How to Remove and Clean Sticky Keys on Macbook Air Step by Step Repair (Very Detailed Fix)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มิ.ย. 2024
- We have a 2014 Macbook air 13'' that had some sticky after spill damage from the previous owner, probably some soda or coffee. I don't like crunchy keys that stick down and don't come back up properly so we decided to remove the keys that were damaged, clean them, then reassemble. It was about half of the keyboard and it was very tedious but well worth the repair. It will work for many other years of macbook air and macbook pro with the same keyboard switch design, and it will work similarly with other keyboards you may have to do more digging to how the keys attach to the switch. Cleaning your macbook air keyboard or single keys after a spill could save you the discomfort of crunchy keys and could also save you from having to get a new computer.
Keyboard Covers Save Computers -amzn.to/2GFbsAi
m1 Macbooks- • How to Remove and Clea...
Things we used in this repair
-Small flathead electronics screwdriver
-Isopropyl alcohol 91%
-Toothbrush head
-Plate
-Towel
Video Index
Intro 0:00
Tools used 1:00
Tips 2:28
Keys explained 4:00
How to remove a key 5:49
Removing the keys 7:19
Cleaning the keyboard side 9:30
Cleaning the key side 10:20
Reinstalling the various keys 12:04
Wrap up thoughts 14:59 - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
M1 macbooks are a little different -th-cam.com/video/cXfOYCrDLvk/w-d-xo.html
"you need to be careful" Me: (knows nothing about computers) *chuckles* I'm in danger
🤣 be careful!
@@thecollegepicker it’s to late, I broke my shift key 🥲
😭😭😭
@@thecollegepicker I’m still happy bc I cleaned the rest without a hitch
@@thecollegepicker how do I fix it if I spilled ginger ale on it and it’s in the keys
Thank you sooooo much! You video saved me and my keyboard from sticky juice :) I removed, washed and installed all the keys. So tremendously grateful!
Thank you SO MUCH for this. I spilled coffee on my keyboard yesterday and I was freaking out because it was sticky. Just reinstalled all my keys and it’s like it never happened. THANK YOU
may i ask what you used? i had the same problem and took it to a repair shop and they said they couldn't clean the keys. i suppose i have to do it myself. :'(
Thanks dude, your video saved my keyboard, NEVER again while i drink coffee near my computer. lol
Good work! Glad I was able to help 🙂
Me neither I regret it so much I am so happy my dad didn't kill me
for me it was pepsi
I said the same thing when I spilt mine today 😂😂
Same! All of my keys are nasty atm. I am going to try this. Wish me luck! I am really nervous I am going to damage something. My mom would kill me... haha.
I am not the type of person that does this type of thing! But your video was so helpful and detailed that it pushed me to try it. And i did it! I didn’t break anything so that’s great! Thanks so much!
Woohoo! Glad you were able to build that DIY confidence 💪🙌
The biggest thank you from me to the channel owner! I very much appreciate the work done! I tried it and it worked! I almost saved 5000 Turkish liras which is approximately 350 usd. Wish anything you want from me! Small notice: macbook air 2021 horizontal small keys are little different. Function keys and direction keys have the orientation as horizontal. You should pull from right or left. Hook clips are at right/left, not bottom. Thank you man so much
Thanks--this was very helpful, and gives me the courage to take mine apart and have at the dust, dog hair, and cookie crumbs that have taken their toll. Stand by for updates.
You are welcome. I hope you get it going!
10 months no updates 😞
@@pieman0726 1 year no updates
Thank you so much for this video! I wasn’t as gentle as needed and that plastic spring mechanism came completely apart. 😖 I fixed it and thank goodness it didn’t break.
You are welcome. Good work getting it back together! They can be fussy.
You totally just saved my ass. I start a coding bootcamp in two weeks and my keys were starting to stick! So glad this video exists!!! Getting that fixed through Apple would have been completely out of my price range.
You are welcome, glad to be able to help you out 🙃
@A A Oh no! thats gonna be a lot of scrubbing.
