Individual keyboard keys hard to press

Question

I've been using my Surface Pro 3 for a few weeks now. When I received the keyboard, the up and down arrow keys were hard to get right, meaning that I'd have to press them pretty hard to make sure they worked. They would only take effect when I consciously pressed them from a specific angle, or pressed them hard enough. I assumed that this was a design flaw, and that I'd have to live with it.

That was bad enough, but since today, the letter 'T' has started acting up. It has less 'play' than the rest of the keys, and when typing quickly it often fails to register. At first I thought that maybe some piece of dirt or whatever had gotten stuck beneath it, so I tried the usual tricks for such a problem (tapping on it hard, while tilting the keyboard around, and turning it upside down), but I'm beginning to fear that it's something else. Some sort of material 'failure'. Pressing on the left edge of the key has the usual tactile feel, but pressing from the right edge (or how I usually press it when touch typing, pressing it with my finger 'sliding' over it from the middle to the right edge) feels like the key is stuck.

I love the Surface, but these little issues (and the fact that my pen pocket clip broke off after 2-3 days with normal use, I posted about that too) are making me regret the purchase, I feel like it's only getting worse with time.

As I mentioned in my post about the pen, I had the Surface brought to Pakistan from the US, so I'm hoping there's some way to try to fix the issue myself rather than have to ship it back. Are the keys user-removable, or would that damage the keyboard. I'd like to pop it open and check if it's just something stuck beneath the key.

Answer 1

Hello MMansoor,

I understand you would like to clean your cover for your Surface Pro 3. I'll help you with this.

This page has our care instructions for the cover. You can clean the keyboard with a lint-free cloth dampened in mild soap and water. You can also clean the magnetic connections with a small amount of rubbing alcohol on a soft, lint-free cloth. See the guide for further info.

Please let us know if this helps. Also, post again with any other questions you have.

Best Wishes,

Zack_T

Answer 2

With all due respect to your suggestion, the said care instructions do not touch upon issues when there's a physical problem with the Type Cover. In other words, if the key is hardly pressed and does not register the click from certain angles (e.g. if pressed on lower right angle, like in my case), then cleaning the keyboard with damp cloth or similar won't fix the issue.

Please advise whether individual keys on Type Cover for SP3 could be easily removed for inspection and, if necessary, cleaning inside the keyboard. Thanks!