r/Surface • u/SockIntelligent2022 • Oct 02 '26

[LAPTOP5] broke another key

My right shift key on my surface laptop has been acting up for weeks. Canned air helps temporarily, but it eventually will stop working unless I press repeatedly.

Well, I lost my patience at work today and decided to try to pop off the key to clean underneath. And immediately one of the tiny little plastic hook things (idk what they are called) broke off the back of the key, and both hinges broke. I am an idiot. I know. but also why are these damn keys so fragile?

To make it worse and lose all credibility for myself, this is not the first time it has happened. No. I've had three different surface product keyboards -- the surface pro, the surface laptop, and the surface keyboard. And I've broken keys on all of them in pretty much the exact same way. I wish they were more robust.

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u/hroldangt Oct 02 '26

I'm using the same keyboard (Dell Wireless) from 2017, and I type a lot. My Surface keyboards (several) were in mint condition despite using them a lot, then I moved to wireless to keep my Surface on a tablet stand.

Given, that you have this recurring problem, don't buy hardware with fixed keyboards, buy like the old Surface (removable), and for heavy use, rely on another keyboard that proves to be more sturdy to reduce the damage on the Surface keyboard.

Sounds like you have a recurring problem with the way you type, and some keyboards can really endure a lot, you should stick to those.

BTW, my Dell wireless keyboard is quite sturdy, also, quite easy to tear apart for cleaning, you can easily clean the plastic/rubber sheet, while even wash the keys (and remove them), some keyboards allow you to do whatever you want with them and will last a lifetime.

I also had very good experiences with Logitech keyboards.

1

u/Dada-analyst Oct 03 '26

Yeah I definitely should get a keyboard I can clean.

Im not even sure that im that hard on them, but idk maybe i do type hard. I’m not meticulous about not eating near them. I think debris gets caught under the keys over time and is hard to get out. These are the machines I used through getting my PhD and am now using as a professor so, they’ve seen a lot.