Broken Key in Lock – Has Your Key Snapped in Your Door Lock?

Has your key broken in your lock and snapped off? Find out how a locksmith can help remove a snapped or broken key & the cost to extract the broken key from your lock.

A common call out for locksmiths is for keys snapped in a door lock such as what is commonly referred to as a  Yale lock or euro cylinder, a locksmith can use their key extraction skills to help.

1. Should I Remove the Broken Key from Lock Myself?

In a word no, attempting to remove a broken key yourself is probably the worse thing you can do as can could cause damage to the internal components of the lock, which could require a replacement lock.

Trying to remove a snapped key yourself could push the broken part of the key further into the lock, and make the job of extraction that bit more time-consuming & costing you more too.

2. Key Has Broken & Snapped in Lock – Can a Locksmith Remove the Key?

The simple answer to this question is yes, a locksmith can normally remove a broken key that has snapped in a lock.

A professional locksmith can use specialist tools that most general tradespeople or householders wouldn’t have in their toolkits.

And because a locksmith is familiar with many different types of locks, they will know the easiest way to solve a key that broke in your door lock.

Remove Snapped Key from all Locks Types

A skilled locksmith will be able to remove snapped keys from all types of locks such as:

• Remove snapped key from Door locks such as Yale locks and Euro cylinders
• Garage Door locks
• Padlocks
• Window locks
• even Car ignitions & Car door locks – this requires an auto locksmiths help

3. Why does a Key Snap in a Lock?

The reason why your key has broken and snapped in your lock will be any of the following:

• Key being turned when not fully inserted
• Attempting to use an incorrect key
• Attempting to force open a jammed lock
• Holding the key whilst pushing the door open, causing it to bend and then break
• Keys having been damaged before without you knowing, such as using keys to open tins of paint etc..

4. Are there certain locks that are common for snapped keys?

The pin tumbler mechanism ( Yale Locks, Euro Cylinders Locks etc.. ) is the most common for snapped keys, the vast majority of doors in the UK have this type of mechanism.

We tend to find, too, that cheaper manufacturers use thinner blades of metal for their keys, and this leaves them more susceptible to breaking.

5. How Long Will It take a Locksmith to remove the snapped key from a lock?

Unfortunately, this is a tough question to answer, as it depends on so many factors, such as:

• How far into the lock the broken piece of key is and what caused the breakage.
• If the lock is damaged or faulty, it will take a lot longer to remove the key.

As a rule of thumb, a broken key that has just been broken by user error, in a working lock, should take no longer than half an hour to remove.

Key extraction before and after | Image provided by HalesLocks

6. Can a new key be made from a broken key?

Generally, yes a new key can be made from a broken key, but it depends on how clean a break it is.

Remember that a key duplication machine makes as close to an exact copy of the original key that it can, so if the key doesn’t fit back together nicely, it won’t be cut correctly. It is necessary, of course, to have both parts of the key.

7. Can a locksmith cut a new key for my lock after removing the broken key?

A locksmith skilled in key cutting can certainly make a key for most locks, even if the key is incomplete or too bent to be duplicated, because they will have the lock to work to.

One thing to bear in mind, though, is that that time taken to do so may mean it’s cheaper to replace the lock.

8. How much does a locksmith charge get a broken key out of a lock?

This would again depend upon the individual circumstances, but a straightforward job, taking half an hour or less, would normally cost you around £85.

Please see our locksmith price list for more about cost factors when hiring a locksmith.

Geographical factors may influence this, and you would probably find that locksmiths in London charge more than this, as may locksmiths covering rural areas, where travelling time and distance may cause an increase.