Whether you use your computer for typing work or are a serious gamer, using a keyboard that makes noise can be annoying to the extent of affecting your productivity.
You would be wondering, why would a keyboard make noise?
First, mechanical keyboards are designed to make noise when you press the keys. However, the noise isn’t annoying at all. After some years of use, the keyboard might add some frictional noise and become rough.
The noise can also be attributed to the keyboard case structure that is made of plastic and aluminum. Keyboard switches are also capable of causing pinging noise.
Even with such noise, there are DIY actions that you can implement to make your keyboard better.
Here, we consider why keyboards make noise and their corresponding solutions.
Why Keyboards Make Noise?
Below are reasons why your keyboard might be making some noise:
1. Keyboard Empty Spaces
Thanks to the empty spaces in the keys, your keyboard might be making noise. Any friction between plastic pieces will also cause vibrations that emit sounds.
Empty spaces in the keycaps create a big room for echos. This translates into loud sounds the moment you press the keys.
If plastic pieces in your keyboard keep rattling against each other, there are some DIY solutions you should implement, as we’ll highlight below.
However, the main solution would be to lessen empty spaces in the keys to dampen the sound.
2. Clicking Directly On The Desk
It’s a proven fact that you can increase the noise from your keyboard if you click furiously and directly on your desk. The friction between the desk’s surface and the keyboard produces a loud sound.
The noise will even be louder if your desk is rough. As we’ll see, the best solution would be to use a soft material between your external keyboard and desk.
3. The Switches Are Sticky
There is a high chance you have encountered sticky switches before. Keyboards are designed with perfect switches that might require some TLC to keep their sound in good shape.
If you notice that the switches produce annoying noise, it is time to lubricate them. This is something you can do yourself or contact a professional to help you.
4. Keyboard Stabilizers Are Unstable
There are keyboard keys that are designed with keyboard stabilizers. Most of the time, the stabilizers hold large keys in place.
They’re designed on the backspace, shift, spacebar, and enter keys.
If the stabilizers lose their stability by any chance, your keyboard will produce a lot more noise than you’re used to.
Most gamers decide to purchase a new keyboard once they encounter this problem. They don’t know that they can work on their keyboard to become effective again. This involves restabilizing the stabilizers.
5. Keycap Types
There are two common keycaps used for keyboards. These include the PBT and ABS. The two are designed with different and unique sounds.
For instance, PBT is the best option for clack and click quality. However, it’s also the most expensive option. The good thing about PBT is that it lasts longer compared to ABS.
You’ll find PBT being more rigid and thicker, resulting in louder sounds.
On the other hand, ABS is designed from cheaper plastics. They emit less noise but have a higher pitch.
The type of keycap you choose will determine whether or not you’ll have loud noises.
It’s also important to understand that the switches under the keycaps are designed differently. Some are meant to be silent, while others are designed to be loud.
For instance, most mechanical gaming keyboards come with standard switches that present moderate sounds. Gamers prefer such keyboards because they get tactile confirmation that they pressed the button.
However, the confirmation produces annoying noises to some users.
6. You’ve Enabled Toggle or Sticky Keys
There are times when your keyboard produces some sounds when you type. In such a case, there is a high chance that you have enabled the toggle or sticky keys.
The solution would be to disable the keys.
How To Fix Keyboard Noises?
Fixing keyboard noises can be straightforward if you understand the procedure. However, we recommend approaching a technician to help you out where you can’t. Check out the following tips for a DIY:
Disable Toggle or Sticky Sounds
As we have seen above, there is a chance that your toggle or sticky keys are enabled. It’s time to disable them to eliminate the sounds they produce.
First, go to settings, then choose language and input. You can then choose the configure input methods option.
Proceed to the Android keyboard, then choose settings. Under this option, uncheck the “sound on” keypress.
At this point, the toggle and sticky keys are disabled, and your keyboard won’t produce any sounds.
Lubricating switches is among the most effective solutions to limiting your keyboard noise. Applying a lubricant will help to limit friction between the switch stem and spring.
However, adding lubricants to your keyboard switches might be time-consuming and difficult, especially if you don’t have the required skills.
Avoid over lubing your keyboard switches since it can cause them to be resistant. Also, go for the lubricant that complies with your keyboard material. Most keyboards are made from plastic.
We recommend approaching a professional technician to help you out.
Employing O-Rings and Foam
O-rings are critical in keyboards for dampening the noise resulting from key presses. You need to remove keycaps and install o-rings one at a time. With each keystroke, you’ll now hear limited or no noise.
However, using o-rings might make the keys sloppy with time. This calls for frequent replacements.
Apart from o-rings, we also recommend using foam on your keyboard. Foam is known for reducing the vibrational noise emanating from the keyboard.
Foam is cheaper than o-rings, with the only challenge being that it’s time-consuming to install.
If you settle on using foam, we recommend going for Neoprene and Sobrathane.
Place A Softer Material Between The Desk and Keyboard
As we have seen, your keyboard might be producing noise because you have placed it directly on your desk. You need to place a softer material between your external keyboard and desk.
Here, we recommend using a mouse pad. If you have enough money, you can buy a desk mat for this purpose.
Buy A New Keyboard
Your keyboard might be producing annoying noises because it’s old and damaged. Sometimes, the repair cost could be more than that of purchasing a new one.
We, therefore, recommend that you invest in a new and quieter keyboard.
We all know that a keyboard that produces noise can be very annoying and less efficient.
And it might be producing noise thanks to empty keyboard spaces, sticky switches, enabled toggle keys, unstable keyboard stabilizers, among other causes.
Therefore, you should make an effort to reduce or eliminate them. This is possible by disabling toggle keys, lubricating switches, employing o-rings, placing a softer material under the keyboard, or disposing of your noisy keyboard.
Please involve a professional technician if you can’t do any of the above-suggested solutions by yourself.