worn keyboard keys

Why are Some Keys on my Keyboard More Worn Than Others?

If you have to replace your keyboard because some of the keys are more faded than others, you may have found yourself asking “…why are some keys on my keyboard more worn than others?”

Are some of the keys of lower quality?

Or did you spill something on them and just not remember it?

It’s actually quite simple: the reason some of your keys are more worn than others is simply that some keys get used more than other keys do. 

The More You Use Them, The More Worn They Get

Why do your keys wear out in the first place – what even makes them “worn?”

Well, obviously, it has a lot to do with your fingers making contact with the surface of those keys.

Human skin is relatively soft but also quite tough, and that applies to the skin on your fingertips too. So, every time you strike a key your skin rubs away a tiny amount of the white coloring on each key.

Over time, that is going to have a negative effect on those keys.

You also have to take into consideration the natural oils secreted by your skin, which also plays a role in wearing down your keys.

Even if you wore gloves, the physical contact with your keys would eventually cause them to wear down.

Basically, it’s unavoidable that your keyboard is going to get worn out over time.

That’s the nature of using one.

Some Keys Get More Love Than Others

As to why particular keys get worn out while others are still perfectly fine, it’s quite simple.

Pressing a key wears it down a tiny bit, so the more you strike it the more worn the lettering will become.

That’s the first consideration.

The next is that some keys are simply used more often than others.

Just think about the English language.

Vowels like A, E, I, O, and U are used very frequently, as are letters like S.  If you’re a creature of habit like me you’ll CTRL+S (Save) documents several times as you’re working on them.

So the “S” key on my keyboard gets a lot more love than most others.

Or if you love using keyboard shortcuts, you’ll find that your L and D keys are a bit more worn looking than others because you’re constantly locking and unlocking your desktop (WIN+L or WIN+D).

On the other hand, letters like Q and Z are not used very often at all.

So when you are typing, regardless of what you’re typing about, you are more likely to use some keys more than others.

Just look at the previous paragraph and count how many times the letter E was used compared to the letter Q.

And naturally, this applies to other keys on your keyboard besides letter keys – the space bar key and the shift key are used way more often than the caps lock key.

Some Activities Use Certain Keys More Often

Of course, there are things you can do on your computer besides type.

Lots of people play video games on their computers, and in doing so, certain keys that usually wouldn’t be used often get used a lot more.

W isn’t a commonly used letter when typing text but the W key is part of the W, A, S, D quartet of keys that are critical in every single FPS (First Person Shooter) game.

The same is true of the number pad – accountants will use this part of the keyboard more than any gamer ever would.

Can you avoid replacing your entire keyboard?

It’s a pain the pocket to have to replace your entire keyboard just because a few keys are worn.

So is there any way around this?

You have two options:

  • Purchase replacement sticks for the keys – you just peel and stick these. But they’re not a permanent fix.
  • Replace the worn keys themselves – this is possible with all mechanical keyboards and certain membrane keyboards.

Either of the above allows you to “upgrade” your keyboard without replacing the entire keyboard.

The only potential downside is that not every keyboard manufacturer supplies replacement keys for membrane keyboards. But with mechanical keyboards you can customize them to your heart’s content.

That’s one of the many advantages of owning a mechanical keyboard.

Wrapping things up

So, why do some of your keys wear out faster than others on your keyboard?

It has nothing to do with their quality or anything like that.

All of the keys on your keyboard are created equal.

But since they all have the same durability, the ones that get used the most often are the ones that are going to wear out the fastest.

It’s not that you are doing anything wrong.

Wear and tear is natural, so your keys are going to get worn out eventually, especially if you use your computer frequently.

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