@A A Hot bacon grease
.....gonna need replacements as well
@A A Yikes! lol! You're lucky it's still working at all!
You are a lifesaver. Sticky keys were slowly chipping away at my sanity! I only did the key washing since I didn't have any alcohol on hand and it worked perfectly. I'm so happy that I had to come back and say THANK YOU VERY MUCH. While I'm at it I better subscribe as well. Namaste
Happy to help! Glad a modification still worked for you! 🤝
this video gives me the confidence to pop up my switches. instructions are easy and clear to follow 💯
🤝
Thanks a lot your explanation was excellent
You’re a lifesaver, I’m so bad with computers and accidentally poured juice on my Mac.. got all the keys off and gave it a good clean and it’s all good now :)
Awesome! Good work 💪 glad to help.
Thanks for the vid bro!
Thank you so much for this video! Followed instructions step by step and now my MacBook is working again. Cant thank you enough!
My “S” key was stuck and because of you and your helpful video, it’s no longer stuck. Thank you so much. You’re the best ever!!
Oh good! So glad you were able to get it fixed up! You are very welcome 😊
This was very helpful, thank you!
Happy to help, thanks for checking out the video 😊
Wow. Thank you so much for posting this! I was able to fix 3 stuck keys (including the space bar) on my macbook pro 16" 2019 model.
Wow thats a much harder keyboard to work on.
very useful and detailed video. Thank u very much!
You are welcome. Happy to help.
THANK U SO MUCH, THE REASON I AM IN CAPS IS BECAUSE I AM SO HAPPY THAT MY SHIFT KEY FINALLY FEELS LIKE IT SHOULD FEEL
really helped thank you
Saved me - Had one sold didn't realize the keys were sticking. Popped off about 10 keys on right side and cleaned up what appeared to be coffee / soda. Works like a champ now so Thank You for the video.
You are welcome. Good work!
Super helpful, thanks!
This is my first time doing key replacement and tThank you for showing me how to replace the return key. I think the electronics t my return key was damaged when I dropped my comp. So I will look at trying to replace the whole keyboard
The only place I found how to safely remove the keys. My "y" was stuck, it's good now (because, well I'm using it lol. y y y y y y y y y, this works LMAO)
Lmao, thanks for watching, I appreciate the support. Yyyyyyyyy 🙌🙌
Thank you so much. This was very helpful.
You are very welcome
Really good video! Was super helpful, thank you!
You are welcome 😊 happy to be able to help.
I had gone to these “repair” shops near me and they told me it can’t be fixed and u can’t remove the keys one by one and then I came across your vid, helped me a lot thanks. Was a bit skeptical at first then I just went for it. Thanks man
You are welcome, and that repair shop sucks.
@@thecollegepicker haha
I HAVE the metal on the 2020 caps lock keyboard off, I'm trying to put the metal piece back on and I'm having trouble
you are a live saver my friend.
No problem!
Great Video. Great details. You saved me a lot of money. Thanks!
You are very welcome
Excellent! Just watched a couple of times to find how to place the support bar in the Command key. Priceless! That little thing slid out and made the key barely budge - Minute 13.40
Appreciate you!
Thank you for posting this!! Can you explain how you did the arrow keys? When I try the left sides will not stay down. I've tried top first and left first.
I have this problem as well :(
Is it possible that they were mixed up prior to reinstall or tabs were broken?
Thank you very much friend that was what i looking for 🤩
Just cleaned my letter E key on my iMac by following your video! Thank you!!! 3/20/23
Thank you so so much! ive never been good with computers and this really saved me so much money! Thank you for being so detailed it really helped.
You are very welcome ☺️
you helped me so much I liked but my w key is still a little hard to press bc there's a lot of dirt under it
Thanks, man! My sister spilled tea on her Macbook Air so I'll be giving this a shot tomorrow. Love the detail in your vid!
