Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

mentaluproar

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 25, 2010
1,784
238
Ohio, USA
I keep finding ants crawling around my mac. I found two crushed between the keyboard and the screen in class today! They are nowhere else in the apartment. Why are they after my macbook? Is there a way to get rid of them?
 
Probably shouldn't have munched those cookies while working with the laptop ;) In all honesty, this is one of the most bizarre issues I have ever seen on these forums :D Maybe a queen got in? I'd try unscrewing the bottom case and trying to see if there is something in the filter etc. that you can see/clean.
 
I keep finding ants crawling around my mac. I found two crushed between the keyboard and the screen in class today! They are nowhere else in the apartment. Why are they after my macbook? Is there a way to get rid of them?

Based on personal experience, they can be after one (or all) of three things: sugar, protein, or water/cold areas. While there's not much you can do about the last one (the aluminum body of the MBP gets pretty cold when not in use), you can do something about the other two. Try your best to clean out the surface of your MBP and maybe vacuum out whatever crud may be lying underneath the keyboard.
 
Based on personal experience, they can be after one (or all) of three things: sugar, protein, or water/cold areas. While there's not much you can do about the last one (the aluminum body of the MBP gets pretty cold when not in use), you can do something about the other two. Try your best to clean out the surface of your MBP and maybe vacuum out whatever crud may be lying underneath the keyboard.

and when your done vacumming your keyboard.......you can rinse the internals off with water...

halt and catch fire.
 
I dont eat above the laptop, but the wireless keyboard and touchpad, yes. I do clean up afterwards, very carefully. I don't want to put out ant baits because we have a cat, and I dont want a bunch of dead ants in the macbook.

I open up the macbook a week or so ago to upgrade the wireless card and it was just fine, aside from some dust.
 
I noticed a handful of ants near my machine a few months ago. After some investigation I found that they were using the desk as a "scenic route" to get to a nearby rubbish bin. I moved the bin to the other side of the room (and put down some of that spray stuff in its new location) and that made them uninterested in the computer.

Is there potentially something similar nearby that could be attracting them?
 
Ants will be going after food in most cases. Same thing with rodents ... All those critters are looking for food, water, or shelter, or a combo of one or more.

Clean your room, and vacuum it. Also, clean the keyboard. If there are crumbs under the keys that are attracting the ants, not much you can do short of removing the keyboard and cleaning it, other than maybe giving it a good dose of compressed air in the hopes that it's enough to get the crumbs out (and then clean up those crumbs afterwards with a vacuum.)

As a preventative measure, don't leave your system near areas where you eat, where ants can be most likely found like outside, or keep the work area clean.
 
Baking soda - deters ants, doesn't hurt cats

I don't want to put out ant baits because we have a cat, and I dont want a bunch of dead ants in the macbook.

If you have a cat, and also want to deter ants, an effective solution I used every spring for many years (when the ants would start appearing) was to use baking soda. Ants won't cross a line of baking soda. A line of baking soda around the edge of a room will prevent the ants coming in. Also cats will show no interest in it (our two didn't). The best approach though, is to observe carefully where the ants are entering, they normally make "trails" towards food sources, rubbish bins, etc. If you can locate these lines, you can then use the baking soda more sparingly to block their entrance to your home.
 
Axeros, there is a window right behind my desk so they are probably coming in that way. I see them so sporadically though.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.