How to Remove a Stripped Screw

Written By: Jake Devincenzi
  • Comments: 86
How to Remove a Stripped Screw

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

7

Time Required

5 - 45 minutes

Introduction

Stripped screws are a nightmare for any repair enthusiast. Try as you might, some screws just do not want to come out. Frustration takes over and before you know it, that once "+" shape has turned into a "O". Never fear; we've got your back. This guide will walk you through how to use a rotary tool to remove a stripped screw by cutting a small slit in the screw head, allowing you to remove the screw with a flathead screwdriver.

Techniques:

  1. Different Screwdriver
  2. Rubber Band
  3. Screw Extracting Pliers
  4. Superglue
  5. Rotary Tool

Always wear safety goggles when using a rotary tool to prevent injury from debris or sparks.

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    • Your screw is stripped, and your screwdriver is no longer sufficient. Before busting out the heavy hitters, try the following:

    • Use different screwdrivers. First try slightly smaller or larger head sizes, then a flat head screwdriver, to see if you can get it to catch on some part of the stripped screw.

    • If the bit doesn't catch the screw instantly, do not continue. Otherwise, you run the risk of further stripping the screw.

    • If either of these techniques are fruitful, congrats! Your screw is free.

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    • A rubber band can give you the extra grip you need.

    • Stretch a rubber band over the stripped screw.

    • Insert a properly-sized screwdriver, and give it a turn.

    This didn’t work since I used a small rubber band. I’m trying to remove the right screw from the optical drive. It’s already stripped and I’m planning on using the super glue which I’m deeply unsure of doing. I was thinking about using the #00 Philip screwdriver to add the super glue on. And I’m not sure if that worked for anyone especially if it didn’t snapped off. Any answers?

    Kareem Caldwell -

    This part should be removed from the guide - it doesn’t work at all.

    Mac -

    Instead of a rubber band I used a thin piece of fabric/soft cloth and this worked well. I’ve tried the rubber band in the past with no luck but fabric worked for me on a stripped #00 phillips

    cam2000deluxe -

    thanks for the tip, i was really struggling here

    just some mango -

    Not tried it, but, I saw a "hack" with super glue and baking powder...

    Fill the screw head with baking powder, add some super glue gently insert correct size screwdriver wait for glue to set and apparently it grips the screw to remove it, obviously care is needed to prevent the glue, powder spreading and damaging surrounding areas...

    Dave a -

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    • If the screw head is accessible, try a pair of screw extracting pliers. If you can get a good grip, turn the pliers and the screw should turn along with it!

    • Once the screw is loosened a bit, you can probably back it out the rest of the way using a screwdriver.

    You can make your own screw extracting pliers using a file and old pair of regular pliers.

    Alexander Walker -

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    • Still stuck? Try adding a dab of superglue to the top of the screw.

    • Set your driver into the screw head, and allow the glue to dry.

    • Using a firm grip and downward pressure, give the driver a twist to remove the screw.

    • Don't forget to clean the remains of the glue from the tip of your driver.

    You might want to mention to spend the extra buck and get the gel superglue. It's way easier to control...

    lkmemphis -

    Also might suggest applying the tiny ammount of super glue to the tool tip not the screw. If you accidently squeeze out too much the overflow can be cleaned off the tool and the glue reapplied much easier than it can be removed from the screw and the surrounding areas of the device. Alternately the surrounding areas can be masked from excess glue with a bit of transparent tape.

    James Todd -

    How would you remove the screw from the driver?

    William Sanborn -

    How do I clean of screw driver from the super glue?

    And how do I prevent or avoid that situation the next time?

    Gerald -

    Please use the suggestions in the previous comments to improve this guide: add gel super glue to tip of driver and give instructions on how to remove screw from driver and clean the tip of driver.

    Pauline Guillermo -

    Can we reuse the screw afterwards? I have my macbook pro 2.9 mm T3 Torx and 1.7 mm T3 Torx screws stuck but couldn’t find those screws to buy…

    Camille Le Men -

    If the screw is stripped, why would you reuse it? You’ll have the same problem when trying to repair the Mac in the future if you need to repair it again. Don’t they have those screws available as a kit (with other screws) on iFixit?

