Is your keyboard’s keys or spring buttons stuck? Then you’ve come to the right place! This guide will teach you how to unstick a stuck spring button on your PC or laptop keyboard.
Let’s say you’re typing an essay but you keep getting stuck not because of writer’s block but instead because of the key block. Or rather, your keyboard’s spring button or key keeps getting stuck at the comma key or the S key and you have to press it again to get it unstuck.
How to Fix a Stuck Spring Button
You can fix a stuck spring button in a multitude of ways. You can shake your keyboard to loosen debris, blow on the keyboard with your breath or with the assistance of compressed air to get the dust out, or you can remove the plastic key and clean the mechanism itself with rubbing alcohol.
Brushing or Shaking Out the Keyboard
If your PC keyboard isn’t the built-in variety found on laptops then unplug it to turn it off. From there, turn it upside down or hold it at an angle. Make sure part of the device is pointing towards the floor or a catch basin for trash.
If you have a built-in laptop keyboard, turn off the laptop and turn the laptop upside down instead. Shake the keyboard gently to allow the crumbs inside of it to end up on your floor or basin.
Use a brush to brush away the extra crumbs on the board. Check the keys again by plugging the keyboard to your PC to see if the problem spring buttons have become unstuck.
Blowing Out the Keyboard
Get a compressed air can. You can find it in any electronics store. Turn off your laptop or unplug the keyboard from your desktop workstation. Use the compressed air to blow around and under the keys at different angles to get all the dirt out.
Don’t tilt the can, it contains liquid. Move the keyboard around instead. Use a brush to brush away the debris. If food or dirt is blown up, brush it away from the spring buttons to prevent reentry. Try the keys again to see if this solved the problem.
Cleaning Sticky Keys with Rubbing Alcohol
As usual, you either turn off the laptop if you’re cleaning the built-in keyboard or unplug the PC keyboard if you’re using a desktop PC instead.
Use a pocket knife or flathead screwdriver to pop out the keys. Now on the exposed spring button mechanism, spray some rubbing alcohol on it to clean it. You can also use a brush sprayed with alcohol to do some generalized or systemic gentle cleaning of all the nooks and crannies of your keyboard.
Don’t soak the laptop or PC keyboard with alcohol because it might damage the keys. Pop the errant key back on the spring button mechanism then try out the keyboard on your PC to see if it has gotten unstuck or working again.
Concluding Thoughts
There’s more than one way to skin a cat. There’s also more than one way to clean a keyboard’s spring button keys. Try them all out depending on the severity of the stuck key’s condition. If it’s getting stuck repeatedly it’s most likely stuck because of sticky gunk or oil mixed with dirt inside its mechanism.
References:
- Ife Ogunfuwa, “How to Fix a Jammed Keyboard Key“, Punchng.com, October 26, 2017