the screen. Always opt for a soft microfiber cloth or specialized anti-static screen cleaning wipes designed for electronic devices.
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Unplug all cables and turn off your iPhone. Use a soft, slightly damp, lint-free cloth—for example, a lens cloth. Avoid getting moisture in openings. Don't use cleaning products unless following the instructions for disinfecting your iPhone.
All Glass Cleaners Are Not Created Equal
Do not ever use Clorox, Windex, or Lysol cleaning products on your electronic devices. Smartphone screens should only be cleaned with alcohol-based cleaners, such as lens cleaning wipes you would use to clean your eyeglasses.
Touch screen Cleaning Guidelines
Either use wet wipes, or spray/dampen a cloth with water or gentle cleaner and be sure to squeeze any excess moisture off. Avoid using abrasive cloths, such as rags or paper towels, as they can spread lint and/or even damage the screen.
An Isopropyl Alcohol or screen cleaner (not ammonia-based). Wipes are made with isopropyl alcohol. You can also use 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes, according to Apple. In the UK, you can use Dettol Cleansing Surface Wipes, which are bleach-free.
Don't use hand sanitizer on your phone – This may seem to make sense in a pinch, but it's a bad idea on multiple levels.
“It's always very hard to pinpoint the exact source where you got the bacteria or virus,” Shumate tells Fortune. Some pathogens can also live on your phone for as long as five months, according to Shumate—but most viruses like norovirus and rhinovirus can only live on surfaces for about a week, she adds.
Three-finger gestures on iPhone primarily activate accessibility features like VoiceOver (for screen reading and navigation) and Zoom (magnification), allowing scrolling, zooming, and text manipulation (copy/paste/undo) with specific taps and drags, though some text actions work without VoiceOver enabled for quick editing. Common gestures include three-finger double-tap to toggle VoiceOver speech, triple-tap for the screen curtain, and pinching/spreading with three fingers for copy/paste actions, notes this YouTube video.
For optimal battery health, the recommended battery percentage to charge your phone is between 20% and 80%. It's best to avoid extremes, such as letting the battery reach too low to 0% or consistently charging it to 100%.
Use a soft, lint-free microfiber cloth. Gently wipe the screen in circular motions. For stubborn marks, use a damp cloth slightly moistened with distilled water. Ensure the cloth is not overly wet to prevent moisture from seeping into the edges of the screen.
On top of this, the actual wipes or cloths can also scratch the screen. Even though pre-moistened baby wipes seem convenient, they're really not a good idea.
Clean the screen of an Apple-manufactured display
Use the cloth that came with the display—or another soft, dry, lint-free cloth—to wipe any dust from the screen. If additional cleaning is required, slightly dampen the cloth with water or a cleaner intended for use with a screen or display, then wipe the screen.
Instead, use a microfiber cloth, which is made up of a super soft synthetic material that won't cause any damage to your screen, and will wipe away debris beautifully. Wipe gently. Use a gentle, circular motion to wipe your screen clean.
Making this screen-cleaning spray couldn't be easier. Simply combine one part alcohol and one part distilled water in the spray bottle. Cap it, give it a quick shake, and it's ready for use. Variation: If you don't have isopropyl alcohol handy, you may substitute plain vinegar.
Wash screens and frames with a solution of warm water and dish detergent. (A mixture of one part vinegar to three parts water will also do the trick.)