Are you wondering How To Fix A Keyboard Key That Fell Off? No, don’t you know? We are here for you; read the article and get your take.
What? Your laptop fell on the floor? Oh, I can feel the pain and cruciality of your keyboard particularly if it is backlit and gaming-centered.
We know the keyboard is the primary and most central peripheral; moreover, finer the keyboard – better interaction; agree?
But, what if this useful keyboard falls off? What if the button fell off? How can you fix it back? What if it is not working? Or you got some trembling keys?
Hold on!
No need to tense more?
We have completely covered you and provided you with a handful of information on How To Fix A Keyboard Key That Fell Off; cracks it!
Understanding The Laptop’s Keyboard First
A laptop’s key is basically a set of these three things i.e.
Keycap: It is the key itself, the upper casing that you press.
The keypad: Where the cap sits on is known as a keypad; it is an integral part as all the keys are lay over it.
The key retainer: It is a plastic component therein, actually retainer is a
combination of two pieces that join via hooks.
Tip: If you’re unsure about keys’ direction, figure out the metal hooks’ orientation on the keyboard bases. Well, the metal hooks assist in determining the key retainer’s orientation. Then lay the keys in the retainers’ alignment with the hooks.
How To Fix A Keyboard Key That Fell Off
Well, it totally depends on the type of damage or fall, but you can follow simple steps and ways to fix this problem. The below-mentioned steps will help you a lot to get the answer of how to fix a keyboard key that fell off.
Loosen Or Fallen Keycap
If the keycap is merely loose or if the keycap is detached from the side. The only thing you need to do is press it down there but a bit hard yet gentle push, and you’ll hear the snap, it’s the patching up sound, which means the key is back to work.
Conversely, if the Keycap has fallen off and other components are finely placed, then turn the keycap upside down and look for any damage.
A small plastic lock is present at the key, a point where it latches back not only to the keyboard but also to other joining points. If everything is ok here, look for any damage anywhere in the keycap e.g. see the points where the keycap fits.
If still there is no issue, then put the keycap back, and check if it gets finely placed with the locking points with the keyboard hooks. Press it gently and notice if you hear the snap. If the voice comes it means you’re done the work.
A Detached Key Retainer
If the key retainer has been detached, too with the keycap, try following these steps to fix it.
Firstly try detaching the keycap of any other key but very slowly, and gently, so the other things remain in place while the only keycap comes out. Notice the placement pattern of how they connect to the keyboard and other parts.
Move back to the detached key again, check the joints, and (rejoin the key and notice the placement) assemble its retainer.
If you don’t want to do this, simply check the orientation of the retainers, and notice the retainer’s connecting hooks at the keyboard. You will get to know how to click the retainer back in place exactly.
See that retainer connects at four different points with the keyboard. So, line up a retainer to the keyboard base, place it correctly, and try to connect to all points.
Done so, put the keycap in its place again, line up the latching points, and press down carefully. Click it several times, and notice the normal functionality.
A Damaged Rubber Nub Beneath
Mostly the keypad is damaged, but if the silicon nub is damaged with it, you will notice that nothing will work out because the nub is the pith of this overall mechanism as it transfers the command to the circuit board whenever you press the key.
You can still try:
Remove a useless key carefully at first, and remove the keycap, retainer, and keypad gradually, and at last get the silicon nub to remove.
The nub is connected to the base with some glue, so try to use a sharp-edged knife to separate.
Apply a powerful glue to (place it on the) exact center point (of the key that you want to repair) when done with work.
When glued, now put back the retainer, and attach the keycap by following all-mentioned steps. The key is ready to work again.
But it is possible that you will lose another key, the one which is not used mostly. Be careful while removing the silicon nub because you will get two damaged keys instead (if you don’t remove the nub carefully).
Lost/Damaged Keycap Or Retainer
If the latching point is broken or the retainer is broken at some point, it is time to buy new ones. The worst situation is when you’ve lost any one of these, or both, you’d probably need to order new. It is not difficult to find new components.
What If The Spacebar Key Fell Off?
