Fixing The Scroll on your Dead Mighty Mouse

I have a love hate relationship with my mighty mouse. I’m still not convinced the side buttons are useful, but the scroll click has successfully worked its way into my workflow.

I’ve had two mighty mouses in the past two months, and was about ready to give up on them all together. The scroll wheel got pushed in on the first one to the point it would no longer scroll down. This was frustrating enough to replace it.

A few minutes ago, my second mighty mouse scroll down stopped working as well. I was about ready to throw it across the room, until I decided to see if anyone else was having my problem. Turns out this is a big problem with Mighty Mouses.

The general consensus is the gunk from your fingers gets caught in the scrollwheel, causing the ball to stop scrolling.

Because Apple doesn’t provide an easy way to open the Mighty Mouse for cleaning, we’re left trying the following voodoo.

With some elbow grease and a little luck I was able to get mine working again (for now).

Here are the steps for cleaning your Mighty Mouse. I would do all of these for at least 5 minutes each before giving up.

Alcohol Pad

This was my first approach. Take a wet wipe or alcohol pad and drag it over your scroll-wheel. I’d did each direction for 2 1/2 minutes. This seemed to help a little, but didn’t completely fix the problem.

Can of Air

Then I grabbed a can of air and sprayed it while the scroll-wheel was pressed. I tried to move the air around the ball to knock any debris away. This seemed to do very little for me, but seemed to help others.

Roll it Around Upside Down

Hold the mouse upside down and move the scroll-wheel around. Like the can of air, this did very little for me–but some users have reported success with this method.

Press Firmly and Move Scroll-wheel

This is the method that finally worked for me. I was about ready to give up but decided I would give this method a shot. I held the clicker down and firmly moved the scroll-wheel around for a couple of minutes.

This seemed like the opposite of what I would want to do. By pressing firmly I thought it would jam more gunk into the tight areas–but it actually worked.

I used this method with the alcohol pad as well and now my mouse works as if it were brand new.

Try These Before Replacing Your Mighty Mouse

These methods may or may not work for you depending on the condition of your mouse. It’s important to try all of the methods for a couple of minutes each before giving up. The first 3 methods I tried didn’t work as well as the last method, and I was about to throw in the towel.

Similar Posts:

• Easy Zoom with a Trackpad or Scroll Wheel
• Mighty Mouse Button-Mapping
• Fast Forward and Rewind With the Trackpad
• Two Fingered Scroll
• iPhone-esque Scrolling For the Rest of Us

I Like This Tip!

Written by Brad Jasper on April 10, 2008 at 6:00 am - Fixing The Scroll on your Dead Mighty Mouse has 18 comments - Categorized in Easy Tips, Hardware Tips

18 Responses to “Fixing The Scroll on your Dead Mighty Mouse”

1. 
   Matt Jones
   There is another option....be sure to purchase apple care and send it back! That is what I did after mine gunked up after six months. The above tricks stalled me for about a week at a time, but it continued after that. Good luck! April 10th, 2008 at 6:34 am
   
   
2. 
   Al
   Use a little soap and water on a cloth. Roll the ball sideways and up and down for a minute or two. Get a dry cloth and repeat the process.
   
   Do it all again every couple weeks as preventative maintenance. Frequency depends on amount of daily mouse usage.
   
   Works every time. April 10th, 2008 at 7:50 am
   
   
3. 
   Ouriel
   you forgot the most important trick with the mighty mouse : change the batteries.... April 10th, 2008 at 8:07 am
   
   
4. 
   Ayokunle
   This happened to me just a few seconds ago (this is like the 3rd time)i tried the all these methods, except the alcohol pad, but the only thing that works for me is turning the mouse upside down and banging it on the desk (very gently) April 10th, 2008 at 9:11 am
   
   
5. 
   Charlie
   Everyday I turn my mouse upside down and use a dry paper towel and roll the ball in all directions for about a minute and that helps but I do it every day, just for my own satisfaction. Apple should really come out with a new design for Mighty Mouse since a lot of people have this problem. A lot of other different brands of mice do not have this problem. You would think that Apple would not want their customers buying other brands of mice and fix this Mighty Mouse problem that has been around since Mighty Mouse came out. April 10th, 2008 at 10:13 am
   
   
6. 
   Brad Jasper
   Interesting to see so many MacTips users having the same problem.
   
   Matt, I wasn't aware Apple Care covered the mouse. Good to know.
   
   Ouriel, That is a good suggestion--but these were tips for a dead scrollwheel. If your entire mouse is dead, yes I would suggest checking the batteries.
   
