How to Fix Sticky Keys and Double Presses on Your MacBook Keyboard

This is not a new problem, but sticky keys and double clicks still bother us.

You press a key on your MacBook, but nothing happens. Press another key and enter the letter twice. The third key felt stuck. You are not alone, because this is a common problem with certain types of Apple keyboards. If you have friends who bought a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro in the last year or two, they may not be able to sympathize with your plight. Although it hasn’t made headlines these days, Apple has basically solved the problem and moved on, many of us haven’t gotten over it.

What’s the problem with Apple’s butterfly keyboard?

There is no such thing as a perfect keyboard, but Apple’s butterfly keyboard is particularly flawed. Apple began producing these keyboards in 2015 with an upgraded “MacBook,” which the company touted for its slimness and portability. The light and thin part comes from the new keyboard, which uses a “butterfly” mechanism design, which can significantly reduce the keyboard stroke. This means a smaller form factor, but it’s not suitable for everyone’s writing experience (personally, I’ve always liked writing, but this is a polarizing topic).

However, you can get used to anything. If the only problem with these keyboards is that they don’t travel, then the story may end here. But the new butterfly design has a fundamental flaw: Dust and dirt will get under the switch. In addition to causing typos, it will also cause a frustrating “Sticky Keys” feeling. For some keys, type, nothing happens; for others, write double letters. You can imagine how annoying it is.

For later butterfly keyboards, Apple tried to solve the problem by adding a film to the top of the switch to prevent debris from entering. Although the new design helps, it cannot avoid the inevitable, as iFixit discovered in their testing. These keyboards are unintentionally designed to fail.

How do I know if I have a butterfly keyboard?

The butterfly keyboard can be immediately recognized by experts, but it can also be easily overlooked. There are many types of butterfly keyboards. Unlike Apple’s newer MacBook keyboards, known as “magic keyboards,” they have a large number of keystrokes. You won’t be blamed for not knowing what version you have

The best way is to check your laptop model. To do this, click on Apple in the upper left corner of the screen and select “About this Mac.” If your MacBook’s model name matches any of the following, then you have a butterfly keyboard:

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015)
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016)
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017)
MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)
MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)

How can I fix my keyboard?

Before proceeding, the first thing to do is to remember when you purchased your laptop from Apple. Is it less than four years ago? So congratulations-your keyboard can be repaired for free.

About the butterfly keyboard repair program

Due to many complaints from butterfly keyboard victims (and an upcoming lawsuit claiming that Apple deliberately sold defective keyboards), Apple has implemented a repair plan; as long as you buy a MacBook, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro with a butterfly keyboard Apple will bear the cost of repairs by purchasing it four years ago.

Although this is of course good news and an absolutely necessary course of action, not everything is perfect. After all, you will always encounter the same problematic keyboard, so there is no guarantee that you will not be disappointed in the future.

By the way, it is indeed the same keyboard. If your computer is not equipped with a better membrane keyboard, you will not be able to get repair service. Although the duration of the program is longer than Apple’s three-year AppleCare + warranty, once the four-year period is exceeded, you will have to pay the costs associated with repairing the keyboard Sticky Keys.

What if I don’t qualify for the butterfly keyboard repair program?

For others who have used butterfly keyboards for over four years, we have many do-it-yourself options. You can change the keyboard, but this can be expensive. For example, Rossman Repair Group priced the repair at $ 350 and warned you not to ask them to “fix this lemon.” Instead, you may want to consider some solutions that the Apple community has tried to fix these Sticky Keys.

A popular option is the compressed air technique – take a can of compressed air and lift the MacBook up to a 75 degree angle (by the way, this is a very specific recommendation from Apple). Then spray the condensed air all over the keyboard from left to right, or just spray the keys that are giving you trouble. Turn the computer to the right and repeat, then turn to the left again and repeat.

You can open the key yourself, but this is an extremely dangerous operation because the key must be carefully removed according to its single latch design, and it may damage the key or the components below. For example, if you try to Delete the space bar in the same way that you delete the “G” key, you may end up destroying it.

How to get keep a keyboard from double-pressing letters

If you are not satisfied with the hardware path, you can try to decrypt the software. Our own CEO was able to avoid his dreaded double-click on the spacebar by changing the double space to a single space by setting the text replacement.

Also has download help. Take Unshaky as an example – the program will parse your input and prevent repeated keystrokes (if it happens too fast), this shouldn’t affect how many times you want to press keys twice.

Of course, try to keep dirt away from the laptop. Clean as much dust as possible in the work environment, do not rely on the keyboard to eat, and most importantly, try to clarify these ideas, give up and buy a computer with a keyboard that will not fail.