    Mac -

    Screw it!!!!

    Gabe W -

    Long story short, laptop has been overheating and I thought it was a software issue, for months. I've tried everything. I come home after a stressful week, laptop crashed during a fresh windows reinstall. then I realized it has to be a bad part.

    So I open it up and burn my finger on the heatsink. "Eureka!"

    Take out heatsink and replace with same part that I already have. 4 screws, "finally a win!" I fixed Apache Helicopters for years, 4 screws, EASY! no prob. the last one strips, I want to burn the continent in my rage. I find this article and see "Try Super glue" chuckle to myself when I noticed my favorite kind of super glue right in front of me. "It must be fate! I'll likely to ruin the laptop, then I can justifiably smash it and get a new one."

    Tiny dab of glue on the screw, place in the tiny screw bit and wait till it dries.

    After 3 hours of trying not to notice the screw bit standing proudly, I gently yet firmly grasp it and give it a slow turn.

    It worked. I cried and called the wife at work

    atreestump -

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    • If you were unable to remove the screw with screwdrivers, pliers, a rubber band, or super glue, then a rotary tool should do the trick.

    • Attach a thin cutting disk to your rotary tool. Before you cut anything, make sure the disk is secured well.

    • Make sure you wear protective goggles anytime you use a rotary tool to prevent injuries from flying debris and sparks.

    Mask the area so the small metal particles don't create a short. Even still use a few blasts of can'ed air to blow any junk away.

    Dan -

    Likely the screw shavings are magnetic, so passing a powerful magnet may help collecting the screw “dust”. Especially important if the circuit board is not con formally coated as this “dust” is definitely conductive.

    Larry Jay -

    Was going to post the same comment- absolutely agree that you should protect the device from conducting dust- could easily get lodged between IC pins, especially as magentised through grinding and would stick together in a sort of string.

    I. Margaronis -

    If you're worried about conductive dust, then put the phone on its side and blast it with alcohol and a makeup brush.

    Alexander Walker -

    You should take the board out of the enclosure before you use a rotary tool on the device.

    Mac -

    You should take the board out of the enclosure before you use a rotary tool on the device.

    Mac - 12/16/2020

    Great idea, Mac. Unfortunately, I can’t get this %#*@ stripped screw out that’s securing the board to the enclosure.

    Cunning Stunt -

    Do you have a recommendation for the tool and size of the disk?

    Blaise L. -

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    • In this step, you will use the rotary tool to make a thin cut in the stripped screw that enables you to use a flathead screwdriver to remove the screw.

    • We recommend using a low power setting (we used 2 out of 6) to prevent damaging the rest of the device or the screw.

    • You want the cut to be deep enough that you can fit a flathead screwdriver into it, but thin enough that the screwdriver has something to grip.

    • Make a single thin cut into the head of the stripped screw.

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    • Use a flathead screwdriver to remove the screw from the device.

    • The size of the driver will depend on the size of the screw, but use the largest size that will fit in your cut.

    • If you cannot fit a screwdriver into the cut, use the rotary tool to make the cut larger. Make only small cuts; if you cut off too much of the screw, a screwdriver will not catch and you will not be able to twist the screw.

    • Wear eye protection and give your device a few good blasts of compressed air before reassembling it. The rotary tool can scatter loose metal shavings around the device, creating the potential for an electrical short if not blown clear.

    What to do if the screw is much deeper inside?

    Dezlite -

    One technique that wasn't covered here but has worked wonders for me is to use a small dab of hot glue and hold the bit in it until hardened. The hot glue grabs any small imperfections and of course forms perfectly around the bit. A drop of oil in the treads helps too for tough cases. It works for basically any type of screw (even one you don't have quite the right size bit for). The downside is it's a bit tedious to do if there are many damaged screws. That's when it's time to invest in a proper damaged screw bit like shown here geometry dash 2.2


    Fredal Clough -

Conclusion

Check out the video in the intro for some additional tips on dealing with stripped screws. Always use a high-quality screwdriver. Low-quality screwdriver material will cause damage to screws.

