How to clean the inside of your PS4

Just like your car, your house, and even your body, your PS4 needs a good cleaning every once and a while to prevent dust build-up and overheating. Your console’s intake fan pulls dust in with the fresh air that cools the internal components. The dust then settles on the parts in your PS4, which in turn, traps heat. If left unchecked, this can result in overheating.

Heat is your PS4’s worst enemy. Over time, dust buildup inside your PS4 could undermine its cooling efficiency, resulting in shorter life spans for your console’s components. Additionally, if your PS4 is running slowly or making a lot of noise as it tries to work, the problem could be dust.

You can use as many dust filters as you can, and make sure your PS4 is well away from carpets and floor-bound fluff, but at some point, the inside of your case is going to get dusty. You can’t escape it, and it’s a good idea to clean your game console now and then if you want to keep your components’ temperatures manageable. While you can’t entirely eliminate this problem, you can certainly lessen the impact by routinely dusting your PS4.

How often should I clean my PS4?

Depending on your environment, you may need to clean your PS4 more or less often. Game console placement is one important variable. Keeping your PS4 console on the floor allows for dust, hair, skin cells, and carpet particles to get inside easier. If you keep your PS4 above the floor—say, on your desk—particles are less prone to getting inside.

If you smoke near your PS4, tar, ash, and other gunk can build up in your console’s fan and on inside surfaces. Ridding your PS4 of these things every 6 months can increase its performance.

If you’re the owner of a pet that sheds, you might want to clean your PS4 more often. The inside of your console is just as susceptible to fur-clogging fan and other areas of your PS4.

In short, if you keep your PS4 off the floor, don’t smoke, and don’t have shedding pets, you can probably get away with cleaning your console once per year. If any of those things do pertain to you, you might want to clean your PS4 every 6, or even 3, months. And, as always, if your PS4 starts getting hotter than usual, open up to check for any dust or hair buildup and then clean it.

Preparation

Do not open your PS4 while it is running or with any cables attached to it. It is always safer to remove all peripherals such as USB cables, audio cables, video cables, and especially the power cable. Yes, keeping the power cable connected does ground the PS4 and it’s often okay to leave it connected while working inside the case. But, even the tiny trace of moisture from canned air can cause trouble if the components are getting power.

Next, move your PS4 to a well-ventilated area such as your backyard or garage. This is especially important to consider if your PS4 has built up a lot of dust that will be blowing around. Breathing all that old, accumulated dust isn’t good for you and if you’re in an enclosed space, the dust is just going to settle back on your stuff—including back on your game console.

If you’re limited on space just be sure to keep a vacuum (not for cleaning the inside of the PS4; more on that soon) nearby for a quick clean-up afterward. And if you’re worried about inhaling dust, you can always stop at your local hardware shop to pick up a cheap dust mask for less than $5.

Also, it is advisable to wear a dust mask or respirator if you want to avoid breathing in any of the dust and dirt you remove from the PS4.

Gather Your Tools

Before you begin opening your PS4’s case, you’ll need to gather your cleaning tools. We highly recommend not using a vacuum to clean the dust off your PS4’s components. This can create a static buildup and could potentially fry important electrical components on your motherboard, video card, and other places. It’s just a bad idea, so spare yourself the agony and pick up a compressed air can.

That said, a vacuum can come in handy if you’re dusting out your PS4 inside. Run the vacuum and hold the hose near—but not touching—your PS4. Blow the dust out of the PS4 in the direction of the vacuum hose, so the vacuum can suck most of it right up.

There are a few tools you will need to clean your console:

• Hardware set that includes screw drivers
• Can of compressed air
• Cleaning cloth
• Cotton swabs (optional)
• Thermal paste (optional)
• Pencil or pen (optional)

Some experts suggest using a small paint brush to sweep away dust where compressed air just can’t reach. Some of these tools are optional, so don’t stress out if you don’t have them. We only had a few ourselves, and still managed to do a great job.

Start cleaning dust from your PS4

The most important thing to consider when cleaning the PS4’s case is that we want to make it possible for cool, fresh air to get into the case and hot air to get out. If dust filters are clogged or there’s excess dust collected around the heat sinks, that’s not going to be possible and your system could overheat. To counter that, you want to do everything you can to eliminate dust and leave your system fresh and clean.

