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The key broke in the lock

A snapped key can normally be extracted and the lock kept. What ruins it is what people do in the next five minutes.

Phones answered around the clock · free estimate

While you wait — please don't

  • Do not push the broken piece further in. That is what turns a five-minute extraction into a replaced lock.
  • Do not try to grab it with pliers unless it is genuinely sticking out — you will usually break it flush.
  • Do not use superglue on the other half of the key. It is a real thing people try and it glues the lock solid.
  • If the lock was stiff for weeks before this, say so. It matters for the repair.

What has probably happened

  • The key was worn thin — most break after a long period of getting stiffer.
  • The lock itself is stiff or seized, so the key takes the strain.
  • A cheaply cut copy, which is softer than the original.
  • Cold weather making an already tired key brittle.
  • Forcing a key that was never quite right.

What the technician does

  • The broken piece extracted with proper tools rather than dug at.
  • The lock checked for what made it break — usually it was stiff long before it snapped.
  • Lubrication and servicing, or a new cylinder if it is worn out.
  • A fresh key cut from the original where one exists, rather than a copy of a copy.
  • Rekeying if part of the key is missing and unaccounted for.

Questions people ask

Can the lock be saved?
Usually. Extraction is routine work. The lock gets replaced when it was already worn out, which is often what caused the break in the first place.
Half the key is still in my hand.
Keep it. It makes cutting a replacement much easier and it proves the whole key is accounted for.
It broke because the lock is stiff.
Then the lock needs servicing or replacing, not just the key. Fitting a new key to a seized lock buys you another broken key.

Get a technician out

Free estimate. The price is agreed before the work starts.

Call now · (866) 690-5848

Something else going on?

One Call Locksmiths arranges the visit; the technician does the work and gives you the price.

Call (866) 690-5848

Phones answered around the clock

Call (866) 690-5848