How to Remove Laptop Keys (Keycap Puller & Household Items)

By knowing how to remove laptop keys, you can maintain and replace your laptop keyboard. You can remove laptop keys with the help of a household screwdriver or even get a tool kit.

Daily electronic items suffer more wear and tear and tend to live shortly. The same is the case with laptop keyboards.

Even if you have the best laptop, frequent and rough use can damage your keyboard greatly. A laptop’s keyboard’s average life is around 50 million clicks or 3-4 years.

Even if you use your laptop for Sims 4 and other high end games, you will be damaging your laptop sooner. Perhaps certain keys won’t give any output on the screen, while many other functional keys and their combinations won’t work either.

But even in such a situation, you need not throw your laptop away. By knowing how to remove the laptop keys, you can easily replace the damaged keys and even change the whole keypad. 

Here I will cover this exact topic in different parts. Make sure your laptop is turned off throughout the process.

Tip: Try writing ‘A quick brown fox jump over the lazy dog at the corner of the house.’ This includes all the alphabet from the English language. If any key is not working, you will come to know immediately. 

How to Remove Laptop Keys Without Breaking Them?

Before learning about the different ways of removing keys from a laptop’s keyboard, you should make sure your laptop is switched off.

Also, note that using sharp tools can not only put starches on your keyboard, but if too much pressure is applied, it can damage the key forever. 

Given below are the ways to remove laptop keys: 

1. Use A Keycap Puller

The first method is the easiest of all. It requires you to get a keycap puller that can be fitted around the key, hold it and pluck it out from the keyboard without any damage. 

A Keycap puller can be bought from any e-commerce website online or an electronic repair shop. It is made of stiff but soft materials like wire or plastic that can hold the key firmly and pull them out easily. 

Here is how you can use a Keycap-Puller to remove keys from your laptop:

Step1: Put the prongs of the keycap puller on both sides of the key and slowly slide it under its edges. 

Step2: Continue gently till you hear a snap sound. This sound indicates that the keycap puller is now gripping the key. 

Note: If you are using a wire puller, make sure to twist and turn the handle once the keycap puller is under the key. 

Step3: Once you are sure that the keys are firmly hooped to the keycap puller, pull out the key gently. 

And there you go; you have successfully removed the damaged key from your laptop. 

Fact Box: The wire keycap puller can remove 2-4 keys one after the other before you need to remove all of them from the puller. 

2. Utilize Household Objects

Laptops are handy but also big enough to finish multiple tasks. They are also a big blow to your pocket and require proper maintenance. 

I prefer to get a cheaper but stable laptop for under $400 and spend the rest on its maintenance of different parts like a keyboard. 

To do so, you can use different household tools and objects, including a flat-headed screwdriver, knife, paper pin, or even your fingernail. 

Let’s take a look at how you can use these daily life objects and remove keys from your laptop: 

Step1: Get the butter knife or a flat-head screwdriver to the edge of the laptop key you wish to remove. 

Step2: Press the key next to the targeted key to have more moving space.

Step3: Now, try to gently put the screwdriver head or knife head underneath the key. 

Step4: Using the tool as a lever, slowly lift the key while moving the screwdriver/ knife head towards the center. 

Note: Remember to be gentle while using any sharp tool while trying to remove the key from your laptop. Putting too much pressure will damage the whole laptop greatly. 

Being a student means you are always on your toes and find creative ways to remove laptop keys. 

This is true if you spend plenty of time on your laptop for coding, programming or developing software.

Here are the steps to remove laptop keys using a paperclip:

Step1: Begin by twisting the paperclip into the U shape, then bend its ends inward such that they face each other. 

Step2: It will now resemble the structure of a Keycap Puller. Slid it under the key you want to remove till you hear a click.

Step3: With a slight pull upward, detach the key from the laptop’s keypad. 

Note: While removing bigger keys like the backspace or enter key, you must give support from the lever till you reach the mid of the key. Else it can break. 

How to Remove Laptop Key-Holder?

After you have removed the Key from your laptop, you will notice a plastic framework around the key button. This is the key holder. 

If you wish to clean your keypad toughly, you will need to remove the key holder and use a cotton bud to clean the area. 

To remove the frame, you will need to be even more careful and gentle. Here are the steps to remove the scissor key holder from your laptop after removing the key: 

Step1: Bring the small flat-headed screwdriver to the edge of the plastic frame. 

Step2: Gently slide it underneath it and try to lift it a little. 

Step3: Repeat the same process from the other edge. You will see the frame and a central piece getting detached from the laptop. 

Step4: With the help of tweezers or your bare hands, slowly pull out the central and periphery frame. 

Note: Ensure to keep these parts in a safe place. They are delicate and can break easily under mild pressure. 

How to Replace Laptop Keys?

That was all on how to remove laptop keys. The second part of the article is about how to replace the removed key back to the laptop’s keyboard. 

After you have removed the key from laptop, you can clean the area properly. However, following it, you will have to put the same or new key in the empty tab to make the laptop’s keyboard function again. 

Follow these steps to replace the laptop keys:

Step1: Begin by placing the key holder back in place. Make sure to be very careful with this part, as any maladjustment can cause harm to the key permanently. 

Step2: After you hoop the frame back to the laptop, take the key cover and align its hinges to the key holder.

Step3: Press the key gently to make sure it gets attached to the keyboard properly. 

Before heading back, make sure the key is firmly attached to the hook and has the bouncing effect. 

How to Change Laptop’s Keyboard?

If you are a blogger like me, you will know what happens to Blogging Laptops and its keyboard. The constant writing and editing wear the keys quickly. 

Sometimes you will have to change the whole keypad instead of individual keys on your laptop. Doing this isn’t as tricky as it sound. Just follow the steps given below:

Step1: After making sure your laptop is turned off, remove its battery.

Step2: Secondly, look for the keyboard icon on the back of your laptop and remove the screws around it. 

Note: Get in touch with an expert if you are not sure about the placement of the screws. 

Step3: Now open your laptop and find little rectangular gaps (locks) near the top and side of your keyboard. 

Step4: With a sharp, thin and flat surface scalpel or butter knife, gently push all the locks. This will now detach the keyboard from the laptop.

Step5: You will see the central part of the keyboard is connected to the laptop. Slowly push the lock on the laptop’s surface, and the attachment will come off.

Note:  Be very delicate while handling the keyboard & since you have removed it make sure to dust away all the dirt collected under the keyboard with a dry brush only. 

Step6: With the new keyboard of the same model, attach the flap to the central control on the keyboard. 

Step7: Gently push the keyboard back to lock it, and attach all the screws and the battery in place. 

And that is all that was required to replace your laptop’s keyboard.

FAQs

Conclusion

That was all from my side on how to remove laptop keys. Always remember to handle the whole process with care and always keep your laptop switched off. Keeping it in sleep or safe mode is also a no-no. With these steps, make sure to give your laptop’s keyboard long life.