How To Clean Your PS5 Controller Safely: A Step-By-Step Guide
The PS5's DualSense controller might be the best controller ever made, but although it makes vanquishing virtual villains more fun than ever, the most challenging boss most gamers will vanquish is dirt. Over time, your PlayStation 5 and its accessories build up a sickening amount of grime from a variety of sources, and no gaming gear gets filthier than your DualSense controller.
Buildup from desiccated skin and sweat along with dust, pet hair, and residue from your gaming snack of choice will not only make your controller a disgusting, sticky mess, but can also decrease performance as the buttons, triggers, and thumb sticks begin to get clogged with all that debris. But if you're reading this article, you're ready to restore your controller to its former glory.
In this guide, we'll give you a step-by-step breakdown on how to clean your PS5's DualSense controller. It's a remarkable gadget that enables some of the most tactile feedback available in any piece of gaming hardware, but when it gets dirty, the haptic feedback and sensitivity of the controls can all be interfered with. The rumble will feel more like a light tickle, while you struggle to perform complex interactions with sticky buttons and drifting joysticks.
The good news is that you only need a few simple tools to make your controller look and feel as great as the day you unboxed it. But be careful, as cleaning the controller incorrectly can lead to irreversible damage. If you follow these steps correctly, your controller should come out looking like new. So, without further preamble, here's how to clean your PS5 controller safely.
Gather the tools you need
Before you can get started cleaning your PS5's DualSense controller, you'll need to make sure you have all the necessary tools. Thankfully, you won't need any specialized tools. Many people will likely already own everything required to get their DualSense controller looking like it just came out of the box. Ideally, you'll need:
- Electronics cleaner or isopropyl alcohol.
- A microfiber cloth, polishing cloth, or cleaning pad. In a pinch, paper towels can also be substituted, but be very careful about which brand you use, as some paper towels can leave small bits of paper residue that might get inside your controller and cause performance issues.
- Cotton swabs.
- Compressed air or an electric duster.
- Your PS5's DualSense controller. You'll need this if you want to clean it.
You should also make sure you have access to a space where you can work. You don't need a ton of space to clean, but a couple square feet is ideal. Clearing off a portion of your coffee table, kitchen counter, or desk is usually a good idea.
You should place a desk mat or wipe down the area where you'll clean your DualSense controller, making sure it's free of any crumbs, pet hair, or other things that could wind up working their way into the crevices of the controller. Place a wastebasket nearby, as well, in which to dispose of cotton swabs and other discardable materials. Once you have your cleaning space organized, you can move on to the next step.
How to clean the PS5 controller's body
Now that we've assembled our cleaning tools and materials, it's time to start cleaning the DualSense controller. Before beginning, make sure the controller is turned off and that there are no cables plugged into it. Turn off the PS5, too, and unplug it. You're likely to repeatedly press the PS button on the controller by accident, which will annoyingly turn on the PS5, so unplugging the console will prevent that headache. You should begin by cleaning the body of the controller, including the touch pad, handles, and back of the device. Here's how:
- Start by spraying your electronics cleaner or isopropyl alcohol onto a cleaning cloth. Do not spray it directly onto the controller, as this can damage the controller.
- Once the cloth is damp, use it to wipe down the main surfaces of the controller, including the touch pad.
- Dampen the end of a cotton swab with cleaning solution and use it to clean out the light bar around the PS5 controller touch pad.
As you clean, think about where your hands naturally rest when you play games. Those are the spots likely to have the most grime buildup. Pay extra attention to the handles. If you look closely, you'll see that the underside of the left and right handles are not smooth, but are in fact textured. That texture helps you get a better grip on the controller during gameplay, but it also provides a ton of tiny surfaces for dirt, sweat, and skin detritus to build up inside of.
There's no need to be too gentle when cleaning the handles or back of the controller. Use some elbow grease but dial things back a notch if you hear any concerning creaking or if you feel any give to the controller's chassis.
How to clean the PS5 controller's bumpers and triggers
Now that the body of the controller is clean, you can begin to focus on the more delicate moving parts such as the bumpers and triggers. These will require a lighter touch so that nothing gets broken or uncalibrated. Let's begin with the bumpers and triggers. If you have the more premium DualSense Edge PS5 controller, this guide won't cover it, but there are extra paddles on the back of the controller that will also need to be cleaned. Here's how to clean the bumpers and triggers on the regular DualSense controller for PS5:
- Dampen your cleaning cloth with electronics cleaner or isopropyl alcohol. The cloth should be moist, but not soaking wet.
