Revive Your Mighty Mouse Scroll Ball
Written on September 27, 2008 by Jenny Kortina and 52 people have commented
I’ve mentioned this quite a few times before, but my place of employment is a Mac shop. Being a Mac shop we have dozens of Mighty “Mice” lying around. At first I did not really like the Mighty Mouse, but after using one for a few days, I came to love it. The only flaw I have found so far is that the scroll ball always stops working after a few months because of dirt build up on the sensors.
Luckily, I have found a few methods to revive your Mighty Mouse scroll ball.
- Push hard on the ball itself and scroll around
- Wipe the scroll ball with a Wet One or an alcohol prep pad while scrolling around (Anything quick drying should do the trick – just don’t get it too wet)
- Combine methods 1 and 2
There is nothing more annoying than having a broken scroll ball. Hopefully this trick helps all you frustrated Mighty Mouse users out there!
Have you found any tricks that have worked well for you?
Jamie Huskisson on September 27th, 2008 at 9:46 am
You know what’s free, doesn’t involve product placement and does a better job quicker?
Turn the mighty mouse upside down, scroll it around on a piece of paper for 5-10 seconds pushing hard and you’re done.
Easy, simple, free.
jg on June 30th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
worked perfectly. thanks!
sd on July 2nd, 2009 at 11:44 am
yes i have to agree… worked well. thanks
Galley on September 27th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I’ve heard of folks running thin strips of tape through the sensor area.
Brett on September 27th, 2008 at 9:57 am
My gripe with the mighty mouse isn’t the trackball – it’s the right click button. Unless I press down the actual SIDE of the mouse, it registers a left click. Anywhere on the top of the mouse, no matter how far to the right of the trackball is a left-click. Defect?
Staff Comment Josh Pigford, TheAppleBlog on September 27th, 2008 at 10:00 am
@Jamie: Haha, are you implying that Wet Ones paid us to post this? If so, that’s ridiculous. I wasn’t aware that we shouldn’t post tips that require you to purchase something like a common household cleaning product. But what do I know. :)
Alex on September 27th, 2008 at 10:06 am
I combined the method described by Jamie Huskisson with using a microfiber cloth and water.
The paper stuff to got most of the dirt off of the scroll ball, then the slightly damp cloth did the rest of the job.
The thing is, I never had to do this with my own Mighty Mouse, even though I bought it right after it was released.
My scroll ball has always worked perfectly.
The one I cleaned this way was my little sisters mouse.
With the MM of a friend of mine it was more difficult.
I actually had to disassemble the MM completely, to get it properly cleaned.
It was a bit tricky, but it worked out fine, and you can barely see that it was opened.
Doug on September 27th, 2008 at 10:13 am
@Brett: Mine does that too. It’s a real pain particularly in X11 stuff which doesn’t register the Crtl + left click.
The scroller stopped going upwards after about 4 weeks with mine – not too impressed about that. Hopefully some vigorous cleaning will do the trick.
Adam on September 27th, 2008 at 10:13 am
compressed air does the trick for me
Ben on September 27th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Other than the tape idea, I’ve tried all of these solutions and my MM still fails or struggles incredibly to scroll down, especially without clicking. Scrolling up never fails and is smooth as ever. Any other ideas would be appreciated. (Perhaps I need to get myself a nylon pry tool and open up.)
Jalopy on September 27th, 2008 at 10:46 am
i keep a 2″ sable brush by my mouse’s side. when things get sticky, i brush around and under the ball. works better and more consistently than the ‘paper’ trick, and doesn’t introduce any liquids.
Alex on September 27th, 2008 at 10:50 am
@Ben
Don’t forget a scalpel with a long blade.
The ring around the underside is chemically glued to the mouse on more than eight points.
That was kinda tricky.
I’d suggest u try the sable brush and compressed air way first.
Alex Muller on September 27th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I’ve tried compressed air, a knife, pushing and rolling, and I still find myself having to re-clean it every couple of weeks. Major pain.
Karsten on September 27th, 2008 at 11:17 am
i also tried all of these but didn’t find any of them any satisfying. The only thing that helped was to open the mouse and clean the 4 scrollwheels manually. Doing this i realized that they were just to dirty for the other solutions to do the trick. However, if you clean the scrollwheels, please be careful when dealing with the “wires” inside. i had one of mine cut of somehow. i had to replace the mouse back then.
Karsten
Jamie Huskisson on September 27th, 2008 at 11:44 am
@Josh – I wasn’t implying it, more of a joke. I’m just trying to say that a separate purchase isn’t necessary to clean the track ball :) Paper and some upside down madness always does the trick.
Being in the UK I’ve never heard of Wet Ones.
gp on September 27th, 2008 at 11:45 am
This worked for a while too on my MM, but after some months it was not enough. I’ve changed it with a new one, and still the same problem. Being frustrated, i’ve broken it all (now it is without the “ears” :( ) but i can open it everytime and do a well, deep cleaning iike any old mouse.
