This guide covers how to make your keyboard quiet.
Let’s get into the post to know how.
It’s no surprise that keyboards can be loud and sometimes very annoying for your roommates and co-workers.
Pressing a key makes a loud, clicky sound that other people in your room can even hear.
A quiet keyboard is a must-have whether you’re working in an office, a college, or in your own house.
Quieter keyboards not only provide you with peace of mind but also give you a better typing experience.
It’s such good news that there are countless modifications you can do to help your keyboard make less noise.
You can modify your existing keyboard, and you don’t have to throw it out and buy a new one.
There are several ways that may help us make our keyboard quieter.
In this article, let us see some of the tricks by which we can make a keyboard make less noise so that you can work in peace without disturbing anyone around you.
1. Use a desk mat
One of the easiest ways to reduce the sound of your keyboard is using a desk mat underneath.
It’s obvious that when you press the buttons on your keyboard, the keyboard vibrates and produces a certain sound.
Placing a desk mat under your keyboard will dampen the sound of your typing, eventually making it less noisy.
These mats usually come with a rubber bottom and a cloth top.
You have to try this simplest solution that does not require hard work, and it may also be the cheapest of all the tricks to make your keyboard quieter.
Trust me! The difference will be noticeable. All you have to do is go buy a good desk mat either online or in-store.
2. Add foam
This method of adding foam inside your keyboard will require a bit of technical work for you.
But it shouldn’t be a problem if it’s making the annoying sound of your keyboard quieter.
Adding foam will reduce the vibrations of your keyboard, which in turn lowers the overall volume.
All you will need is a screwdriver and a piece of foam.
Many foam options are available in the market, such as Sorbothane, Neoprene, Shelf-liner, and Packing foam.
To install these foams inside, unscrew the keyboard and place the foam between your PCB and bottom case.
Depending on what type of keyboard you use, it can be a simple or a complicated task.
Some keyboards require a few screws to be removed, while for others, you may have to remove plastic clips around the edges.
When you’re done placing the foam inside, it will reduce the shaking and vibration noise.
This quieter keyboard will give you a better feeling while working, and it will also be less distracting for the people working around you.
3. Rubber O-rings
Another simple solution to reduce the sound produced by your keyboard is to install rubber O-rings.
These rubber O-rings get installed super easily around the stems of the switches under the keycaps.
All you have to do is remove the keycaps and slide the rings onto the switches.
You will find a wide variety of O-rings online in different colors.
This technique requires no major technical work, and they are also incredibly easy to install.
You will notice a major reduction in the sound produced by your keyboard.
Eventually, it will make your colleagues and your mind stress-free by staying away from distracting noise.
4. Usage of lubricants
Another awesome way to reduce the noise from your keyboard is to use a lubricant.
Lubricating can be the best way to improve the sound and feel of your keyboard.
This process may be time-consuming, but you will notice a great change in the sound and feel of your keyboard.
When you start typing, the spring and stem of each switch rub against each other, which creates friction.
This friction creates vibration, eventually becoming the cause of the noise.
To make this typing process smoother and quieter, you must use a lubricant.
So, lubricant will play an important role in letting you do your work in peace and silence.
All you have to do is remove the switches from your keyboard, open them, lubricate them, assemble them again, and finally reinstall them.
5. Replace your switches
Last but not least, you have the option of replacing the switches.
Some keyboards are even noisier because they have loud and clicky switches.
Clicky switches are made to be loud.
You can always replace those clicky switches with quieter ones.
Getting quieter switches can be your best bet to reduce the noise.
6. Modify key stabilizers
You must have noticed that the keys on the keyboard are of different sizes.
There are some big keys, like a spacebar which have stabilizers.
This is also one of the causes of noise produced by your keyboard.
To solve this problem, take your keyboard apart, use any soft material like a Band-Aid to add a cushion, and take off those parts of the stabilizer that strike the circuit board.
You can also add some lubrication.
This will, for sure, help in reducing the sound produced by your keyboard.
Conclusion
As you can see from the above article, it is possible to make your keyboard quieter by following very simple steps.
Try adopting whichever trick works for you. If any of them stops working for you, there’s always another option.
Following all the steps carefully will give you a super stealthy keyboard.
No longer will you disturb your spouse and co-workers!
The use of a desk mat, O-rings, and foam is the easiest of all the solutions to make your keyboard super satisfying and silent to use.
But it would be more appropriate to try the harder mods to see which mod best works for your keyboard.
Don’t forget, the user of a silent keyboard is the happiest typist!
So, what are you waiting for?
Go ahead, and use these tricks to make your work life quitter and stress-free by making your keyboard silent.