ARCHIVED: What should I do if my floppy or Zip disk gets stuck in the drive?

This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.

Note: During summer 2008, UITS retired the last floppy disk drives in all Student Technology Centers (STCs) and Residential Technology Centers (RTCs). For more information, see ARCHIVED: Floppy disk drives phased out of Windows STCs.

In an IU STC or RTC

If you are in an Indiana University Student Technology Center (STC) or Residential Technology Center (RTC), do not attempt to remove a stuck disk on your own. Ask the consultant on duty to contact a member of the STC support group.

At IU Bloomington, if no consultant is available, call the Information Commons (IC) at 812-855-3802 and ask an IC consultant to contact the STC support group. If you must call the IC, please tell the consultant which lab you're in and the table number of the computer in which your disk is stuck.

Note: If the STC support group is not available to respond immediately, a consultant will send you a message to pick up your disk when it has been removed from the system.

In an IU departmental lab

If you are in an IU departmental lab, you should not attempt to remove a stuck floppy disk from the drive. Contact your local support provider for assistance.

On your personal computer

Warning: Do not attempt to remove a stuck floppy disk from its drive unless you are familiar with computer hardware and you have turned off the computer. You can easily damage the disk and your floppy drive, and could possibly hurt yourself.

Some disk drives, especially those designed for Mac OS, will automatically eject the disk when you shut down the computer. This design is also used for internal Zip drives for Mac OS and for some CD-ROM drives for both Macintosh and Windows computers. If the disk doesn't appear to be jammed but it won't eject, you can physically eject the disk by carefully inserting a thin paper clip or similar object into the small hole on the lower right side of the drive. Apply gentle, even force and the disk ought to pop out. In some cases, the eject lever can be hard to find, so try a couple of times or try poking at different angles before you give up.

Note: Never poke into the hole with the tip of a pencil or similar brittle object. The tip could break off in the hole, making it impossible both to get the broken point out and to eject your disk.

If you eject a disk while the computer is still running, a Mac OS computer will return an error message when it tries to find the disk.

If you have the push-button disk drive and the spring doesn't exert enough pressure to eject the disk, you can carefully remove the disk from the drive using the tips of your fingers, a small pair of needle-nose pliers, the clip from an ID badge, or any other similar object. Do not attempt this unless the eject button is depressed, and do not tug on the disk if it offers any resistance at all. If the eject button is not depressed or if the disk is stuck, don't try to remove the disk yourself. Take your computer to a qualified technician for repair.