How to Eject a CD From a Broken CD Player

This technique is useful for releasing jammed CD trays.

CD players are full of highly tuned mechanical parts prone to failure after a couple years of use. Sometimes, the eject eject button stops working, which is especially troublesome when your favorite CD is trapped inside. Luckily, you can force the player open using a fail-safe built into the CD player design. This only works with CD-tray-style CD players, such as those found in most computers. Virtually all brands of CD drive, such as Lite-On, Philips, and Sony drives, include this hole.

Things You'll Need

• Paperclip

Instructions

1. Straighten the paperclip so that it is one long, straight wire.

2. Locate the tiny hole on the CD drive. On most brands of CD drives, this hole is located on the front of the CD drive below the CD tray. However, in special purpose drives, like those on video game consoles, the hole may be located on the side. If the drive does not possess a prominent hole on the front of the drive, it is best to examine the drive from all angles and attempt to locate it.

3. Press the straightened paperclip into the tiny hole. It should catch on an internal component and release the CD tray, ejecting it about a half inch.

4. Pull the CD tray to eject it fully.

Tips & Warnings

• If your CD drive is a slot CD, you will need to remove the drive from the case to reveal the manual eject hole.

References

• PCMag: Eject a Stuck CD
• Computer Hope: CD-ROM, DVD, or other disc tray not opening
• Micosoft Support: How to manually eject the disc tray of your Xbox 360 console