   Ayokunie, Different methods work for different people. I've only really had success with rolling the ball around forcefully--but it's good to know there's a couple options out there.
   
   Charlie, I was very close to swearing off the Mighty Mouse all together. When the scrollwheel works I love it. But the fact that it has this issue is frustrating. April 10th, 2008 at 10:25 am
   
   
7. 
   Felipe
   Well I tried some of those methods and didn't work pretty well, what I suggest is to open the mighty mouse and clean the ball but the small magnetic "things" and then it works like new. One thing be careful when open the mighty mouse, I cut a finger... :p but is not difficult April 10th, 2008 at 11:57 am
   
   
8. 
   Juan
   I use a vacuum cleaner plus all other actions mentioned. April 10th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
   
   
9. 
   Travis Jeffery
   The Mighty Mouse is one of the worst products made, ever. Save yourself a lot of time and effort and just go buy a nice Logitech or even Microsoft mouse. April 10th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
   
   
10. 
    Michael Zhao
    @ Travis: too bad those don't come free with an Apple computer... April 10th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
    
    
11. 
    Derek
    For me, it has always sorted itself out eventually, usually with some assistance, with both I have owned (the first had a fateful rendezvous with gravity and the floor).
    
    I'm surprised nobody has yet mentioned the floss method, and that it wasn't in the article; looping some floss around the ball and running it under and around. Something waxless, non-minty (and therefore not sticky) works best. I've used it myself with mixed results. Also, if you're more adventureous, there are more invasive procedures: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-clean-your-Apple-Mighty-Mouse/ April 11th, 2008 at 12:08 am
    
    
12. 
    Brad Jasper
    This just happened again on mine.
    
    I was able to fix it pretty quickly combining some of these methods.
    
    Hold the Mighty Mouse upside down and while holding the clicker down roll the ball around on an alcohol wipe. Move it in every direction for about a minute.
    
    Then roll it around on a dry cloth.
    
    Works like new. April 12th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
    
    
13. 
    redsteven
    I really don't think it's that difficult to deal with.... maybe I'm just really lucky, but when I occasionally have this problem, the "roll around upside down" thing works EVERY time for me.
    
    To elaborate on it...
    
    Grab a cloth (a microfiber cloth is ideal, if available) and place the mighty mouse on it upside down so that the scroll ball is in contact with the cloth. Now grab the mouse and move it in little circles so that the scroll ball is rolling against the cloth. Within 20 seconds your mouse should be fine.
    
    I've had a mighty mouse for two years now and this method has never failed me. April 13th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
    
    
14. 
    ebuychance
    I had a the same problem last Fall and googled around. To my surprise pressing down firmly does work quite well. Rather than get mad and 'throw it across the room' get mad and press down really hard while scrolling in random directions. It took less than a month to gum up the first time, and this fix lasts several weeks to a month. I would not recommend the alcohol or water/soap methods however. I assume any liquids could leave a residue and void the the warranty. Since the mighty mouse costs $100 I would again assume Apple care is there. April 27th, 2008 at 7:39 am
    
    
15. 
    Mark Anthony
    Redsteven is right!
    
    You must absolutely get a MICROFIBER cloth. Turn it upside down, and move the ball up a few times and then down a few times, and repeat. Within 30 seconds your mouse will be fine! You can also use a bit of iKlear.
    
    I use to have major problems with my mouse. But the above method WORKS all of the time, when it stops working. April 30th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
    
    
16. 
    Milos
    MICROFIBER cloth works just fine. Thanks for the tip. June 3rd, 2008 at 8:21 pm
    
    
17. 
    Prama
    wow! youre right, fixed it with the last method...
    but stuck again 5 minutes later, fixed it again with the same method :P
    wonder why???
    
    thanks anyway June 21st, 2008 at 8:25 am
    
    
18. 
    AP
    I work as a consultant and today I was brought in to an ad agency to work at the FILTHIEST desk I have ever seen — years of dust and bits of food everywhere [gag]. I was cleaning up a bit and then sat down to work and noticed the scroll wheel on the MM would only scroll UP, not down. I googled this and found this page. What a great help, MM is now working fine. I noticed the upside down, roll around trick worked best, with firm pressure. Also used a bit of LCD cleaning solution in the process.
    
    My MM at home I've had for almost a year with no problems; I've worked with them on many a job site, also no problems. So, just a thought based on my experience today: it might help to keep the dirt and grime out of the scroll wheel apparatus in the first place? July 21st, 2008 at 11:42 am
    
    

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