Broken Key Extraction in Los Angeles, CA

What is broken key extraction, and when do you need it?

Broken key extraction is the job of getting the snapped-off part of a key out of a door lock, padlock, deadbolt, or car ignition without harming the lock itself. If you are holding half a key and the other half is stuck in the keyway, or the key snapped off flush with the face of the cylinder, this is the job. It is the situation behind searches like key broken inside lock and broken key stuck in door: the blade is jammed, the bolt will not move, and nothing opens until that piece comes out.

The good news is that a lock with a broken key in it is often still a healthy lock. The pins and springs inside are usually fine. What has failed is the key, and the fragment is simply in the way. A careful extraction removes the fragment and leaves you with a lock that works. The bad outcomes come from the attempts people make before calling, which is why the next sections cover what to avoid.

If the snapped key has also left you outside, treat it as an emergency locksmith call. We answer the phone at (213) 577-1366 at any hour, every day of the year.

Why do keys snap off inside locks?

Keys do not usually break out of nowhere. Almost every snapped key has a story, and knowing it helps decide whether the lock needs attention after the fragment is out. Here are the causes we see most often:

• A worn key. Years of use round off the cuts and thin the blade, and the metal eventually gives way at the weakest point, often right where the blade meets the bow.
• A copy of a copy. A key cut from another duplicate carries every small error forward, so it binds in the lock and gets forced. A fresh cut from the original is far kinder to a lock; see our page on key duplication.
• A stiff or dirty lock. Dust, grit, or a misaligned strike plate makes the key hard to turn, and people lean on it harder.
• Bent or fatigued metal. A key that has been straightened once or twice is already cracked inside, even if it looks fine.
• Using the key as a tool. Prying, scraping, or turning it with pliers puts side load on a blade that was only designed for rotation.
• Swollen wood or damp hardware. On the foggier Westside, the morning marine layer can leave exterior hardware damp, and older wood doors can swell seasonally so the bolt drags. The effect is modest, but a bolt that drags makes a worn key work harder than it should.

What should you do first, and what should you avoid?

The moment a key snaps, stop. What you do in the next minute decides whether we are pulling out a clean fragment or dealing with a damaged cylinder.

• Stop turning. Do not keep trying to force the remaining piece around. That is how fragments get pushed deeper and pins get bent.
• Do not put a second key in beside the broken one. It can wedge the fragment sideways.
• Do not use superglue to rejoin the halves. Glue in a keyway is the fastest way to turn a simple extraction into a cylinder replacement.
• Do not spray heavy oil into the lock. Light graphite is fine for later, but oil can gum up the pins and make the fragment harder to grip.
• Do not grab a protruding piece with pliers and yank. If it snaps again, you have lost the only handle we had.
• Keep the half you are holding. It tells us the key type and cut pattern, and we can often use it to cut a new key.

How do we remove a broken key, step by step?

Every extraction is a little different, but the sequence is consistent. We move from the least invasive method to the more involved ones, and we stop as soon as the fragment is out.

1. You call (213) 577-1366 and tell us what kind of lock it is, whether the fragment is sticking out or sunk below the face, and whether you are locked out. David or one of our technicians will tell you what to expect before anyone drives anywhere.
2. We come to you with a mobile van, or, for a removable item like a padlock or a lock cylinder you can bring in, you can visit our Westwood storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd.
3. We look into the keyway with good light and magnification to judge how the fragment is sitting: flush, recessed, bent, or twisted against the pins.
4. We choose the method. Thin extractor tools and fine picks are slid alongside the blade to catch a cut and draw the piece straight out. When the fragment is recessed, we use different tools to get behind a tooth or a shoulder. If the fragment is truly jammed, we take the cylinder out of the door or the lock body and work on it on the bench.
5. We pull the fragment and match it against the half you have. If the two pieces fit together and nothing is missing, nothing is left inside.
6. We test the lock with a working key and with the cylinder under normal use, checking for sticking, bent pins, or a damaged keyway.
7. We explain what we found and what your options are: leave it alone, repair it, rekey it, or replace it. You decide.

What about a broken car key in the door or ignition?

A key snapped in a car is a different job from a house key because the car may refuse to start even after the pieces are out. Door locks, trunk locks, and ignition cylinders each have their own tolerances, and ignition cylinders in particular are tight and sensitive to rough handling. If the car key broke in the ignition, please do not try to crank or force it. Leave the car where it is and call us.