Author

Jake Devincenzi

Member since: 18/04/11

117228 Reputation

62 comments

I usually use the soldering iron, resting on the screw head dilation of the materials or any glue on the thread, but if the damage the screw head is large only with the idea of ​​same rotary tool.

Cleyton -

"To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order."

Yeah, that makes perfect sense... If you put the saw in reverse it glues all the buts of iron back onto the screw :-)

But other than that, this could be useful in some situations. Be careful,of the iron filings on your electronics!

koesper -

Haha, good catch! We've fixed the conclusion. Apologies to all who tried so very hard to follow these instructions in reverse.

Jeff Suovanen -

There's always the ultimate tool if it won't go out, the drill.

Of course you'll have to make new threads if you drill out a screw. However, as a "weapon of last resort", the drill always works.

Branko Dodig -

Thank you for this guide. The Vampliers, however, completely removed the head of my T6 screw. There are two of them holding the display to the top case of my 15'' Macbook Pro. I am on one of the last steps in the Top Case replacement guide.

Can I use a drill if my screw has virtually no head?

Thanks!

A Mac User -

Using the rotary tool will spray metal filings all over the electronic components creating a short. Bad idea.

Brick dal -

I agree, to a point.

But listing it as a last resort, for a device that is already broken and cannot be repaired until the stripped screw is removed, does fit this article. Metal shavings aren't making something that is already unusable worse off. Your observation that there are risks is probably something the article should mention though as part of the explanation for why this was listed last.

toddgardiner -

Thanks for mentioning this! We added a cautionary note to the last step, reminding readers to blow out the device with compressed air before reassembly. That should help reduce the risk from loose metal shavings.

Jeff Suovanen -

This didn't help at all. In fact rubber band and glue made it worse. I don't want to use a drill. Not when the screw is so tiny. It can create more damage to the system

Semeki Izuio -

deberían ponerle un traductor de idioma

Jenny Diaz -

Sí, solo usa el traductor de Google o aprende a hablar inglés

Serpentinite V -

para mas facilidad a los que no sabemos hablar ingles

Jenny Diaz -

google pajina trasnslacion mi amigo

WARD KNIGHT -

The rubber band trick worked like a charm for me! I couldn't remove a sunken stripped and rounded out philips head from my tail light to change the bulb. I thought I was going to have to go to a shop to get the bulb changed. I tried the rubber band idea with no real expectation of it working and surprisingly it did.

Give it a try and it might just work for you too!

absoluteze -

I would like to try this idea out with trying to take out those tiny screws on my iPhone (don’t know the technical name as I’m tool-challenged). My question is: does the width of the rubbery band matter much here? If so how much? And for those tiny screws what size rubber band should I use?

Andrea R Cerda -

Came up with a better solution for the first or second try. Personally, I would do this first. The Story: Had a Canon G16 with a stripped screw head. Severely rounded phillips, appeared that wrong size driver was used. I noticed after a bit of inspection that my good screw driver was bottoming out, preventing any contact with any remaining slot. There wasn't much remaining slot at all. I filled off the point of my screw driver just a small amount but that let me "find" the remaining phillips head slots and with some strong pressure was able to turn the screw out. Worked great.

Stihl Working -

thanks for taking time to post this helpful information!!! thats very nice of you and i appreciate it very much. even if it ends up not working in my situation , which im sure one of these steps will

WARD KNIGHT -

My screwhead is not stripped, the Screw just spins. What do I do to get it out, can't grab head either

LuAnne Biskup -

See if you can slide a thin knife blade under the screw head and then carefully try to unscrew the screw (don't apply do much downward pressure here), as you turn the screw lift the knife edge easing out the screw until you can grab it.

Dan -

Hand operated micro drill, using a bit which is the same size as the hole the screw goes through. Just drill until the head of the screw pops off, clean up filings with a magnet. Once you've removed the part you can use pliers to remove the headless screw.

