Ridiculous keyboard woes

[Rusty33]

Hi all,

Perhaps one of the more idiotic posts to grace these forums...

A single, uncooked grain of cous cous has managed to make its way into my keyboard and taken up residence beneath my left arrow key. This, as you could imagine, makes using the arrows keys a pain, as the key in question frequently becomes stuck.

My question to the group: is there any way I can remove the left arrow key without disassembling the entire computer? I'm on a mid-2010 MBP.

I have come across a few handy videos on youtube:

)

however, my left arrow key admittedly doesn't feel as robust as the others. I am a little worried that I might snap the scissor mechanism. Can anyone please confirm whether it can in fact be removed, without damaging the unit?

 

[keysofanxiety]

Honestly even though it's out-of-warranty it may be worth taking to an Apple Store for them to do it (if that's a viable option). I'm sure you can do it yourself but if the option's there if there's one local and it's not a hassle to get there.

The alternative to pulling off the key would be to pour boiling water into the keyboard, to soften the cous-cous so you no longer have the issue. However that might cause a few other problems ...

 

[Rusty33]

The alternative to pulling off the key would be to pour boiling water into the keyboard, to soften the cous-cous so you no longer have the issue. However that might cause a few other problems ...

Haha - don't think that I hadn't considered this!

 

[Gav2k]

Nothing will snap if you do it properly. Honestly just use your nail to pull up the corner carefully.

 

[Rusty33]

Nothing will snap if you do it properly. Honestly just use your nail to pull up the corner carefully.

I appreciate your faith...although I'm not sure that I have the stomach for it! You always see those MacBooks on gumtree (Australia's craigslist) with missing keys...is this how they got there?!

 

[Gav2k]

I appreciate your faith...although I'm not sure that I have the stomach for it! You always see those MacBooks on gumtree (Australia's craigslist) with missing keys...is this how they got there?!

I've swapped several keyboards (British to French etc) and I can see how people manage to damage keys but it's easy once you do it the first time.