We remove broken car keys from door locks, trunk locks, and ignitions. Whether the replacement key needs electronic programming depends on the specific vehicle, so we do not guess over the phone. We confirm by VIN and in person what your car needs. Some vehicles may be dealer-only for certain key or immobilizer work, and if yours is one of them, we will tell you that plainly instead of letting you pay for a visit that cannot solve the problem.

If the extraction itself leaves the ignition worn or damaged, see our page on ignition repair. If you need a new key afterward, the options are on our car key replacement page.

What affects the cost of broken key extraction?

We do not quote numbers on a web page because the job itself decides the cost, and a fair figure only comes after we know what we are dealing with. These are the real factors:

• Where the fragment is. A piece sticking out of the keyway is a lighter job than one sunk deep behind the pins.
• What kind of lock. A standard house cylinder, a padlock, a high-security cylinder, and a car ignition each take different tools and different care.
• Whether earlier attempts made it worse. A fragment pushed deeper, glued, or bent costs more time than a fresh break.
• Whether the cylinder has to come out. Working on the bench takes longer than working in the door, but it is sometimes the only clean way.
• Time of day and location. Late-night and holiday calls take a technician out of normal hours, and distance to the job matters.
• What you need afterward. A new key, a repaired cylinder, a rekey, or a full replacement are separate decisions from the extraction itself.
• The vehicle, for car keys. Programming and key type vary by make, model, and year, which is why we confirm by VIN.

How does broken key extraction play out around Los Angeles?

Los Angeles is a big, varied city, and the kind of lock that snaps a key depends heavily on the building. Our storefront is in Westwood, so we are already in the middle of the area, and the housing around it shapes the work.

In Palms, Sawtelle, and Koreatown, the stock is full of mid-century apartments and dingbats, and renters outnumber owners across most of the central city. That means a lot of move-ins, and a lot of keys that have been copied and re-copied between tenants. A worn copy that snaps in a front door in Palms or Koreatown is a common story. When a key breaks in one of these buildings, tell your property manager, and if the lock is going to be rekeyed anyway, we can combine the extraction with a lock rekey. If the key snapping has also locked you out of your unit, our apartment lockout page covers that side.

In Mid-Wilshire, the 1920s and 1930s Spanish Colonial Revival and Tudor homes often still carry original mortise locksets and mid-century hardware. An old mortise lock around ZIP code 90036 or 90010 may have a keyway worn from decades of use, and an old key in a worn keyway is the textbook recipe for a snap. Those locks deserve patience, because a mortise body is worth saving where it can be saved.

Around Westwood and the Wilshire Corridor, the high-rises are HOA-managed condominiums with controlled-access entries, so a broken key in a unit door in ZIP code 90024 also means telling building management what is happening. Near UCLA and Westwood Village, student apartments see plenty of keys that were forced, shared, or copied cheaply. Downtown Los Angeles adds loft conversions in early-1900s commercial buildings, where older door hardware meets everyday heavy use.

Whichever neighborhood you are in, whether Brentwood, Mar Vista, Rancho Park, Hollywood, or elsewhere in the city, the approach is the same: call, tell us the lock, and we come to you.

Why call Wilshire Lock & Key for a broken key?

We have been in business since 1987, and broken keys are one of the oldest problems in the trade. Here is what actually sets us apart, with nothing inflated:

• One company, no dispatch middleman. The person who answers (213) 577-1366 works for the same company that sends the technician. You are not routed through a call center that sells your job to whoever is closest.
• A real storefront plus mobile vans. We have a physical shop at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood, and our mobile locksmith vans go to you, so we can work at your door or on the bench, whichever the job needs.
• David's oversight. David, the owner and lead technician, sets the standard for how extractions are handled, and knows the difference between a lock worth saving and one that is not.
• Open all hours. The phone is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round, because keys do not snap on a schedule.
• Wide coverage. We serve 140 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

A note on locksmith licensing in California

California requires locksmith companies to hold a Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) Locksmith Company license, known as an LCO license. Whoever you call about a broken key, ask for their license information before they start work. A legitimate company will give it to you without hesitation, and you are right to ask.

What happens after the key is out?

Once the fragment is out, you have three questions to settle. First, is the lock still sound? We test it and tell you honestly. If the pins stick, the keyway is scored, or the cylinder turns roughly, a lock repair or cylinder swap is better than waiting for the next key to snap.

Second, do you have a good key? A key that just broke is usually too worn to trust again. We can cut a fresh one, often from the pieces, and that new key is a better fit for the lock. Third, if you are unsure who else may have copies of the old key, a rekey makes sense, but that is entirely your decision.

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Broken Key Extraction near Los Angeles

• Beverly Hills
• West Hollywood
• Culver City
• Santa Monica
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• Inglewood