Key stuck on 2016 MBP TB

[badlydrawnboy]

This morning I noticed that the "w" key is not responding like the other keys on my MBP. I can get it to work, but I have to press much harder, and it's noticeably more stiff than other keys.

I've done some research and I see that this isn't uncommon. Just wondering if others have had the same problem and what they did to fix it. I use this machine for work every day and cannot afford to be without it for several days, so dropping it at an Apple store is not a good option.

Thanks.

 

[justinf77]

A crumb or something likely got stuck in the key. When this happens I take a can of compressed air to the key and it fixes it instantly. If you don't have compressed air you can also just blow on the key pretty hard and that should dislodge whatever is causing the key to stick.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

A crumb or something likely got stuck in the key. When this happens I take a can of compressed air to the key and it fixes it instantly. If you don't have compressed air you can also just blow on the key pretty hard and that should dislodge whatever is causing the key to stick.

Does that work even with the butterfly keys, since there is virtually no space between the key and the housing to get the air in there?

 

[Sanpete]

People have reported it works, but it's hard to see how, isn't it? You can probably lift a side of the key up to let air in and out, but I haven't tried that. I think there should be a video about this.

There are a bunch of threads about this kind of thing, by the way. There may be some advice in some of them.

 

[robvas]

Does that work even with the butterfly keys, since there is virtually no space between the key and the housing to get the air in there?

Yup, Apple recommends it and shows a few different angles to do it from

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205662

Worst comes to worst, grab a guitar pick or small plastic card and lift the key up and out. Work from the bottom of the key, lift the butterfly mechanism out with the key.

Then remove whatever is under there and then push the key back on.

 

[bartvk]

Yup, Apple recommends it and shows a few different angles to do it from

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205662

Wow, amazing that you found this one! I've had problems with the keyboard and am quite happy that Apple actually addresses cleaning the keyboard in an official way.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Yup, Apple recommends it and shows a few different angles to do it from

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205662

Worst comes to worst, grab a guitar pick or small plastic card and lift the key up and out. Work from the bottom of the key, lift the butterfly mechanism out with the key.

Then remove whatever is under there and then push the key back on.

Yes, super helpful. I'll pick up some compressed air and give this a shot.

 

[Sanpete]

Worst comes to worst, grab a guitar pick or small plastic card and lift the key up and out. Work from the bottom of the key, lift the butterfly mechanism out with the key.

Then remove whatever is under there and then push the key back on.

People have broken their keys doing this, so it helps to know how. Here's a video (that doesn't make it look as easy to get off as I'd like). The videos make it look like one should start at the top of the key, pop it up, then pull the key towards the screen. And reverse to get it back on. Judging from the videos, it looks like you can pull up just the top of the key or the top and the butterfly mechanism. Which latter is probably not a great idea unless it's got something under it.

 

[robvas]

I do it from the bottom - you don't want to separate the mechanism from the key, it's very fragile and if you damage it, the key won't work correctly anymore.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Thanks everyone. FWIW the compressed air did the trick for me.

 

[MrGuder]

That's a great video but I wished the guy had focused his camera more of what it looks like under the cap he took off, he shows us but it's a bit blurry and lighting was not the best. I can see the 4 hinges on each corner. I kept saying hit your screen to focus man....lol

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Update: the one key that was stuck is now unstuck, but since then several other keys have become stuck. Using compressed air typically helps, but obviously I don't want to have to keep doing that.

Did I mention that I can't stand this keyboard? I wish Apple wasn't so obsessed with thinness; typing on this keyboard is so loud that it's distracting when I'm on phone calls, and the feel of it is so much worse than my iMac keyboard (and previous Macbook Air keyboard).

Does anyone know if the keyboards are covered under the one year warranty? I've heard that Apple has replaced some Macbook Pros because of faulty keyboards.

 

[Sanpete]

Yes, they're covered by the warranty, naturally. If the problems are intermittent, take a video before heading to the Apple Store just in case they can't reproduce them.