How to disassemble keyboard

In this guide I show how to disassemble a laptop keyboard.
I’m doing it for fun just to see how it’s built. I’m taking apart a damaged one and have no intention to use it in the future.


I’ll be using one of my tools shown on the following picture.

STEP 1.
Remove sticky tape securing the cable to back of the keyboard.

STEP 2.
Carefully unglue the cable from the back.

STEP 3.
Start peeling off the aluminum protective film.

STEP 4.
Remove the protective film.
After the protective film is removed it cannot be reused.

STEP 5.
My keyboard had two plastic separators on the top.

They are secured to the back via pins.
Plastic pins are melted on the back and secure separators in place.

Push all plastic pins though wholes on the keyboard.

Start removing the separator.

The separator has been removed.

STEP 6.
Now you’ll have to remove all key caps.

In order to remove the key cap carefully lift it up with your fingers.

Remove the key cap so the hinge underneath stays connected to the keyboard.

Some big keys have a different design.
In addition to the hinge, some big keys (Back space or Space bar for example) might have an additional support bracket.

Remove the key cap with the support bracket.

STEP 7.
Some laptop keyboards might have blank covers on the left and right sides from the up arrow key.

Lift up and remove the blank cover.

All key caps and plastic separators have been removed.

STEP 8.
Now you can start removing key hinges – key lifting mechanisms.

Carefully separate the key hinge from the keyboard body.

Each key hinge has two parts – external and internal pieces.
When you remove the hinge, try to keep the internal part inside the external. Do not separate them.

If they separated, put them back together.

The lifting mechanism (hinge) assembled.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I’m taking this keyboard apart just for fun. That’s why I don’t care about removed parts.
If you following this guide to repair the keyboard, I would recommend to keep all hinges in the right order.

STEP 9.
Remove the sheet with silicone (or rubber) plungers.

STEP 10.
Remove the second sheet with traces.

Both sheets have been separated from the base.

STEP 11.
The sheet with traces has two layers and all traces are running between these layers.

STEP 12.
You can separate these layers from each other.

The keyboard has been disassemble.

Can you repair a keyboard? My answer is NO! Keyboards are cheap and not designed to be disassembled.
Also read how to repair individual keys.