Ninja Mouse: The Silent Click

Instead of trashing that obnoxiously loud mouse to get a new one, save some money and the environment by modding it into a Ninja Mouse. All you need in a thin knife and whichever type of screwdriver to open it.

NOTE: This mod only takes a few minutes.

Step 1: First, Some Numbers

Using an Android decibel meter, I got the following data:

-Ambient Noise 48 dB
-Ninja Mouse 52 dB
-Regular Mouse 74 dB
_{(The regular mouse is just as loud as my Ninja Mouse used to be.)}

If you know about logarithmic scales, you can see Ninja mouse is over 10 times quieter than the regular mouse!

Step 2: Open It Up

There are a lot of different types of mice out there and most all employ means of hiding their screws. Check under the plastic pads and in the battery compartments if you're having trouble finding them.

When you get inside, locate the mouse switches. You should see some rectangular boxes like in picture 3. If you have the square switches like in picture 4, you're out of luck. There isn't a way to quiet them down that I found. (They use a thin, metal concave disk than flips to being convex when pressed. Putting anything in there to quiet it down makes it lose all functionality.)

Step 3: Open Up the Switches

Open up the switch by inserting the tip of your knife into the clip of the switch cover and gently twisting the knife until it unlatches. Unlatch the other side, it should be easier.

ProTip:
Do this in an area where with dark flooring. That little white button likes to get away and it's really hard to find on a white floor.

Step 4: Press Down the Tab

Using your knife again, push the tab down to shorten the gap between the contacts. Test the switch and its loudness by pressing down on the cross member where the white button would normally press.

If you bend the tab down too far, just bend it back with the knife. The metal is quite malleable.

Step 5: Put the Cover Back On

Once you're satisfied with the sound of all your switches, put the covers back on them. You more than likely lost the white buttons, so you'll want to put them back into their covers using the knife to coax it into the slot. The side of the button with the flanges goes on the inner side of the slot.

ProTip: It's much easier to put the mouse on the cover than it is to put the cover on the mouse. (That dastardly white button!)

Step 6: You're Done

Enjoy your new Ninja Mouse! It's so quiet your boss will think you're being unproductive.

Comments

[meektweak]

Nice one dude! Saved me from buying a new mouse. My old one is now as quiet as a... mouse.

BTW, for anybody about to try this mod, remember that there is a trade-off between quietness and tactile feedback. The lower you go with the contact the quieter it will be but there will also be less travel in the button and that can be slightly disconcerting when you're using the mouse.

[sshuggi]

Yea, my friends that use my computer are always saying, "What's wrong with your mouse? It clicks weird." It took me a few days to get used to it. Nothing really.

[_DroidFreak_]

This instructable is great! I turned my freakishly loud mouse into a near-silent ninja in about 5 minutes. I got to the part before you open up the switches myself, but this showed me how to open them up and silence them. Thanks!

[noparallel]

How about the mouse wheel switch. Same way?

[sshuggi]

If it's the same design, yes. Mine uses the disc type button for the middle mouse button (wheel click) and it can't be silenced. If you're talking about the wheel roll itself, there's an instructible to silence that which someone mentioned below. Here's the link.

[ArtixAvian]

Hmmm is there anything at all possible if you have the other type of switch in the mouse? I've put a tiny bit of tissue in which helps but really its still quite an annoying click lol.
Thanks.

[sshuggi]

Nahh, sorry. I haven't had to deal with the disk ones. The only thing I can think of is putting it on a flat metal surface and trying to flatten it slightly with a hammer, but not so much that it won't reach the contactors when pressed. The issue with that is if you mess up, it would be really hard to hammer it back into shape to actually work. Perhaps a ball-peen hammer could shape it back? Either way, I'd try it out on an older mouse.

[yatto]

Quite a good Instructable ! I was pretty surprised that a low-cost mouse has the same click system than a $70-Razer.

One day I tried an even more drastic way to silent the mouse: replacing all the click system with a metal flexible strip and a little electric cable so that there is absolutely no "click". If I can do it again, maybe I'll do an Instructable with it.

[sshuggi]

I look forward to seeing it. Post a link if you do.

[Simantic]

Simply brilliant! Like others, I came across this while unsuccessfully shopping for a quiet mouse as our PC is in the bedroom. This worked beautifully! I actually have the same HP mouse as you have pictured, though mine only registered 49 db. This took it down nearly a full 10 db; plus, I like the reduced click effort. This mouse has worked very accurately for my Photoshop work, so that makes it a real bonus to not have to waste money replacing it. Thank you so very much!

