I was putting these plastic anchors into brick to mount a TV, but didn't drill the first hole deep enough! I've tried screwing in the screw a little and pulling it out that way, but it won't budge. What's the best way to remove this? At this point I don't think it's salvageable so it doesn't matter if it's destroyed.
Pulling it out with long nose pliers is one option, but it often comes out in pieces if you do that.
If you want to pull it out with a screw, you need to engage the screw enough to grip the plastic, but not enough to make it expand. This position may not exist, or if may be further out than you think. Sometimes a screw engaged just 2-3 turns will give you something to get a grip on with pliers or a claw hammer (not under the screw head but near the tip). A very slightly undersized screw can help with some fixings.
Drilling it out completely is tricky. Once it breaks into pieces they tend to go round in the hole rather than drill.
It looks to me, from the fact that there's still some sticking out but it won't pull out, that the hole is too tight (drill too small). The universal plastic fittings often call for different hole sizes for different materials.
'If you thread the corkscrew into the hole deeply enough to grip the center of the anchor, you can pull the anchor free of the drywall slowly and carefully to minimize drywall damage.'
credit: https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/remove-wall-anchors-with-corkscrew/
Just drill the thing out, I do it all the time removing old ones flush or not.
Use same diameter bit you drilled the hole with.
