February 22, 2026 - As per the example picture below, a majority of mobo IO shields have some little “prongs” or “flaps” near some/all of the port cut-outs.

May 17, 2014 - The typical approach is to insert the metal IO shield first (make sure that it's fully inserted and snapped into place all around), followed by inserting the motherboard on an angle beneath the IO shield and carefully manoeuvring it into position such that the metal flaps press down on the tops of the connectors.

November 22, 2007 - Just make sure none of those protruding fingers or flaps get inside a connector, bend the flap up if you need to. They should press around openings or on top of the metal housing of connector "stacks" but never inside a connector. ... break the part covering the second ethernet port (as already stated), then you'll need a flat head screw driver or a butter knife...something NOT SHARP to install the IO shield.

December 2, 2017 - There seems to be a little flap of metal in my hdmi port from the io shield. Should I bend it away or what?

It will also help the mobo fit better if the connector is supposed to protrude a little through the shield. Shields often have one or two flaps that come back and contact connector shells.

October 16, 2014 - bend the flaps up & inside, they are ground contacts for the ports shielding. If you practice fit he motherbd into the backplane you should be able to tell where they need to go.

November 8, 2021 - It's blocked by the little springy metal flaps that snug the shield against the mobo port. I was bummed, but it didn't matter then and I left it alone. Now I'm considering getting a cheapie VR headset, and the catch is that it uses a USB-C cable (oculus quest 2).

August 1, 2013 - With these loose metal bits shown in the photo above? I can't fit it between the case and the motherboard whilst they're there. Are they supposed to be bent/cut off?

March 19, 2017 - Should I cut them off, or bend them off?

March 6, 2024 - I borrowed scissors from a friend and I am going to fix the issue by making two small snips per USB/ethernet port to create flaps on the shield, which I can then use to peel open a larger cutout hole. If this voids the warranty, I'll be seriously unhappy because I need my pc ASAP. ... I have the same problem only thing is it don't hinder anything but BIOS reset, and look kinda bad. Maybe ASUS support would ship us out a new IO/shield?

June 1, 2022 - When I was installing my Io shield I bent the little metal flaps outward (i cut my finger doing that lol) and I discovered later that they serve the purpose of grounding the ports. I tried bending them back, didn't work. I'd need to remove the motherboard from the case to do so and since I'm a...

February 15, 2012 - Hey guys, I have a nice Gigabyte motherboard that I am installing on a special build, but the I/O shield that came with it is a cheap piece of junk. It has these thin, very thin tabs protruding out from the sides of the port-holes. Am I supposed to bend these in, or leave them alone? I have tried it both ways, and neither feels satisfactory. Should I cut them off? ... I think the purpose of those tabs is to short the motherboard metal connections to the case in order to ground them for noise purposes. So the the IO shield tabs are supposed to bend in, but still touch the metal of the connectors on the motherboard.

October 16, 2014 - My advice is to punch out the holes for the WIFI, and try to install the board. If the metal flap poking in conflicts with your Ethernet port, you can either A), Macguiver the situation and bend that metal tab off or B), Contact Gigabyte for advice on the situation.

Also there are grounding flaps on the IO shield that only need to be touching the motherboard once that is installed so check closely that they aren't flexed too far back and causing the motherboard to push the IO shield out which might be your ...

June 2, 2007 - Originally posted by: Peter You don't snip them off or anything. They're there to reduce electromagnetic emission from the machine. Just position them so they touch the metal shielding of the plugs that pass through the plate.

May 5, 2006 - I know to break off the i/o shield that comes with the case . I am talking about those little metal flaps that touch the metal boxes.