How do you clean dust out of a PS5 according to the manufacturer? Unplug the power cable, wipe the console with a soft dry cloth and vacuum the dust from the vents with a low-power handheld vacuum. Sony itself recommends that vacuum in the manual, and it also advises removing the outer covers and vacuuming the dust underneath. You don’t go further than the covers, and that’s the difference between maintenance and a voided warranty.
What to use and what not to use
| Item | What Sony says about it |
|---|---|
| Soft dry cloth | recommended way to wipe the outer surfaces of the console and the controller |
| Low-power handheld vacuum | recommended for dust in the vents and under the covers |
| Damp cloth | Sony only mentions a dry one; it neither allows nor forbids a damp one |
| Alcohol, thinner, benzene | explicitly prohibited |
| Chemically treated wipes | explicitly prohibited |
| Insecticides and volatile substances | explicitly prohibited, including spraying them on the console |
| Compressed air | Sony doesn’t comment on it; it isn’t mentioned in the manuals or on the support pages |
That last row deserves a closer look, because most guides online treat it differently. Sony neither recommends nor forbids compressed air; it simply doesn’t mention it anywhere. The only dust removal method in its official materials is a low-power handheld vacuum. Anyone claiming that Sony has banned compressed air is putting words in the manufacturer’s mouth.
Cleaning without taking anything apart
- Turn off the console and unplug the power cable from the outlet. Sony lists this as the first step for safety reasons, even when cleaning connected accessories.
- Let the console cool down. Don’t touch it right after playing.
- Wipe the outer surfaces with a soft dry cloth. You wipe the controller the same way.
- Vacuum the dust from the vents with a low-power handheld vacuum. Sony stresses that you shouldn’t let dust build up on the vents.
- Check the ports and connectors. According to Sony, dirty ones shouldn’t be used, and you wipe them with a dry cloth.
If you’re cleaning discs along with the console, wipe them with a soft cloth from the center outward. Solvents, record cleaners, antistatic sprays and other chemicals don’t belong on them.
Removing the covers differs by model
This is where the differences start, and you need to keep track of them, or you’ll end up prying at the cover looking for clips that are somewhere else. The PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro have four covers, each with a different shape, but they all come off the same way, and markings on the inside show which way they go. The original 2020 PS5 has two covers, and Sony describes a different process for it: you have to take the console off its stand and lay it on its side. If you’re not sure which model you have at home, our overview of which PS5 edition to buy and the PS5 vs PS5 Pro comparison will help.
The process for the Slim and Pro according to Sony:
- Turn off the console through the control center.
- Unplug the power and all other cables and let the console cool down.
- Place it upside down with the front facing you and remove the feet.
- Lift the cover so the clips release, then take it off.
- Use the handheld vacuum to remove the dust that has collected under the cover.
- Put the cover back on following the markings on its inside until you hear a click.
- Reattach the feet and plug the power back in.
The same process is used when installing a drive, so if an SSD storage upgrade for your PS5 is also on your list, take care of both at once.
Dust ports: they exist, but be careful with the numbers
The PS5 has a built-in dust port, and Sony confirms that every generation of the console has one: in the PS5 Pro teardown it literally says “just like previous PS5 models”. What’s interesting is where you won’t find it: the term “dust catcher” doesn’t appear in any official manual, not for the original PS5, the Slim or the Pro. Sony only uses it in teardown articles on its blog.
So there’s no way to verify how many of these ports each console has. The numbers circulating on websites come from a single teardown video, and Sony has never confirmed them in writing. The practical impact is zero: the only cleaning process Sony officially describes is removing the covers and vacuuming the dust caught underneath.
Where to stop
Removing the covers is an official user task: Sony devotes a chapter of the manual to it and describes it as part of maintenance. Opening the console itself is something else, and the manual forbids it with a sentence worth quoting: there are no user-serviceable parts inside, and because of the risk of electric shock, the casing must not be opened.
This ties directly to the warranty. Unauthorized modification of the console or accessories voids the warranty. Removing the covers and installing an SSD don’t fall under that sentence, because Sony itself publishes both processes as user guides. Taking things apart beyond the covers, however, isn’t covered by any official guide. Be just as careful with the controller, where stick module replacement only applies to the Edge model; the details are in the article on how to fix DualSense drift.
Three things Sony specifically stresses about the covers:
- Never turn on the console without a cover. The manual mentions the risk of fire, electric shock and malfunction.
- Don’t remove the cover right after playing. Wait until the console has cooled down.
- Don’t carry the console by the cover. It can come unclipped and the console will fall.
Above all, keep the dust from getting in
The most effective part of cleaning happens before you pick up a cloth. Sony lists four conditions for placing the console: leave at least 10 cm of space from the wall, don’t put it on a long-pile carpet, don’t squeeze it into a tight space and don’t cover it with fabric. A console placed in a closed cabinet sucks in its own warm air along with the dust, and vacuuming won’t fix that.
The PS5 first-time setup guide covers this too, because the spot where you put the console at the start usually doesn’t change. What you surround the console with also helps: stands and docking stations from our overview of PS5 accessories change the airflow around it.
When cleaning is enough and when it isn’t
- Vacuuming makes sense when the console is louder than before and you can see buildup on the vents. Sony mentions vacuuming dust from around the vents specifically in its help article on console noise.
- Removing the covers makes sense when vacuuming the surface isn’t enough. It’s an official process, not a hardware modification.
- Taking it apart any further makes no sense for anyone who wants to stay eligible for repairs. Send a console with a more serious problem in for service, not onto the kitchen table.
- Cleaning won’t fix a defect. If the console shuts down, or overheats even after cleaning and in a well-ventilated spot, it’s a fault that a cloth won’t fix. Documented at-home steps for when your PS5 won’t turn on are in a separate guide.
FAQ
Unplug the power cable, let the console cool down and wipe it with a soft dry cloth. Vacuum the dust from the vents with a low-power handheld vacuum; Sony recommends it in both the manual and its help pages. Wipe dirty ports with a dry cloth and don’t use them until they’re clean.
Sony doesn’t comment on compressed air; it isn’t mentioned in any manual or on the support pages. It neither recommends nor forbids it. The only dust removal method Sony describes is a low-power handheld vacuum, so stick with that.
On the PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro, turn off the console, unplug the cables, place it upside down with the front facing you, remove the feet and lift the cover so the clips release. Put it back on following the markings inside until you hear a click. The original PS5 has two covers and is taken off its stand and laid on its side.
No. Sony describes removing the covers in its own manual as part of maintenance and drive installation, so it isn’t an unauthorized modification. The warranty is only voided by work not covered by any official guide; the manual explicitly forbids opening the console casing.
Alcohol, thinner, benzene, insecticides, volatile substances or chemically treated wipes. Sony also forbids spraying these products on the console. Solvents, record cleaners and antistatic sprays don’t belong on discs either; you only wipe them with a soft cloth from the center outward.
Information verified as of 7 August 2026. The manuals differ between generations: the handheld vacuum and cover removal recommendations were only added with the CFI-2000 model series and the PS5 Pro, and the original 2020 manual doesn’t include them, so check the process in the manual for your console. More hardware guides are in the PlayStation section on Gamers Together.
Featured image: BeatEmUps, CC BY 3.0.