How to remove a broken key from a lock without damaging the cylinder

What you need

• Fine-point precision tweezers (eyebrow or electronics type)
• Long-nose pliers
• Broken key extractor kit (flexible steel hooks, at Leroy Merlin or Amazon for 8-15 euros)
• Fretsaw blade or a fine jigsaw blade
• Torch or the one on your phone
• Hot glue gun (method 4 only)
• Powdered graphite lubricant (Abus, Tesa) or WD-40 Specialist for locks
• Hot glue stick
• Cloth

Step by step

1. 1

   Stop putting things in the lock

   The first thing is not to make it worse. Every attempt with a paperclip or a screwdriver pushes the piece further in and can bend the pins in the cylinder. Take the other half of the key still in your hand and keep it; you will need it for the copy.

2. 2

   Put the cylinder in the rest position

   Look at the piece with the torch. If the cylinder was left turned, the pins block the way out. With the tip of the tweezers or a very fine flat screwdriver, gently turn the piece until the slot is vertical, which is the position the key goes in and comes out in.

3. 3

   Lubricate

   Puff powdered graphite or a short burst of WD-40 Specialist for locks into the slot. Wait a minute. The lubricant reduces the friction of the pins against the piece of key and makes it come out with far less force.

4. 4

   Method 1: tweezers if the piece shows

   If you can see 1-2 mm of metal outside the cylinder, grip the piece by its flat sides (not the cut edge) with precision tweezers and pull straight out, without turning. A slight side-to-side wiggle helps if it is very tight.

5. 5

   Method 2: broken key extractor

   If the piece is inside, use the hook from the extractor kit. Slide it in along the cut side of the key, with the hook facing the teeth, all the way to the back. Turn it slightly so it catches in a notch and pull out firmly. Repeat two or three times if it only comes a little way.

6. 6

   Method 3: fretsaw blade

   Without a kit, a fretsaw blade or a fine jigsaw blade does the same job. Slide the blade in with the teeth facing outwards, against the cut side of the key. Push it to the back and pull. The saw teeth bite into the key's cuts and drag it out.

7. 7

   Method 4: hot glue (only if the piece shows)

   Removing a broken key with hot glue only works if some of it is showing. Put a drop of hot glue on the tip of a stick or on the other half of the key, press it onto the piece, wait 30 seconds for it to harden and pull straight. If it fails, clean off the residue before trying another method.

8. 8

   Check the cylinder with another key

   With the piece out, insert a copy and turn. If it turns smoothly, lubricate once more and you are done. If it scrapes or stops halfway, a pin has bent and the cylinder needs replacing (see the guide on measuring a cylinder).

Why a key snaps inside the lock

A key does not snap overnight. There is nearly always a cause behind it worth knowing about, because if you do not fix it, the new copy will end up the same way.

On the coast the most common reason is corrosion. Salt air and damp get into the cylinder of doors facing the street or a terrace, the pins seize up and the key needs more and more force to turn. One day the force exceeds what the brass can take and the key snaps at its deepest cut.

• Worn key or poor quality copy: cheap soft brass copies bend sooner. If you notice the key goes in but turns in jerks, it is a sign it needs replacing.
• Cylinder never lubricated: if it is more than a year since you last used graphite, the cylinder is working dry.
• Forcing the door with the key: pulling on the key to close a door that rubs is the fastest way to snap it. If the door rubs, see the guide on door rubbing on the floor or frame.
• Jammed lock: if the cylinder was already stiff, the problem is the cylinder, not the key. We explain it in lock jammed: the cylinder will not turn.

Mistakes that turn a 10-minute fix into a lock replacement

We see the same errors again and again when we arrive at homes where someone has already tried to get the key out.

• Superglue (Loctite, Super Glue): the worst thing you can do. Cyanoacrylate runs between the pins and glues them. The cylinder is written off and has to be replaced.
• Pushing with the other half of the key: the piece goes further in and ends up behind the pins. From then on it only comes out by dismantling the cylinder.
• Paperclips and wire: they have no teeth to catch on anything, they only push. And they scratch the pins.
• Hitting the cylinder with a hammer: it misaligns the cylinder and the cam; the lock stops opening even once the key is out.
• Drilling: on an ordinary door it wrecks the cylinder, and on an armoured (blindada) or high-security door it is an expensive mistake. Never drill an armoured door: the security escutcheon is designed to resist drill bits and you will end up with a door that is out of action and a bill for hundreds of euros.

When to call a professional

If you have tried the tweezers and the extractor and the piece will not move, or if the piece is pushed right in behind the pins, do not keep going. A locksmith removes a broken key without damaging the cylinder in 10-15 minutes with professional extractors and, if necessary, by dismantling the cylinder from inside.

At Manitas Costa broken key extraction costs 40-70 euros, fixed price before starting. If the cylinder has been damaged, a cylinder change is 40-60 euros in labour plus the cylinder (anti-bump from 35 euros). We arrive in 20-45 minutes in Valencia, Alicante, Torrevieja and Benidorm.

Full details on the page for locksmith in Valencia, Alicante and the Costa Blanca and in what a locksmith charges. If the door is shut and you are locked out with the key snapped inside, that is a door opening and we cover it in locked out after the door slammed: what to do.

• The piece does not show and the extractor catches nothing.
• The cylinder is turned and will not come back to vertical.
• It is an armoured or high-security door with a security escutcheon.
• You have already used glue or forced it with tools.
• You are outside and the door is shut.

Security and cylinder maintenance on the coast

A lock cylinder in Torrevieja, Benidorm or Dénia has a harder life than one inland. Salt-laden air corrodes the brass and beach dust gets into the cylinder. Two small jobs a year prevent most broken keys.

Lubricate every 6 months with powdered graphite or a dry lubricant made for locks (Abus PS88, WD-40 Specialist locks). Do not use 3-in-1 oil or cooking oil: they attract dust and form a paste that seizes the pins.

Have copies cut at a locksmith's with a proper machine, not at a shopping centre kiosk. And if the original key is worn, have the copy cut from the cylinder code or the ownership card, not from the worn key: copying a worn key reproduces the wear.

If you have a second home and the door goes months without being opened, ask whoever keeps an eye on the house to put the key in and take it out once a month. The cylinder that is not used all winter is the one that jams in July.