Although all keys of the keyboard follow the same working pattern, the spacebar key is somewhat bigger in size. This key shows a bit different contexture and due to this, it requires a few additional considerations to be fixed back at the place.
Follow these steps to fix it.
If the spacebar key fell off the keyboard, firstly turn it over, and look for long metal. Most of the time the retainer bar is attached underneath this key.
The spacebar key can be detached using a screwdriver.
Once you remove it, put the long bar metal on the keyboard base, stay observant of the orientation, and fix the hooks therein.
When finished repairing it, put it back in its place, follow the same steps i.e. line up all the latching points, gently press it down.
When you notice the patch-up, it means you are done.
But if the repaired key still isn’t working there may be some other issues. The circuit board issue may be, so better to reach out to the technician.
Note: If a keycap, keypad, key, retainer, or button are missing or physically broken, you need to replace them.
What If The Re-Attached Key Still Doesn’t Work?
If the key still doesn’t work when putting it back on after repairing. Then the best option is to replace the components.
And if the circuit board may not be working, connect to a computer repair shop, or contact the laptop manufacturer to replace the entire keyboard.
If you want to change the complete keyboard, you can go to the manufacturer and replace the keyboard with a new one from the manufacturer. If the manufacturer does not agree to replace it or the keyboard doesn’t comply with the terms and conditions, take your laptop to the repair shop.
What If Randomly your Keys are Falling Off?
What? Laptop’s keys falling off one after another? What to do? Don’t worry, you can fix your keyboard and its keys but in the case of the circuit board malfunctions – consult a mechanic only.
Otherwise, you can fix your keyboard and every time, no need to buy a new one but there are no universal rules to fix the keyboard as every brand is different in different ways.
In the above discussion, we have shared the tips for some particular keys; here, we are going to discuss some general tips for your broken keyboard.
Important: Do not use glue – causes the key malfunction.
Situation 1: The key cap and key retainer fell off the keyboard and you cannot figure out how to assemble them back.
Remove the cap carefully but ensure that the key retainer is stuck with the keyboard.
Take a keen look at the key retainer and ensure it is attached to the keyboard at four different sides.
Arrange the detached retainer exactly the way as the keyboard and put it back in place.
It’s time to put the cap of the key on the retainer and then it turns to snap the cap back in place.
Situation 2: If the key is down somewhere and the cap container is also lost then you need to measure some other methods.
You can also buy one from somewhere on the internet; you need to scroll on the internet.
For instance, search:
“Dell keyboard key”
“Toshiba keyboard key”
“HP keyboard key” and so on.
After getting a new key, you need to put the keys back in place, just the same way as I described in the condition.
What if all Keys are Fixed Yet Any of Those is Not Responsive
Many times, after great struggle, the keys get fixed but they are not as responsive as they were before. You can use the following steps with that particular key and make that issue fixed.
Step 3: Fold the straw and insert it inside the key
Step 4: Trim it further to fix
Step 5: Put the key back On the keyboard
Step 6: Type and Check
So, you can use these easier steps to make your key the same response as it was before; it is a quick troubleshooting way that saves your money and doesn’t take much time.
Key Take
Human-computer interaction is amazing; if you ensure the efficiency of the equipment, it will also ensure an ultimate interaction.
For communication, the keyboard is a crucial part, if any key fell off, you need to fix a key back.
This article has covered the ways of fixing the broken, dissimilar keyboard, or key structure. If you have a keyboard with a trembling key or a fallen key, figure out this article and explore the ways of putting a key back.
By reading this guide, you can easily fix the issue – so be independent and tech-savvy, so you can troubleshoot your equipment easily.
Robert Smith is a technology lover and loves to write about laptops, monitors, printers, tablets, Apple products and anything that's related to computers and games. He is passionate enough that he maintains this blog regarding tech updates on a daily basis.
Robert Smith is a technology lover and loves to write about laptops, monitors, printers, tablets, Apple products and anything that's related to computers and games. He is passionate enough that he maintains this blog regarding tech updates on a daily basis.
