A key popped off your laptop keyboard. They all go back on, and you can usually do it without ordering a replacement, unless the tiny plastic clip underneath snapped.

Look at What You Have

There are two styles. Some have a scissor mechanism, a thin metal X that stays in the keyboard. Others have the hinge attached to the keycap. Look at the empty socket on the laptop.

• Metal X still in place: this is the easy case. The keycap just presses back on.
• Metal X came off with the key: you need to seat it back into the socket first, then press the cap on.
• Plastic hooks are broken: you likely need a replacement key and hinge, but they are cheap and specific to your model.

Putting It Back

1. Turn the laptop off so a stray press does not do anything odd.
2. Set the hinge flat on the socket, aligning the small hooks with the slots.
3. Press down evenly with two fingers, center first, until you feel or hear a click.
4. Test the key gently. If it sits high or feels mushy, lift it and reseat. Do not force it.

If It Will Not Stay

Check that none of the tiny plastic tabs on the back of the cap are bent. Even one bent tab will keep the key from seating. If they are gone, replacement kits for most models cost a few dollars and come with the hinge included.

I have done this three times now, twice on my own laptop and once on a friend’s. The first attempt took twenty minutes of nervous fiddling. Now it is about thirty seconds.