Tim Lockwood -

I think you're talking about a jewelers hand drill (or pin vise) like this one: Jewelers Drill

Dan -

This seems to be all regarding electronics. I have two screws that are stripped that hold small brackets on a wall. Previous owner of my home seemed to strip many screws. These screws are phillips and to top it off are not screwed in straight. I am remodeling my kitchen by myself and i am trying to repair all the holes in the wallboard. I would guess grabbing onto them with pliers might be the best idea. Any thoughts?

Deborah

Deborah -

Pliers should work! That's probably what I'd do. If you have trouble, there are screw extracting pliers made just for this purpose.

Jeff Suovanen -

what if the screw is stripped and inside a whole like a Nintendo 3ds and cant cut it and glue or rubber band didn't work??

victor -

exactly the problem i have. I even sent it to Nintendo, they sent it back and said Nope.

joey c -

See Tim Lockwood's comment above. When all else fails, a drill will get the job done. It can be a bit messy, so I usually use it as a last resort.

Jeff Suovanen -

See the problem is that I'm like poor. And when I say poor I mean broke. I don't have any fancy tools (rotary driver? nope!) and I really just want to take out the battery of my phone before I fix the screen since I'm waaaaayyy too cheap to buy a new phone and I don't want to die. Is there a cheap effective way to remove it (I tried all of the above except super glue, I don't have that either and won't be able to get any) I really don't care if the screw is destroyed since I have a second one anyways. ( I also don't own a drill)

Help?

Niels de boer -

Thanks for this guide. I didn't have a rubber band so I used some kitchen paper, and it worked. I guess anything that's thin, soft and have a descent amount of friction will work.

Zihan Shu (apocalypse shu) -

Enter the following site:___https://www.skruvat.se/

Use PermaPoxy Kemisk Metall 50 g, Universal to glow a suitable l a r g e r screw - on top of the damaged screw!

Perma Poxy Kemisk Metal. En 2-komponentsmassa med en konsistensliknande modellera. För reparation av gjutjärnsdetaljer, sprickor i motorblock, insug m m.

Lagar aluminium, mässing, järn, stål m.m. Blir hård som stål på 6 0 m i n . Motstår konstant tryck upp till 240 bar = 245 kg/cm2

Tål temp. från -50°C till +150°C.

[Rem. 1 Bar = 1.01972 Kilogram-force/Square Centimeter (kg/cm) Square]

Bo Skeppstedt

Bo Skeppstedt -

Einfacher geht es wenn man eine mutter auf die schraube lötet und es damit rausdreht, aber gutes festes lot verwenden.

More Easy to use soldering new Srew on the demage screw .

You need good soldering tin

christian -

Yet one more idea that might work is a trick I sometimes use on larger seized fasteners on cars. Using a very sharply pointed punch (like a sturdy nail which has been sharpened) and a small hammer, make an indentation in the screws head out close to the edge (hold the punch vertical for first few taps) then tilt the punch about 45 degrees and while keeping the point in the indentation tap in the correct direction to unscrew the fastener. Repeated impacts will unscrew the fastener.

James Todd -

Great advice, thank you! :o)

ClaCla TI Worcestershire -

So, you get the screw out, now what? How do you get another screw to hold in a flogged out hole? Does anyone have any ideas?

Cheers

Rohan Ward -

If you don't NEED to put a screw there, don't. However, if the whole thin g you are taking apart will fall apart if you don't than drill a new hole in the same spot to give its shape back

Serpentinite V -

i love the layout of this website. This really helped me take my screw out of my skateboard

istiaq ahmed -

十分感谢Ifixit的指南，帮助我把笔记本散热模块上，一颗滑丝的螺丝去了下来。值得注意的是，在切割片的选择上，我更推荐砂轮切割片，而不是金刚石切割片；它不会产生火花，仅是有一些粉末，对主板的损害更小。

a792030492 -

Thank you , this was actually very wise ,well done .

analfabetagoloso -

Hi,

on a very small stripped screw (inside a mcbook pro) i tried the rubber band trick and the pliers one, without success. i remembered i bought a normal’ sized screw extracting kit (3 bits, this type: https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/New-4pc-H...) and gave it a try, even though the bit looked huge for the screw.. but it worked perfectly !

allowed me to finish mounting that ssd in place of the dvd drive in the macbook pro mid 2010.

