Keyboard Replacement
Laptop keyboards are subject to regular wear and tear, not to mention common accidents like spilling water or coffee. Your keys might go loose and missing, stop working altogether, or become glitchy. We can replace your laptop keyboard!
Replace Laptop Keyboard
We provide keyboard replacements for most laptop makes and models.
Most keyboards fail due to these common issues...
- Broken or missing keys but the buttons still work - this typically happens when the key mechanism is broken. If you have the spare keys laying around but can't reattach them, that's the reason why! These parts are quite fragile.
- If you have a key that presses and doesn't spring back up, you may have a torn or damaged rubber dome or silicone dome. This is not a common problem but again easily repaired if the mechanism and the key are in good condition. With common and widely sold brands it may still be cheaper to replace the entire keyboard.
- A key or several still press but don't register. This is the most common problem, with the actual mechanical connection that electronically registers the key stroke. The entire keyboard would need to be replaced.
- Liquid damage also typically breaks keyboards, requiring a complete keyboard replacement.
Typical Costs to Replace
Cost of repair varies depending on make and model. With the older laptops, it used to be easy. These days sometimes it's cheaper to just replace the whole laptop!
Older and business-grade laptops have replaceable keyboards, and it only takes a few minutes to swap one. The usual cost is $100-250 depending on how much disassembly is required.
Typical consumer grade laptops are much harder to repair. To save a few cents, cheap laptops by HP and Lenovo use plastic rivets that weld the keyboard into the palm rest of the laptop. This design takes a long time to remove the rivets and put them on later. It's possible to break the rivets and put a new keyboard without redoing them, but you won't be happy with the spongy keys.
So, the whole palm rest will need a replacement, which also requires the whole laptop disassembly and transferring its internals into the new part. This typically cost from $350, so if your laptop was a low-end model and/or cheap, the repair isn't worth it.
And MacBooks? Forget about it. Certain models have over 100 screws to remove. We've done it a few times and it wasn't something we'd rather do again!
Repair Alternatives
So, what can you do if the repair isn't cost effective?
If you only have one or few keys that you rarely use (like the function keys) broken, you could probably rely on the Windows On-Screen keyboard. If your laptop has a touch screen, it's quite easy to access.
If portability doesn't matter and you don't want to throw away the laptop, you can get a wireless keyboard and use it with your laptop or even iPad. My favorite is Logitech K380, which typically costs around $70 and will work with Bluetooth, meaning no dongle required.
Of course, you can also attach a regular wireless or even wired keyboard, but those get quite clunky.