You are welcome. The detail is super important to get those keys off without breaking them. Appreciate you stopped by. Hope it works 🙌🙌
@@thecollegepicker Quick follow up - it worked very well! I found it easier to approach each key from the right side and push down on the lower right part of each key.
Thanks very much! I couldn't have done it without your great video. Subscribed!
I spilt chocolate milk on mine but I followed the steps and its working perfectly now, except the smell
@@nabhanyushetti9872 Lol Milky Keys. Is the smell bad?
Thank youu.. this came just in time! my MBP 2012 shift key stucked and my laptop is stuck in Safe Boot Mode all the time now. Gonna give this a go.
You are welcome. Happy to help 😊
Thanks for this man, I spilled red wine on my keyboard whilst I had a lady over(I had a really great time). I truly missed the smooth feel of my keyboard. Much appreciated!
I did this today on my MacBook Air M1 2020 and it works a charm!!! Thank you so so much 😍 I’ll never drink any more tea around my computer 😂
Have the same one. This tutorial will work on it too right?
@@mawayi2065 yep!
I spilt tea on the same mac as well, hella scared these mac's are way too expensive and fragile.
Spilled big of tea on my m1 air , been a week , I use it rarely , now the keys are popping up slow, going to try this, thanks!
Great info. Question: What do you do if the membrane has detached itself from the keyboard? If glue, what is recommended? Something like E6000? Cheers!
You might need a new keyboard at that point 😭. Does it respond when the computer is on and you press down on it when it's in the right place?
@@thecollegepicker That's a lie. The membrane can be glued back in place with a rubber safe super glue. They are held in place with an adhesive in the first place. Also, be careful with how much isopropyl alcohol you use as that has the effect of wearing down the factory adhesive over time. I suspect if you were to check now, there's a chance your domes are only being held in place due to the keycap being on top of it since you basically doused your keyboard with isopropyl alcohol.
Is.it.the.tiny.bowl.shaped.thing.???....(my.space.key.got.stuck.and.when.i.try.to.look.under.it.by.lifting.it.i.see.something.like.that.)
I.think.my.spacebar.might.not.work.forever.now......😭
Thanks - That was really helpful..you save me and my daughter some good amount of headache.
You're welcome, glad to be able to help =)
Hey, thanks for a great and very helpful video. I have a 2015 MacBook Air that had a completely "dead" "a" key. Watched your video all the way thru, then stepped through while cleaning my keyboard (Yuk, it was more filthy than I realized) and presto, everything functions great. Thanks for all you share. aaaaaaAAAAAaaaaa OK!
Haha you are welcome. That's Aaaaaaawesome
You've given me the confidence to give this a try - spilled a FULL glass of wine on my MacBook last night. Probably a sign that I was imbibing too much, anyway. Wish me luck!
i spilt wax on my mac 😭😢😢
Oh no! Wax sounds like another level of cleaning.
Really useful and well explained
Appreciate that 🙏
Thank you sir 😊🙏🏻 God bless
Oh crap I watched this whole thing and then realized I have a 2018 air 🤦🏻♀️ space bar is super stuck, definitely from grime build up. Ugh. Eagerly awaiting your updated video!!
You can get it replaced by apple for free if it’s a 2018 it’s a Common Problem with these models
Yes, do an apple keyboard claim they will replace it.
thanks, this video was very useful i dont know why didnt find it before, my key are now working properly, thank you so much. :)
You are very welcome
thank you so much, your video helps me a lot
You are welcome =)
Helped a lot thank you !!!!!!
You are welcome 😊
Thanks, this did help. Only one I did not attempt is Touch ID key on the new magic keyboard…any idea if that one is safe/unsafe to remove?
I know this doesn't exactly answer your question, but I do think it is safer to leave it alone because one of the clips on my iMac Magic Keyboard broke, and there is nowhere on either amazon or eBay that sells Magic Keyboard Keys- only earlier model keyboard keys. RIP to me :(
Had a shift key annoyingly sticking a little after I spilled something (I don't even know what it was) and got it fixed perfectly! Thanks!