Thank you for this very helpfull post !

jerome cintas -

How does it work?

mark41900 -

Another effective method is to hearing up the screw before you remove it.

K Moore -

Yeah I'm taking apart a circumcision super action controller and somehow one of the screws was stripped in the factory.

Serpentinite V -

What about headless screw?

Quazi Ahmmed -

I tried the rubberband method on a semi-stripped tri-wing screw, not expecting much. Wha’dya know, that did it!

Jose Olarte III -

This isn't helpful. If you can't afford a decent screwdriver in the first place chances are you won't have a rotary tool handy? maybe think of something a bit more practical.

How can you not afford a dollar for a screw driver?

Anyways next question, anyone know of a tool that's shaped like a “scapel” and that can grind down to create a star screw driver slot?

I find that this is most practical as it can be attached to your keyring & therefore almost always with you.

Brandan Hepi -

Great video but after the cut on the screw you MUST blow out the metal waste remnants of the cut or it will short out the circuit board as soon as its activated…..

Don -

I like the glue tip, i had not see that before. Definitely, implement these in the order above and avoid the Grinding wheel if possible.

Leaton -

Not mentioned, and I read all, instead of the screw extractor pliers, cheap ‘ol me has used a pair of vice grips MANY times. I even got a a set of security screws (the ones that you can only tighten) out this way. They make several different sizes of vice grips.

To prevent problems I suggest only using good high quality screw drivers to begin with, nothing from your local grocery store, Walgreens, cheap discount stores.

Paul -

If you don’t have rotary tools, a hacksaw still always works.

Oh yeah! These are perfect for removing those extremely annoying security screws or others.

Rather than the super glue (which is essentially plastic) I recommend metal (soldering)

Yeah. With a few bits of solder (and a soldering iron + a iron fork) you can extract 99% of the screws (no one makes aluminum screws)

that’s a good one. I will note that.

Xavier Jiang -

The screw that is stripped is in the back of a watch which is slightly sunken and very small. I have tried the rubber band and that did not work. I’m thinking my last resort is the superglue. I would be willing to break the back off and buy a new one if I could figure out how any suggestions.

I would love it if you could leave a comment at my email address pinhigh353@yahoo.com

All suggestions accepted, thank you.

Annie -

This was real handy for me. Ended up using the super glue method with a home-made prop on my MackBook’s stripped keyboard screws (the 66 tiny ones of course). Took a cycle of about 14 hours for each of the 10 stripped screws, but they’re all out. What a nightmare that was. Rusted and stripped screws are a horrible thing to deal with.

Tony -

Also if the screw is sticking up part way you can put the head of your drill around the head of the screw and clamp it down like a drill bit and put it on reverse. I just did it and both my screws came right out!

grovelandwolfs -

the screw I'm trying to get is in a little hole and I can't get at it with these methods. Any ideas on how to get it out?

Kyle Hoyer -

One of the screws in my Mid 2012 MacBook Pro were stripped, and I used all of these techniques save for the super glue and rotary tool. I did however, use a drill which allowed me to get past the stripped screw. Using a drill is going to be dangerous however, because you could drill through the entire device, damaging it beyond repair. You have to be very careful, and only drill until the head of the screw comes off, then you have to use the pliers to finish removing the screw.

Christian Miller -

I am our in an Indian village. So I can not just drop by the store or even give an address for shipping. So this very helpful. Thank you!

Eric Rush -

This all tricks are not working

Fake Name -

What If the screws that are stripped are in a really small hole and is a realllllly recessed screw hole.

Danielito -

No option for a screw stuck that is not accessible with a rotary tool?

Mallory -

anyway to remove stripped screws from a Nintendo switch shell ?

Kelton M -

None of these worked for me, with my ps2 slim

elimar rosal -

My problem is that the screw is not stripped. The electronics board is the problem. The screw just spins in the hole but it will not come out. Any suggestions?

DukeofAle -

I stripped a screw in a hoverboard can you do a tutorial for removing stripped screw in hoverboards

Siuu ffv -

Is there anyway to remove the stripped screw out of a hoverboard any suggestion?

Siuu ffv -