Be sure that you are looking at the laptop so that the spine connecting the base to the screen is at the top.

When using the plastic opening tool, be careful not to rip or pull too hard to disengage the prongs connecting the back cover to the base. Moving slowly will make this task easier and less likely to cause damage to your machine.

Using the plastic opening tool, start in the upper-left hand corner of the laptop and pry horizontally to the upper right-hand corner.