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Broken key extraction

Removing a snapped key from a cylinder without driving the fragment deeper or damaging the lock — then working out why the key failed.

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Doors, padlocks and ignitions Extraction rather than replacement

Broken key extraction

Half the key is in the lock. What happens now?

A key snaps and half of it stays in the lock. The door is now neither open nor usable, a spare key will not fit past the obstruction, and whatever you do in the next few minutes largely determines how difficult the repair becomes.

The single most useful thing is to stop. A fragment sitting near the face of the plug can usually be drawn out in minutes. The same fragment pushed a centimetre deeper, or glued to the wafers by an improvised attempt, turns a short job into cylinder work.

Before you try anythingDo not insert a spare key, push the fragment, or apply adhesive. Each of those makes extraction harder, and glue in a keyway frequently ends with the cylinder being replaced rather than repaired.
Locksmith extracting a broken key from a lock cylinder

Method

How extraction actually works

Purpose-made extractors are thin, stiff blades with a hook or barb on one edge. They slide into the keyway alongside the fragment, catch on a cut or the edge of the blade, and draw it out along the axis of the keyway. Two are often used together, one on each side, so the fragment comes out straight rather than twisting and jamming.

A complication: the pins or wafers are pressing down on the fragment the whole time. Lifting that pressure slightly — and only slightly — while pulling makes the difference between a clean withdrawal and a fragment that digs in. That is a matter of feel more than force.

Where the fragment sits deep, or the break is ragged, the cylinder may need removing from the door so it can be worked on from both ends. That is routine and does not damage anything, though it takes longer than working through the face.

Once the metal is out, the lock is tested with a good key. If there was roughness or binding that contributed to the break, that gets dealt with then — otherwise the next key will do exactly the same thing.

Common cases

Where keys tend to break

Front and back door cylinders

The most common, usually on a key that had been getting stiff for weeks.

Padlocks and gate locks

Exposure and corrosion make both the lock stiff and the key brittle.

Car ignitions

A smaller, more delicate cylinder. If the key carried a transponder, the electronic half still needs resolving afterwards.

Car door locks

Often unused for years on a vehicle opened by remote, so the cylinder has seized quietly while nobody was looking.

Mailbox and cabinet locks

Small, lightly built keys that fatigue quickly with daily use.

Mortise locks on older doors

Long keyways and heavier mechanisms; extraction may need the lock body removed.

Before you call

What helps when you call

Most of these decide whether the fragment can be taken out through the face or whether the cylinder needs to come off the door.

  • Whether any part of the key is protruding
  • Whether a spare key exists
  • What kind of lock it is: door cylinder, padlock, ignition, cabinet
  • Whether the key was becoming stiff before it broke
  • Whether anything has already been tried
  • For a vehicle: the year, make and model, and whether the key had a chip
  • A photograph of the keyway, and of the piece you are holding

Common questions

Broken key questions

Sometimes, if a usable length is protruding and you have fine needle-nose pliers. Grip it straight and pull along the axis of the keyway; do not twist. If nothing is protruding, stop. Improvised tools — superglue on a matchstick, a jigsaw blade, a paperclip — tend to push the fragment deeper, glue it to the wafers, or snap off and add a second obstruction.

In most cases, yes. Extraction is designed to leave the cylinder serviceable. The lock is tested after removal with a good key, and any roughness that contributed to the break is dealt with then. Where the plug or wafers were already damaged before the key gave way, the cylinder may need replacing — but that is the exception.

Rarely without warning. Keys fail through metal fatigue after years of flexing, through wear that thins the blade, through being used as a lever on a stiff lock, or because the lock had become hard to turn and the key took the strain. Copies of copies are more brittle than a factory original. If a key was getting stiff, it was telling you something.

Often, if both halves are present and reasonably undamaged, because the cuts can be read across the join. Cutting from the original code held against the lock is more accurate where that is available. If only the fragment inside remains, the cylinder can usually be decoded once it is out.

Yes, in two ways. The cylinder is smaller and more delicate, and if the key carried a transponder, the electronic half of the key still has to be dealt with even once the metal is out. Do not attempt to start the vehicle with the fragment inside. See the automotive page for the key-replacement side.

Request broken key extraction

Tell us what kind of lock it is and whether any part of the key is protruding.

Photographs of the lock face, door edge or key help us identify the hardware before a visit.

We use these details to respond to your request. See our privacy policy. Access work requires proof of ownership or authorisation.

Identification is required

For any work that provides access to a property, vehicle or safe, the technician will ask for photo identification and evidence that you are entitled to enter. Having that ready keeps the visit short.