The big issue I have since always is that it is still too sensible to my finger “energy”: just put my finger very next to the cover (without touching it) and it starts clicking nevrotically. But it is just the sound, it does not anything on the computer. This seems to happen when the weather out is very dry – i guess, because I still have to figure out why it happens. It is so irritating, you cannot understand how sometimes i hate this mouse… but the feeling using it (when it reacts normally) is so good that I have still to find a better mouse.
Adam R.T. Smith on September 27th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Sick – I’ve been having this issue for a while.. totally thought it was never going to scroll downwards again! Nothing I tried worked… even the upside down on the paper thing.
After reading these comments – I tried again… and stuck with it this time, figuring it was this, which I felt like might break it at times, or get a new one. It took me a good 5 minutes of moving the mouse all over the place, upside-down scrollball to paper, before it started to work… just a bit, then more, then more… then good as new…
Thanks for this! I never knew how much I used the scrollball until it stopped working!
Jay on September 27th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I tried a bunch of things incl. opening up the mouse and hand cleaning the scroll ball.
Best fix for me is using a can of compressed air. Push down the button and a few nice blows of air and my MM works like a charm. I do have to repeat every couple of months though. But since it’s only a 1 minute job, it sure beats opening it up and dicking around with those damn small parts inside ;-)
Ben on September 27th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Wow! Thanks all for your comments, especially Adam. I chose a pad of softer paper and scrolled back and forth and around. Pressing really hard caused the dirt to reveal itself and now my ball scrolls good as new in all directions. No need to buy compressed air nor deconstruction tools. Yay!
Brian on September 27th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Wow! Adam, thank you so much. I took a hard paper cover on the outside a magazine ( you know the type that ask you to resubscribe) and it works like a charm again. I thought it would never work again. Thank you! Thank you!
Jugger Grimrodd on September 27th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
The “turn the mouse upside down and roll” trick has worked for me every time. It’s a solid product design with one flaw – Apple didn’t make it “Snack Proof”.
Damn my Cheezie/chip addiction!
Ian on September 27th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I used the paper method on two MM’s. In the end, I had to do it on a daily basis as It’d stop working over night for some reason.
Finally, on one of them, I totally screwed the mouse ball. It sat semi-depressed inside of its closure. Wouldn’t respond to scrolling or clicking.
I threw it away and purchased a (very ugly, non mac-like) Logitech scroll wheel mouse.
If you do use the paper method, this could happen to you too!
Jeff on September 27th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I have returned five or six Mighty Mouse™s for this very reason; Apple has always been great to replace it for free. However, the last time I called, I was given their *official* fix for this problem: denim.
You heard me right. Apple’s official response to the “dead scrollball” problem is to turn the mouse upside down and rub it briskly on a pair of jeans. And you know what? They’re right. :-)
Ben Drucker on September 27th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I found cleaning with a microfiber cloth by putting a lot of pressure on the scroll ball and rubbing it back and forth kept the Mighty Mouse working, as long as I did it every one or two weeks. Sometimes I’d use some rubbing alchohol. After about 6 months, that didn’t even work. I took the mouse apart using some online instructions. The magnets around the scroll ball were so completely covered in dirt that they just looked like brown clumps, and none of the magnet was visible. I totally cleaned the magnets and the scroll ball, haphazardly put the mouse back together, and voila, it worked. It’s really not the scroll ball that’s getting the dirtiest, it’s the magnets. I guess when they are covered in ernough dirt they don’t work correctly.
I had to do this every 3 months to keep the scroll ball working. Eventually I got tired of it and bought a refurbished Logitech MX Revolution which cost me $40 at the time (They now run $60). I am much happier with the Logitech mouse, and my Mighty Mouse has now been sitting in a drawer for a few months.
Staff Comment James Kendrick, TheAppleBlog on September 27th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
All you need is a blank piece of white paper:
http://www.jkontherun.com/2007/05/how_to_unstick_.html
Jasper on September 28th, 2008 at 3:28 am
Rub it on your jeans! It’s the only way!
(it probably isn’t the only way)
John Pash on September 28th, 2008 at 5:05 am
I’ve tried anything and everything to clean my mouse balls (I have two mice). What I’ve found that while the paper trick and the rubbing it on your leg trick and the compressed air trick do sometimes work, but are not a long term solution. You MUST take it apart at some time. The amount of gunk, oil and fibers clogging those tiny little magnet wheels could be rolled up and shaped into a mouse (the fuzzy kind). It was absolutely disgusting. And I’m not the type of person who has sweaty hands or eats at my computer. In fact, I’m a bit of a clean freak. So get out those razor blade and super glue and get ready for a long evening of squinting and cursing. But remember, the first time is the worst. It gets easier by the 5th operation.
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Kevin on September 29th, 2008 at 1:43 am
To all you posting up above about the mouse not registering right-clicking, it’s not a defect, it’s the way the mouse was engineered. Because of the pressure sensors on the left click spot, whenever there is a finger there, it will register it was a right click. You have to actually lift your finger off that side of the mouse for clicks on the right to register as a right-click. Try it.