[sshuggi]

I love hearing back that I've helped so many.

[Tinkerama]

Well, I noticed my microphone was picking up mouse clicks while recording game footage, so I decided to give this a try since I had a spare mouse. It was a bit of a disaster, having broken the clip of one of the plastic caps (that and the little plastic button was black like the cap, so that was fun), and also snapping the copper cross member while trying to bend the swingarm back into place. The left button one stayed put while the right just fired right out when the cap came off.

Sooo, I ended up popping open a 20 year old ball mouse for a replacement cross member because I refused to give up. Headaches aside and hours upon hours of playing Operation with a pair of tweezers later, I can boast a marginal success. Still, it was a fun experiment and now I can barely even hear my mouse, let alone my mic picking up any noise. Thanks for the guide!

[procrastaceon]

Worked for the Logitech M310. Thanks for posting this tutorial. The little white button will almost definitely pop out when you do this for the first time, so keep an eye on it when first opening the little boxes. Using a tweezer made putting it back in easy.

[whseble]

Word to the wise:
In steps 3 and 4, do NOT dislodge the copper swingarm. It is terribly difficult to put back into place, and if you bend it things will be very difficult.
That said, this mod does work like a charm.
Just don't move the swingarm, and you won't spend two and a half hours on a ten-minute mod, like I did.

[sshuggi]

Yea, I had that problem. I spent most of my time trying gingerly not to break it. Eventually, I had to give up on gentleness and muscle it on. It is surprisingly strong.

[Brent Blaskievich]

If you put a piece of scotch tape on top of the mouse shell, you can stick the white piece to it temporarily for an easier reinstall.

[gointothecloud]

I actually read this and took it to the extrem and pushed the thing all the way down so the metal thing dosent go up and down, I put it altogether and it still works and its really silent

[sshuggi]

I did the same thing, but found that the mouse button took no effort to click. I'm one that rests my finger on the button and that little bit of weight would always cause the mouse to click when I didn't want it to. The added resistance of the metal having to bend prevented this. If you don't have this problem, then go for it. It's all about customization!

[Logitec MX518]

THANKS SSHUGGI!! Works perfectly on my Logitech MX 518! I pushed the tab all the way down so that it made no clicking noise at all, and then I nudged the tab up slightly testing the sound with each micro adjustment. SOLID TUTORIAL! In addition, I took out the spring that makes my scroll wheel click so now it glides silky smooth. http://www.instructables.com/id/Silence-a-mouses-scrollwheel/

Buttons Silenced:
Left click
Right click
Scroll wheel button
Forward button
Back button

Again, awesome tutorial!!!

[darkNiGHTS0]

Thanks for the guide! I live in an apartment and have my computer in the bedroom. Sometimes I need to work when my wife takes a nap so I'm going to take a cheap wireless logitech mouse and hopefully make it silent with this guide! Then when she's sleeping I can just plug it in and use that, but most of that time I'll use my nice clicky mouse. Thanks!

[janeday]

Thanks. =)

[janeday]

I just stumbled across this site while shopping for a silent mouse and had to test it out on the mouse i'm using. I only tried it on the left button. It made it less loud, a definite improvement.

[trevorcgross]

Thanks! makes me a lot less paranoid.

[PSPerson]

I just did this with a logitech cordless click! plus... oh wow, i love it. I even went as far as to quiet the side-button switches.. they were different and opened from the side instead of popping off, and i had to use little plastic shims instead of bending the metal, but it worked!

This combined with the smooth scroll mod has made my mouse the best ever. Thank you so much!

[PedroDaGr8]

Damn nice instructable. I have a Logitech MX Revolution that drives me crazy. I think I'll be doing this at some point.

[sshuggi]

Thanks,
When I found that nobody made an instructable for this yet, I thought I'd do my best to make the best.

Also, your mouse should work fine doing this. This pic shows you have the same switches as me.

[mrmath]

I just got a new mouse with REALLY load clickies. I'm gonna try this right now!

[mrmath]

OMG! It is soooo much quieter! It's still louder than my old mouse, but much better! My button was a little different, though. The button was red, and not white (that scared me--would it work?!), and the latches to open the switch were on the long sides instead of the short sides. Other than that, pretty much exactly the same.

THANK YOU!

[sshuggi]

Glad I could be of help. I hope you have the right type.