Broken Key Extraction: Snapped Key Removed
Key snapped off in the door, deadbolt, padlock, or ignition? Don't dig at it. We pull the broken half out without wrecking the lock.
Broken key extraction is the removal of a snapped-off key blade from a lock cylinder using extractor picks and spiral tools, without drilling the lock. Apex Locksmith pulls broken keys out of house doors, car doors, ignitions, padlocks, and mailboxes across North Dallas, usually reaching you in 20–30 minutes. Once the fragment is out we test the lock, and if you need a new key cut, that gets quoted flat before we make it.
- Broken blade removed with extractor tools, not a drill
- House doors, car doors, ignitions, padlocks, and mailbox locks covered
- Lock tested after extraction so you know it still turns clean
- New key cut on-site if yours snapped beyond saving
- Flat quote before the tech touches the lock
Extraction is quoted flat on the call once we know the lock type. If the cylinder took damage or you need a fresh key cut, that price goes on the table before any extra work.
How Broken Key Extraction Works
Four steps from a snapped key to a working lock, most visits done the same hour.
- 1
Stop and call
Leave the fragment where it is; pliers and glue usually push it deeper. Tell us what it snapped in: a door, an ignition, a padlock, or a mailbox.
- 2
Flat quote on the phone
We confirm the lock type and give you one flat number plus an arrival window, typically 20 to 30 minutes out.
- 3
Tech extracts the blade
Using extractor picks and spiral tools, the tech eases the broken half out of the cylinder without drilling, then checks the lock for damaged pins.
- 4
Test the lock, pay the quote
The lock gets tested with your remaining key or a fresh cut one, and you pay the number from the call. Any extra work gets its own quote first.
Where We Pull Broken Keys From
Locks, breakage causes, and follow-up work our techs handle across North Dallas.
Locks we extract from
How keys break
What happens after
Related Services
Common Questions, Answered Straight
Frequently Asked Questions
Almost always. Extractor picks and spiral tools grab the blade and slide it out of the cylinder, so the lock stays usable. Drilling only comes up when the cylinder itself has failed, and we ask first.
Ignitions sit tighter than door locks, but the approach is the same and we do it at your car. If the wafers inside got chewed up when the key broke, we can repair the cylinder on the same visit and quote that separately.
Usually yes. With both halves we cut a fresh key that matches, and for car keys we can also cut by code from the VIN if a piece went missing.
Skip the glue; it bonds to the pins and can finish the lock off. Thin tweezers occasionally work when a chunk sticks out, but most attempts push the blade deeper and turn a quick extraction into a cylinder job.
From our McKinney base a mobile tech reaches most of North Dallas in 20–30 minutes, daily 8 AM to 8 PM. Tell us the lock type when you call and we bring the right extractors.
Broken Key Extraction Near You
Same service, priced the same, across North Dallas.