Awesome work! So glad to have helped. 🙏
Is your shift key sometimes do unwanted input too? 😅 bcs its me who have same problem here and boot in safe mode sometimes
2 years later and this video helped me clean my keys. thank you so much
You are welcome
VERY well done!
Thank you 😊
Omg Thank you so much this helped me with my left option key that I was having trouble with. It’s started with it messing with my hot keys in my clip studio paint tools, then I noticed my computer was typing Greek letters; even though it was still set to English.
(My left option key was jammed lmao. 🤣) glad I got it fixed because I start coding class tomorrow, and the last thing I need is how translate Greek to coding a website for my school project. 👀
my keyboard are soooo sticky, I have bought "isopropyl" and I am going to try this!
should you let the key drill "air dry" before inserting the keys after using isopropyl??
About 7 keys were sticky, just did this works perfectly fine now!
Oh good =)
I'm in the same situation right now... damn tea... wish me luck
😭
@@gaia5761 Good luck 🙏
ur so goated for this I love u king
Appreciate you queen 🙏
So I tried the method you did. I cleaned my keyboard a few times already and it still a lot better than it did before, but it still feels a bit sticky. Are there any other tips?
You are a life saver!!
You are welcome 😊
Thanks
I have a used macbook 2020 i just bought but i noticed some of the keys when i first initally pressed them were sticky and made a big click noise, they work fine after the initial sticky click. Not sure what exactly the previous owner did to the mac but i assume they got some sort of spill or stick substance on it, (i also noticed the mac is kinda dirty in crevices like they used it as a plate 😂 I got it for a fair deal and it works like new so im willing to over look it and clean it myself, but im wondering if i dip a paint brush with soft fibers in the alcohol and clean under the keys like that, if i could avoid having to take the keys off themselves.
Excellent!
Do you mind sharing the background music 😌 it's relaxing
Hey! This video was great but I took the key cap off with the sizer mechanism I didn’t break it I just don’t know how to put it back together do you know anywhere I could figure out how to fix this?
Thanks a ton my spacebar was acting funky, this helped a ton
This is a very old video so I don't really expect an answer but I have a more recent Macbook Air and now you can press any button to turn it on from a shutdown, not just the power button. Is there a way to shut it off so that I can press the buttons without turning it back on?
This is awesome man… would this be same for macbook pro16
Thanks. Same process with cleaning, different techniques to remove keys. Key design changes over the years.
THANK YOU!
You are welcome.
Have a like ten year old first gen Air, and just water was spilled on part of keyboard. Five keys no longer respond. They aren't "sticky" since it was just water, so is there any point to trying to clean them in your manner, or has the water penetrated below and destroyed the keyboard (as you referred to as a possibility in the video)?
I despise this kind of keyboard, it makes this problem inevitable and so hard to fix. Thanks for the video.
You are welcome =)
Im from Brasil and here don’t have a video like this one, I’ll try fix my “space” and “shift” with that video... I hope it works with “MacBook Pro late 2013” haha thank u so much
You are welcome. Good luck with the repair!
Will this work for the M1 MacBooks as well?
Is it wise to be pouring liquid on the keyboard? 10:09 I know it's rubbing alcohol and will evaporate, but is the palm rest water resistant? I just cleaned a spacebar and I was very cautious about getting any alcohol on the surface fearing any drip going inside onto the mainboard.
Alcohol is the liquid of choice to clean main boards.
You saved my life ... actually, my keyboard’s life!! Thank you!!! Thumbs up👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Glad I could help! =) Thanks for watching.
Thnx big help
You are welcome 🤠
efficient explanation
Appreciate it. Hopefully it helped.
I’m only commenting to see if my key board feels right after I fixed it with this video all keys work :)
Hahaha that's awesome! It looks like it's working well 🙃
May I ask what type of keyboard are yours? Butterfly or scissors? and do you have any idea if macbook air mid 2013 and yours have the same keyboard?
