[SOLVED] While dismantiling my laptop this fell out

[BigChungus123]

I was casually dismantiling my laptop to clean it, and this fell out. Anyone know what it is and if it is important, or where I need to put it?

https://imgur.com/a/U5PqqeV

View: https://imgur.com/a/U5PqqeV

 

[USAFRet]

It is a circlip.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circlip

It held some other part in place.

 

[Paperdoc]

USAF is right. Usually that snaps into a groove right at the end of a round shaft. It keeps the shaft from pulling out of a hole, OR it keeps something on the shaft from slipping off over the end.

 

[CountMike]

Also called "E" clip.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Yep, it's a circlip. Only a careful examination/re-dismantling of the laptop's innards will reveal where it belongs.
Circlips don't usually fall off though, more often than not they're a real ?!!@! to get off! -- very odd.

 

[drea.drechsler]

...
or where I need to put it?
...

As others have said, it's a circlip, aka C-clip or E-clip.

In a laptop the most likely use is to retain the shaft on a fan or on an internal optical drive so I'd look there. But the funny thing about these is they're a PITA to get off and sometimes go flying across the room when you manage to get it to snap out of it's groove. So it's possible you and your laptop were in a room where someone else was working on something and their circlip snapped off and flew into your laptop keyboard, then worked it's way inside.