Help! A key has come off my keyboard…

If it does happen, don’t panic: you can fix it yourself!

The key caps on your MacBook Air, MacBook Pro or Apple keyboard are very securely attached, but occasionally they do come off. Re-attaching them is straightforward. Place the key cap in position above the scissors mechanism and press down firmly until it clicks into place. If the key cap doesn’t reseat firmly, turn it over and look at its underside. It may be that one of the clips has snapped. If that’s the case, or you’ve lost the key cap completely, you’ll need to buy a new one. Your first port of call? eBay.

Donor keyboard

Search eBay for the precise make and model of your Mac or keyboard and the phrase ‘key caps’. Replacements should be relatively cheap. If eBay can’t deliver, thebookyard.com sells replacement key caps, as well as tons of other spare parts for lots of different models of notebooks. You should be able to find the keys you need there by searching for your specific Mac model.

Another option – particularly if you’ve lost or damaged several keys – is to acquire another keyboard of the same model. You may be able to find just the keyboard as a used part on eBay – add ‘spares or repair’ to your search for cheaper options, but just make sure they have the keys you need! Make sure too that it’s for exactly the same model as the Mac on which you want to replace keys. Use the new

keyboard as a donor from which to harvest the keys you need. There are several guides on the internet that will take you step-bystep through the process of replacing keys. You may need a pair of tweezers, though, to carefully remove the key caps from the donor keyboard, but these are not expensive!

The scissor mechanism can be fiddly, so it’s important to be both careful and patient when removing and replacing keys.

Once you’re done, store the donor keyboard somewhere safe so you can use it again if need be, and you’ll never be lusting after keys again.