Craigiebaby on September 29th, 2008 at 2:45 am
I’m on my fourth MM now – all have had to be replaced because of the scroll ball.
I’ve tried all methods of cleaning (don’t work) & if you take it apart – well… lets just say it’s never quite the same again.
Luckily – work pays for the new ones… : )
Aristotelis on September 29th, 2008 at 6:14 am
For me the upside down trick works very good, especially when I use the black piece of cloth that apple includes with every mac. Works even better if you spray on it some cleaning class spray
Ramacher on October 1st, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Whichever method you use (wet ones, alcohol pad, damp cloth, etc) make sure its not too wet!
The apple store instructed me to lay down a alcohol pad and push the ball down onto it moving it in different directions. I did that and later noticed that clicking down on the ball wasn’t working. Rather than taking it in for a warranty replacement i decided to open it up.
I found that liquid had gotten inside and damaged the part that detects the clicking of the ball.
SO just a heads up i guess. Other than that, great tips.
dave on October 6th, 2008 at 1:34 am
The upside down trick works best.
OWEN on October 10th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Thanks a lot!:-D
Charles on October 14th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Having replaced 2 MM under guarantee rather than taking them apart – the second one the scroll ball was pushed down into the mouse from too much pressure while trying to clean it by rubbing upside-down on paper – I wasn’t too hopeful, but I lay a few sheets of white paper on the cloth that came with the computer (to provide a little cushioning) and after 10 minutes of rubbing the mouse upside-down in all directions the scroll-ball finally began working again.
Mirko on October 15th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
My mighty mouse stopped scrolling down after a few months, too, and after reading several of the posts here I simply decided to blow hard onto the scroll ball — and it did the trick :-)
oleg on October 28th, 2008 at 3:52 am
Worked for me. Cheers :)
Dan on November 5th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Rolling around on paper worked, just had to get a little aggressive with it.
Best of Luck
Joao on November 6th, 2008 at 4:24 am
It work perfectly thanks for the advice :D
Brian on November 30th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Another vote for the upside-down smush it on your desk for 5-10 seconds! Thanks!
Barry on December 5th, 2008 at 9:57 am
OK I had tried the pressing down method … nothing happened , then went to your site and felt you gave me the back up to press down really hard . Yikes it worked …. Thanks for the support …. Barry
ratboyy on January 12th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
“Push hard on the ball itself and scroll around.”
Did this, and after just a few seconds it’s good as new.
dhorn92 on January 26th, 2009 at 11:08 am
For something that is so expensive, it shouldn’t require such high maintenance that potentially leads to disassembling the mouse. I loved using this mouse in the store but after reading all the scroll ball issues it’s had I wouldn’t give more than $20 for it. I’ve got two MX Revolutions right now, but one recently died on me. I’m looking for something new to go with my MacBookPro, and keeping the other MX Revolution for my desktop PC at work.
I’m trying to decide between the slimblade media mouse by kensington (with 360 degree scroll ball) or the VX Revolution (notebook version of my current desktop mouse).
The main point is I want something good for design with long battery life that fits nicely in a laptop bag… any suggestions?
Kevin on February 24th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
THANKS!!! Wow, my scroll ball didn’t go up for the last 6 months, upside down on the paper hard for about 15 seconds and now as good as new. What a pain not being able to scroll up has been. Thanks so much!
webgirl on April 7th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
I could not get my MM to scroll down for anything! I checked the batteries but I had full power.I tried everything but,,,,
Mirko had the best solution….just blow really hard on the scroll ball.
It really DOES work.
LOLguy on April 8th, 2009 at 6:49 am
This works well, as does the “upside down trick”.
Just wanted to add, as this happened to me just now, if you are showing someone how to zoom in on your desktop (using Control + scrollball, for example), going to maximum zoon and your scrollball decides then and there to stop working when rolling DOWN, click apple menu -> system preferences -> keyboard & mouse and uncheck the “zoom using scrollball while holding…” to bring you back to normal, then you can google “mighty mouse scroll ball not working” and find this helpful tip!
That said, my question to everyone is, when your scrollball doesn’t work, it is always just not scrolling DOWN because it looks like some others (webgirl for example) had the same problem.
Michael Logue on May 31st, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I have no problem cleaning the gunk off the scroll ball, but now I notice that there is a small ding on the ball so that the rolling is no longer smooth. Does any one know how to get a replacemnt ball from Apple?
Logan on June 2nd, 2009 at 11:16 pm
OMG. So glad I found this! I was gunna go buy a new mouse cause I love the track “ball” so much!!! Theres not many mouses that go left and right. Sorry… my inner nerd is coming out on how excited I was to find this.
Logan on June 2nd, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Oh an yes mine wasn’t working when it scrolled down. Then I started cleaning it with alcohol… then it wouldnt go up but would go down. Then I found the upside-down trick… and it works amazing.
hello, friend. on June 9th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
lol. so the down scroll wasn’t working and i tried cleaning it with a wet wipe.
it scrolled down but not UP anymore!
so thank you to Jamie Huskisson as well for the paper idea – it worked great.
hopefully it lasts.