- Begin by cleaning the underside of the triggers (L2 and R2). You may find this easier to do if you use one finger to hold the triggers in place so that the most possible surface area is exposed. You may also find that a cotton swab helps you get into the crevices.
- Move along to the sides of the triggers, then up to the sides of the bumpers (L1 and R1). Again, you may find it helpful to hold the bumpers in place with one finger, so they do not depress.
- Next, clean the front of the bumpers and triggers. If you look closely at the labels (L1, L2, R1, and R2), you may find that grime has accumulated in their engraving. A cotton swab moistened with cleaning solution should help to clear them out.
- Pressing down each trigger, use a cotton swab to clean the space between the triggers and bumpers.
How to clean the PS5 controller's D-pad and action buttons
While the D-pad (directional buttons) and action buttons that sit above the thumb sticks on either side of your DualSense controller aren't that delicate, you should still take a bit more care when cleaning them. You don't want to let any cleaning solution or debris get underneath them, nor do you want to knock any of them out of place. Here's how to clean them:
- Dampen your cleaning cloth with electronics cleaner or isopropyl alcohol. The cloth should be damp but not wet.
- Use the cloth to clean the tops of the buttons, making sure to give each button its own wipe down.
- Dampen a cotton swab with electronics cleaner or isopropyl alcohol. The cotton swab should be damp but not wet or soaking.
- Use the cotton swab to clean around the sides of the buttons. This is where residue is particularly likely to build up over time, so pay careful attention to cleaning around each button individually.
How to clean the PS5 controller's thumb sticks and ports
By far the most difficult parts of the PS5 controller to clean are the thumb sticks. They're not only more delicate than you might think, but their shape makes it incredibly difficult to get in hard-to-reach areas. Additionally, if you're not careful, you can easily end up destroying the rubber thumb stick caps (the grippy, textured pads your thumbs rest on during gameplay). Here's how to safely clean your PS5 DualSense controller's thumb sticks:
- Begin by dampening a cleaning cloth with electronics cleaner or isopropyl alcohol. The cloth should be damp but not wet.
- Carefully use the cloth to clean the thumb stick grips — that is, the rubber pads on top. These are separate pieces and are not part of the thumb sticks themselves, so be extra careful here. It's easier than you think to tear the rubber and ruin the grips. Once that happens, they'll never be the same again. Still, you want to get all the grime that's been building up in the crevices of the textured rubber. Take your time to get the grips squeaky clean.
- Next, use the cloth to clean as much of the sticks themselves as possible. You may have to bunch the cloth up and stick it under the grips, then circle it around. You can push the sticks around to expose more of the base.
- Use a cotton swab dampened (not soaking wet) with cleaning solution to get the rest of the areas you couldn't reach.
- Lastly, use compressed air or a motorized duster to spray the entire controller, making sure the air gets into the ports, microphone holes, and crevices around and between the buttons, triggers, bumpers, and thumb sticks.
Keeping your DualSense controller clean
If you carefully followed the above instructions, your PS5 controller should now be sparkling clean. But of course, you'll need to repeat this process semi-regularly to avoid letting it get too dirty again. If you want to make the cleaning process less work in the future, there are several steps you can take to keep your controller clean:
- Consider buying a zipper case for your PS5 controller. Not only can a case prevent it from getting damaged, but it will also prevent it from getting dirtier when you're not using it.
- Wash your hands before using your controller. Most of the grime that accumulates on controllers comes from your own hands in the form of desiccated skin, natural hand oils, sweat, and the residue of whatever you touched last, be it food, machinery, or something else.
- Avoid eating while you use your controller. Snacking while you game is a common pastime, but that Doritos dust will wind up on your controller, where it can be a major pain to clean off.
- On a similar note, don't leave your controller out where it might get food or drinks spilled on it. Even if the spill doesn't damage the controller, it will be difficult to clean.
With proper care, your PS5 controller will last for many years, so while it can be tedious to care for it properly, you'll be grateful you did in the long run. New controllers aren't cheap, but taking good care of the one you already own is free.