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Ask an Expert – how to safely disinfect your device

No time to drop into the Apple Store and ask the Genius Bar for help with your iPhone or iPad? Maybe one of our resident experts can help!

As Apple nerds, we get asked a lot of tech support questions – and some of those questions crop up time and time again. Here’s a recent query that we think will be familiar to many of you.

“How can I safely clean germs from my iPhone?”

It’s no surprise this is a common question at the moment! We’re being repeatedly advised to wash our hands, but gadget cleanliness isn’t getting as much media attention.

However, your iPhone – which you touch every day and take everywhere with you – can quickly build up a lot of germs, and could easily carry a virus if you’re not careful. So proper cleaning is more important than ever.

That said, it’s important to tackle this in the right way to avoid causing damage. Chemical sprays and abrasive wipes are best avoided, and you certainly don’t want to get liquid in any of the ports if you can possibly help it.

Apple recommends the use of 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes, often sold as “gadget wipes.” But if you don’t have access to these, there’s an even simpler method. 

A public service announcement from the BBC offers the best advice, backed up by science from UCL: a simple solution of soapy water can be used along with a microfibre cloth to safely and effectively scrub your phone clean. Then, use a dry cloth to wipe it off when you’re done. That’s it!

Make sure you clean your devices fairly regularly, but please do take care.