There are ants in my laptop keyboard again. It's happened before and ended up killing my productivity occasionally as the little critters suddenly show up from within the gaps of the keyboard. I had to bring it over to my uncle and he got rid of the ants, somehow, but I forgot to ask how he did it.
How can I get rid of them?!
I've seen this post on Electronics.SE but it got closed, so it didn't get any helpful answers even in the comments.
There are already some good answers for how to get them out immediately. However, I have an alternate proposal: Wait until they leave on their own.
They're there because there's food in there. As others have suggested, this is probably food or drink from your meals. If you let them work, they'll clean it for you by removing every trace of food. Once it's clean, they'll leave. They're not likely to build a nest in there or anything and they shouldn't be able to get down into any sensitive circuitry and get fried.
Pop out the battery. Find where they're getting inside. Put the laptop next to the opening. Wait until they're done. Keep food and drink some reasonable distance away from the keyboard.
This is especially effective if you've spilled a sugary drink on the keyboard. They can get rid of all the stickiness.
To remove almost anything, the simplest and most effective way is to use an Aero Duster. These blast compressed air in under the keys and into all the nooks and crannies and will safely leave your keyboard ant-free.
Of more importance is how to avoid ants deciding to colonise your laptop in the first place. You must have spilled something sweet in there at some point, so you may wish to avoid bringing food and drink anywhere near it.
If it is still attractive to ants, you can always pop it apart - all laptops are fairly easy to disassemble, as long as you know where the clips and screws are - and as all laptops are different, I'd suggest looking for a youtube video showing your particular one.
Additionally, when it isn't in use, put it back in a laptop bag. It will help.
"[...]all laptops are fairly easy to disassemble[...]" --> try disassembling a 10 years old Toshiba or a 4 years old Sony Vaio.
Commented
May 27, 2015 at 13:25
I am from India. We have good sunlight almost year-round. If I were you, then I would simply put my laptop in the sunlight for 5-10 minutes. The ants will leave the keyboard because it will get too hot for them. Be careful with a plasma display - sunlight will harm it!
One way is to lure them out with something sweet and then not let them go back inside the keyboard.
Another is to suck them out with a vacuum cleaner or blow them away with a vacuum cleaner on reverse. Don't forget to take out your keyboard from the notebook to avoid blowing something unwanted inside.
Also you might want to try freezing them. Don't attach the keyboard back too soon after taking it out of the freezer though to avoid short circuiting due to possible condensation due to temperature difference.
Extreme solution: put your notebook in a sealed container, vacuum air out and insert a deadly gas >:) One easy gas is butane from a regular lighter.
Simply vacuuming air out may not be effective because the ants are pretty small and who knows how long it would take for them to breathe through all the oxygen between the keys and the keyboard base. Saturating their air with a non-breathable gas should speed up the process sufficiently.
Cut off their air/water/food, and they'll die. Just put your laptop in a sealed plastic bag for a couple days. A 2-gallon Ziploc freezer bag should do the trick.
*This only works if you can go without a computer for that long.
I just read in Consumer Reports that ants hate cinnamon. Maybe a sprinkle of it would help. I have to agree with the other commenters though that making sure that you're not putting food in your keyboard is the best option. I know that you can buy plastic keyboard covers for just that purpose.
My wife discovered something that most ants loathe and detest. They will go to any lengths to avoid it and escape it. They will not go near it.
All you do is put a TINY amount on, in, or near any thing or area where ants are and… They're gone.
She first noticed its effect on tiny black ants in a bathroom and then with tiny pharaoh ants.
[all talcum powders deter ants, actually].
What is this magic ant repellant? CHANEL™ Body Powder.
Try a pinch on a sheet of facial tissue and put in in a plastic bag to coat the tissue lightly and evenly. You do not need much. After all, how much body powder does a tiny insect need for their tiny antibodies.
Put your infested piece on the tissue or lay the tissue on the keyboard. The ants will find their way out of any ports on the sides. Otherwise cover half of the keyboard so they can escape from the other side.
After the ants vacate the premises, the residue will keep the place void of them.
I'd love to watch. Good luck.
Wash your keyboard in the top rack of an automatic dishwasher. I do not recommend using dish washing liquid...many have bleach in them that will lighten some of the color of the keyboard plastic. Also, don't use a cycle that dries with high heat. Let the keyboard dry completely before using.
Diatomaceous earth. It is used in pest control, because it is actually comprised of tons of tiny edges, small enough that it does not hurt your (relatively) very thick skin, but will grate on insect exoskeletons, causing them to dry out.
Sources? Try google. There are many articles about how to use DE as pest control. In addition, you can sprinkle it on your garden (if you have one) to keep bugs away.
Usually Boric powder works when trying to get rid of ants. But using it on laptop keyboard I am not sure. But probably safer than bug sprays. (Make sure laptop is switched off and battery removed).
You can bait them out by placing some sweet/sugar stuff on your laptop trackpad. And smash to kill as they come out.
p.s. avoid eating or keeping food items near your laptop to avoid future infestation.
