How to clean the ball on my computer mouse?

First, unplug the mouse. Next, there is a plate encircling the mouse ball, probably with an arrow pointing around one or both directions. Twist that plate to the left (counterclockwise) and it will come off...be careful, the mouse ball will probably escape and roll across the floor. Clean the ball itself with some alcohol, but that's not the hard part... Look inside the mouse, you'll find two long (about 1/2 inch) plastic bars and one narrow plastic wheel. All three will be covered in plaque around the middle. You'll need to take some cotton swabs and alcohol and clean all that plaque off. You may want to carefully scrape some of it off with a toothpick or something similar. Once all those elements are clean, let the mouse sit for about 1/2 hour, put the ball back in, and put the plate back on. Depending on the amount of alcohol you used, and the amount of time you let it dry, it may still be somewhat unresponsive. If so, let it sit for a while again.  more