I found the skinniest blade I have - a thin putty knife - and cleaned out the sides of the glass all around, and took off the end cap (easy). I could not get the blade in on either side of the handle. After everything was so loose that I could wiggle the window a little, it still would not slide, so I tapped lightly on the outside of the handle and it popped away from the channel. The primary problem was the metal-to-metal contact on the outside of the handle.