Keyboards on laptops take a lot of abuse. Not only from constant use from spills, 
dirt, pet hair(and human) and keys popping off. Keyboard replacement is a common repair. On a PC it’s easy to replace. Go to your local computer store. Pick up a new one and come home and plug it in. On a laptop it’s not as simple but still easy if your a littler mechanically inclined. Here is how I took apart a Dell Latitude D600 keyboard. They are not all the same but I thing it would be a good example. All that you may need is a small Phillips screwdriver, small flat head screwdriver and a delicate touch.
First in this case you’ll have to remove the center plastic cover just above the keyboard. You lie the screen flat. In this case Dell provide a small notch on one side. Insert your small screwdriver there and gently start prying it apart. If you using a normal steel screwdriver use care as you can easily gouge break the plastic. There are plastic ones available I’ve found on Ebay.
This piece was held in by plastic hooks and snaps in place. Gently pull and pry the piece out. This piece was getting replaced anyway but still I tried to be careful not to damage anything else.
This Dell had two Phillips screws along the top edge holding the keyboard in place. I removed those.
I lift up along the back edge of the board. It was held in place along the bottom by some small hooks . Gently wiggling it out I see that a small ribbon is till attached to the base unit.
There is a small pull lever that aids in pulling this out. Gently pull this out and your home free.
This is the keyboard from underneath. You can then replace the board with a newer one. It took me about fifteen minutes to this task. To reassemble you just go in reverse order. It’s not as hard as you might think. As a word of caution. Like any other work you do in a computer be careful of ESD(Electro Static Discharge). You can use a wrist strap or touch any bare metal on the unit or elsewhere around your work area to rid yourself of static. Well good luck and hope this might help someone in the future. Next up will be replacing the lid cover to this same Dell Latitude D600 so stay tuned. Have a great day.
Sources: Dell Latitude Service Manual
6 comments:
Thanks so much for the great photos and the step-by-step instructions. I just had to replace my keyboard and your instructions gave me the confidence that I needed to do it. Thank you!
Thank you for the kind words and I'm glad you've found this useful.
Hi there, this is great! But i cant get the tab thing under the keyboard out?? do i pull hard?
Dude !! You Rock !
Exactly as you described, swapped out my old board with 5 missing keys and flopped in my new Ebay $4.95 replacement in under 8 min...and NO I've never done this before !
ROCK ON !
Thank you and I'm glad you found it helpful.
Five minutes! DELLs are well designed. Pull firmly on the white plastic tab attached to the little metal bar , which lifts the white keyboard ribbon plug out of the slot in the board. You can pull out one end at a time. My spare laptop is too slow for the Youtube directions. Many thanks. Sindi
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