That soft metallic click as the key gives way is a horrible little sound — and what you do in the next two minutes decides whether this is a quick fix or a wrecked lock. Snapped, stuck and won't-turn feel like the same emergency from the doorstep, but they're three different problems with three different fixes, and the internet's favourite advice for the first one is actively the worst thing you can do. Here's the working locksmith's version.
First: which problem do you actually have?
- Snapped: part of the key is in your hand, the rest is inside the cylinder. The job is extraction without making it worse.
- Stuck: the key is whole but won't come out. Usually recoverable on the spot if you stop forcing it.
- Won't turn: the key is in and moving freely but nothing happens, or it meets a wall of resistance. This is a diagnosis problem — cylinder or mechanism — not a key problem.
If the key has snapped: what not to do
Two instincts cause nearly all the damage we see. The first is pushing — trying the spare key, or poking at the stub — which drives the broken blade deeper past the pins and turns a five-minute extraction into a cylinder replacement. The second is the superglue trick, recommended endlessly online: glue the broken halves together and pull. In practice the glue squeezes off the key into the pin chambers, bonds where it shouldn't, and permanently kills a lock that was otherwise fine. Don't do either.
What's safe: if a decent stub of key protrudes from the cylinder, fine-nosed pliers pulling gently, straight and without twisting will often retrieve it. If the break is flush or recessed, that's the line — proper extraction uses purpose-made tools that hook the key's cuts, and improvising past that point is how locks die. A locksmith carries those tools and uses them weekly.
If the key is stuck but whole
Stop turning — rising resistance is the pre-snap warning. Gently wiggle the key vertically while drawing it out, and try easing the door towards and away from the frame as you do: on uPVC doors especially, pressure from a dropped door binds the cylinder, and changing the door's position releases it. A puff of graphite or PTFE lock lubricant helps; household oil spray doesn't, because it gums the pins over time. If it still won't release, leave it in place — a stuck key is recoverable, a snapped one is harder.
If the key won't turn at all
Borrow the diagnostic from the uPVC trade: if you can open the door, try locking it with the door standing open. Turns fine open but not closed? The problem is door alignment, not the lock. Won't turn even with the door open? The cylinder or the mechanism behind it is failing. Our uPVC guide walks through that diagnosis in detail — and either way, repeated forcing is what converts a failing lock into a snapped key and a lockout.
Why keys snap in the first place
Keys are cut from soft metals by design, and they age: every year of use thins the blade at its weakest cut. But a snapped key is usually a symptom, not the disease — the real culprit is the extra force you've been applying for weeks to a cylinder that's wearing out or a door that's dropped. Two habits prevent most repeats: get spares cut from the original key rather than from another copy (copies of copies drift until they bind), and treat a stiffening lock as a service call rather than a strength test.
Locked out by a snapped key?
If the broken key has left you on the wrong side of the door, you're now in lockout territory — our guide on being locked out covers the full playbook, including the rogue-trader patterns to avoid when you're stressed. The short version: a trained locksmith will usually extract the key and have the original lock working without drilling anything, and a fair one will quote a fixed price before starting. LocksmithLocal covers exactly this, around the clock, with no call-out fee — find your nearest locksmith here and get back inside.
