9 Ways You Can Open Your Locked Door Without a Locksmith

For some of us, no matter how many times we lock ourselves out of our home or car, we never learn. My sister is one of those people. There was a time, in the middle of brick-cold December, where she left for work, closed the door behind her, and forgot her car keys inside. And of course, her house keys were on that same keyring. She waited about an hour in the bitter cold for our mom to return home.

After she told me about it, I definitely didn't want to go through it, but hoped she learned her lesson. Luckily, I'm the more responsible sibling and remember my keys when I leave the house. But I can relate to those hectic mornings where you're running late and hoping everything you need is is tossed into your bag. And for times when you don't have someone to call to bring you a spare key, you'll need to know how to open your door without a locksmith.

If you've ever been in the same situation as my sister, you should keep these brilliant ways to open your locked door without a locksmith in mind. You don't know when you'll accidentally lock yourself out of your house or car. These ways should only be used to open up your house, bedroom door lock, and car doors. You should certainly not use these techniques on other people's properties.

For starters, I think we should all have a lock pick sets handy, whether it be in our bag or one of the convenient gadgets we keep in our cars. It's so easy to lock ourselves out of our homes and cars. It's better to be safe than sorry, right? Lock pick sets usually include everything you need to pick your way into a lock.

The perfect lock pick set is this one by Southord Southern Ordnance. This set comes with nine picks, a broken key extractor, four tension tools, nine textured slide-on grips, and a top grain zippered leather case to securely keep everything inside. It’s a very popular set that’s helped so many people pick their way into their house and car doors after they've locked themselves out. The set can help you open deadbolts, most auto locks, doorknob locks, and even padlocks.

If you don't have a lock pick set on you, using bobby pins is one great way to open your locked door without a locksmith. People almost always seem to learn how to pick a lock with bobby pins because they're successful tools for this exact purpose and easy enough to get your hands on.

Bobby pins are also perfect to manipulate into the shape that you're aiming for. It's not difficult to open a lock with a bobby pin, either, which is why so many people rely on this method. When it comes to picking a lock, you want to have a tension wrench or pin lock underneath it so that you can manipulate the key pins within the lock, hitting them in the exact sequence your key would had you not left it on your kitchen counter. Be sure to give it a little giggle, and with time, this should eventually open the door.

On one of the occasions my sister locked herself out of the house, she rummaged through her bag to see if she could find anything to help her get back in. She didn't have any bobby pins handy, but actually resorted to using a credit card, a handy life hack using everyday objects that many people don't even think of. Using credit cards, gift cards, even your ID are among the ways to open your locked door without a locksmith. You're probably asking how a card can possibly help you enter your locked door. It's actually a lot easier than you think.

When you're set on using a card to open a locked door, you want to make sure you're using a card that you really don't care about because this method will destroy your card. Slide it in-between the door and the frame of the door. You're aiming for the lock and attempting to place the card in front of the lock and push the lock out so the door opens.

When you're locked out of your house, using a butter knife isn't so practical, because why would you be carrying a butter knife around in public? If you accidentally locked your bedroom door lock, bathroom door lock, or any other door in your house though, a butter knife is certainly one of the best methods to open it without a locksmith. Sharper knives are very dangerous when you're attempting to open a locked door because there's a possibility of you injuring yourself during the process, so stick with something that's not totally serrated.

You're basically using the butter knife as a key to make its way through the lock and attempting to click it open. However, if you're not able to turn the lock, then you're going to have to use additional tools to help you (like the bobby pin we mentioned earlier).

Screwdrivers are truly essential tools that you need around the house. They can do more than you think, and this includes unlocking doors. If you've accidentally locked your bathroom door from the inside and you can't get in, a screwdriver is one of the handy ways open your locked door without a locksmith.

A screwdriver is the perfect tool to help you out in those situations. However, it's only a great tool for a specific type of lock. If your bathroom door has a button lock from the inside, and a little hole on the knob on the outside (as seen in the above video), then a screwdriver can certainly help you out. You're going to need a screwdriver with a skinny rod, because the thicker rod won't be able to fit through the hole. When you insert the screwdriver in the hole where the lock is, jiggle the screwdriver around until you hear the lock unlocking.

Paperclips are a great tool when you need to unlock your bedroom door lock. If you usually carry around paperclips in your school backpack or your work bag, then you're fully covered.

You have to manipulate the clip into the ideal shape that you need in order to open the lock. If you have two paper clips on you, the process will be that much easier. Bend one of the paperclips and fold out the other one as straight as possible. When you insert the bent paperclip, stick the straightened paperclip beneath it and move it around. After some wiggling, your lock will hopefully open.

Did you know that a drill is one of the ways to open your locked door without a locksmith? A drill may seem like and extreme way to open your locked door, but you more than likely put your doorknob on with a drill, and if your home safe has a master lock on it that you managed to shut before realizing you left the key inside... You get the point. This method can be also useful if your child locked herself in the bathroom, though, and is, like, completely freaking out.

This method will ultimately destroy your lock because the drill is used to break all of the lock tumblers and give you access to open the door. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Now that you know a couple of great ways to open your house door and other doors inside of your house, what about opening a locked car door? My sister has also become an expert on this as well. And while luckily someone was able to bring her a spare key, she has had to resort to Googling alternatives in the event she isn't so lucky next time. One of the results was a metal hanger.

If you're still home and you left your car keys inside of your car, head back inside to look for a metal coat hanger. A metal coat hanger is what you need because you can easily bend it into the shape and slip it past the weatherproofing of your car's door (so you don't have to remove the rubber from it and get wet every time it rains). Similar to the bobby pin and paper clip, you can bend the hanger into the shape you need it to be. First, cut one of the sides of the hanger and stretch it out. Then with the side that has the hook, bend the hook to make it a bit skinnier, and you'll slip this in between the crack where the door meets the window. Once the hook is in, slightly turn the hook and move it up and down until you've unlocked your car door.

Lastly, using a cord with a slipknot of among the simplest ways to open your locked door without a locksmith. This technique takes a few steps in order to do it right, but it's also a way that won't ruin your car door. If you do happen to have a cord or a rope, you want to make sure that you properly follow the steps to get it right.

You wouldn't want to use a cord that breaks easily, isn't strong enough to unlock the car door from the inside, or is too short to get all the way through inside. You want to use a cord that pretty long, because you'll be using it to literally outline the car door, eventually grab hold of the lock from the inside, tug both sides of the cord, and pull the lock up to unlock the door. After mastering this one, you'll be a lock picker extraordinaire!