Hoping for your feedback :))
These are scissors switches. They should be the same on yours I think. Butterfly is on the 2016+
are the keys different for the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021?
I had a sticky R key and took off the key as instructed. When I went to clean it, the middle, tiny round piece came off. I don't see you talking anything about that part and I don't know if it is even replaceable. Please advise? I can't even find the piece, as I blew on the open key and it disappeared. Thank you!
Thanks.. on newer macbook air with touch id can you remove the touch id/ power button too? thanks.. also can I use wd40?
Touch Id is a different process. You take that out from inside the computer. I wouldn't mess with it if it works.
@@thecollegepicker I see.. thought so.. it does not work.. well at least the power button does not work.. spilled coffee on it.. not sure if it is that button or the MacBook is fried 🥲
@@step7steveX the power buttons are paired to the computer motherboard also. Replacing it would be a difficult job I'm not sure if the repair people have figured out how to crack that yet.
Hey! I've got a question: is the procedure the same with a macbook air 2020 (scissors keyboard)? I accidentally poured orange juice on it and it's all crunchy and sticky now! It works perfectly, but I don't like how it feels when I'm typing... Thanks!
It's the same concept but different design and key removal technique. I will be making a video showing the new style keyboard before the end of the year. That crunch sucks but lucky you didn't try the motherboard
I snapped two of my buttons (out of the 10 that I removed with a fingernail cleaner) and had to order a replacement set of just the caps from Amazon. Pulling from the bottom didn't work from me, there are some other videos that say to pull from the bottom right, and then the bottom left.
What year computer do you have? Pro or air? They are designed differently depending on year and model.
this helped me alot
Oh good! I need to make a video on the new keyboard style, do you think that would be helpful to some people too?
@@thecollegepicker ya
@@thecollegepicker that wood be cool
Question. The space bar, don't know how but i nailed it, along with parenthesis keys. The troible is with delete, right shift & enter keyes, once i put them back on, no matter how i try, they go down and stay down. Therefore even if i press them, nothing happens. Any ideas??
Hey, bit of a late comment so hopefully you'll still see this. Recently spilled juice on my macbook pro 14 inch 2021, would this video still work for my model? Got exams soon and really hoping I can figure out how to get my keys unstuck haha. Thanks!
dude I'm kind of in the same situation but with pumpkin soup lmao, pls let me know (if possible) if you manage to get an answer. also good luck with your exams and try not to procrastinate as much as I am right now hahhaa
Hello, can i do this with Antisepsol?
Does the arrows keys also have that support? like the delete one? because I took it off but I didn't saw it, that metal thingy. And I can't put it back, also the plastic thing came off on the key when I took it off + the rubber. So when I try to put it back the rubber pushes me out the key
The arrow key doesn't have metal, if it won't go back most likely some little clips broke off ☹️ and will have to be replaced
Is this applicable for the macbook air 2017?
My space key was stuck! thank you so much.. Look, this is proof
T H A N K Y O U
Your are very welcome 😊
@@thecollegepicker How do I clean my keys from inside when I spilled ginger ale
I may or may not have broken the little plastic clips on the underside of the key on 9 different keys. But that's because I was a fool. The tutorial is great!!
It happens. I've been there before. 🙏
@@thecollegepicker ah well, what's 30 euros for some new keycaps anyways?
update my replacement keys came in and all is well again :)
Oh good! Glad you got it all going again 🙂
How long did you guys keep your keys in the water for?
How do you keep your computer from coming on while doing this repair?
Thank you
You are welcome.
Is that bottle of alcohol available from the hardware shop? If not, where do I purchase it please?
so I have a MacBook Air 2019 I believe and I have been looking for videos on how to clean my keys I just tried to pop the h key off but it has a rubbery film under the key and is preventing me from removal did I do It wrong? I can barely lift the keys even at eye level that's how bad they need cleaning
Some keys type double letters and left shift key works on pressing harder. How can I fix them?