Cleaning the Outside First

To start the cleaning process, begin with the peripherals we just removed. Grab your can of compressed air and hold the trigger to release a burst of air onto an area with a lot of dust buildup.

Now, follow these simple steps to completely clean the outside of the PS4.

1. Unplug all of your cords from the console so that you can access all the nooks and crannies. Set your PS4 on a clean, hard surface.
2. Take a can of compressed air and aim a short burst of air throughout the middle indent around the console. Repeat this step on both front-facing USB ports and the other ports on the backside. Use your compressed air to shoot a continuous burst across the top of your PS4 to clear it of any build-up.
3. Use a soft microfiber cloth to wipe the shiny side of your console. Be sure to do this towards the left side so that dust does not get in the light sensor. Repeat this step on the matte side of the console, but wipe towards the right this time. Fold your microfiber cloth in half so that a clean side faces out and gently wipe it around the center indent of the PS4.
4. Dust the area where your console will be sitting before returning the PS4 to its home. Wipe off any fingerprints you may have left, and now your console is clean and dust-free.

Note: Whenever cleaning your PS4 or its components, you need to take extra special care about static damage. Using an anti-static wristband is ideal, but if you don’t have one to hand, make sure to regularly ground yourself by touching your case or PSU housing.

Cleaning the Inside of PS4

Start by powering off your PS4 and unplugging any attached cords, as described earlier.

Before removing the case to delve into those sensitive PS4 components, you’ll want to ground yourself by touching a metal surface. Grounding means to negate electrostatic discharge that you may accidentally transfer to the PS4’s parts, potentially rendering them useless. Although this is quite rare, it’s better to be safe in this regard.

Dismantling the PS4

It’s worth noting that cleaning your PS4 thoroughly will require you to remove pieces of the hardware and take the console apart. This may void your warranty, so only attempt this if you’ve had your console for a while and are no longer under warranty.

Taking apart the PS4 isn’t really as difficult or daunting as it sounds, but even still, you’ll want to carefully follow the instructions and make sure you’re keeping all the various screws and pieces in a safe place. Make sure your workbench is clean and that you have all the right tools you need before you start work.

Rather than explain how to do this in writing, it’s much easier to follow a video taking you through the step-by-step process.

Cleaning Process

Now, after you have successfully dismantled the PS4, please follow the steps below to completely clean the inside of the PS4.

1. Using compressed air, dust the internal components of your PS4 with short bursts of air. Try to remain at least a few inches away from the surface of the motherboard, memory, processor, and expansion cards.
2. Remove the dust buildup on the heat-sink fan with a can of compressed air. Hold the fan with your finger (or preferably a pencil) to keep it from spinning while you’re blowing the compressed air onto it. Fan blades can be delicate and may crack if spun too quickly. You can use rubbing alcohol and wipe the blades with a cotton swab for the finishing touches. If the fan is extremely dirty, you may need to remove the heat sink and fan from the processor to get it thoroughly cleaned. Just remember to clean the thermal grease off of the processor and the heat sink, then apply new thermal grease before reattaching the heat sink to the processor.
3. Remove the dust buildup from the power supply using a can of compressed air. If your case has a dust filter underneath the power supply, be sure to clean the filter too.

Conclusion

Your PlayStation 4, inside and out, should be looking as good as new. We’ve rid the PS4 of dust, hair, skin particles, and much more. Your cables should be neatly managed and out of the way of fans and other sensitive equipment. If you were having heating issues before, you’ll begin to notice that it’s thing of the past. And don’t forget to clean your PS4 every 3 to 6 months to keep that performance up!

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Questions & Answers

Why do I have to clean the PS4 from inside?

There are many benefits to cleaning your PS4 regularly. Unclean game consoles like the PS4 can harbor germs and viruses. If your PS4 is not cleaned regularly, it can spread these germs and make you and others sick. Moreover, a clean PS4 not only benefits the user, but the performance of the system itself. A clean PS4 will run faster, last longer, and work better than an unclean system.

What will happen if I don't clean my PS4?

If your PS4 is left unclean for a long period, it might result in performance issues like swollenness, freezing and so on. It can also cause the PS4 to overheat because the fan is full of dust and the air venting system is deranged.

How often should I clean my PS4?

It is recommended that you clean your PS4 once every 3 months. That way you make sure it's always clean and running smoothly as it should be.