How to Unlock a Door with a Credit Card, According to a Locksmith

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Plus, other ways to get inside your home if you’re locked out

Co-authored by Robert Vallelunga and Dan Hickey

Last Updated: October 1, 2025 Fact Checked

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Unlocking the Door

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Other Ways to Get In

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Q&A

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Tips

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If you forgot your key again and wish you could get into your home without it, you may be able to use your credit card to do so. Just keep in mind that this technique only works on doors that have a simple knob lock with a spring-latch or a slanted-latch (no deadbolts). We spoke to professional locksmith Ray Lawrence to find out how to unlock doors with a card, and we’ve got plenty of backup methods for getting inside if you don’t have a card on hand. You’ll be back inside in no time!

Opening Doors with a Card: Overview

Locksmith Ray Lawrence says that a credit card or plastic shim can open doors with basic spring latches (knobs or levers), but not deadbolts. To open the door:

Slide the card into the crack between the door and the frame.
Move the card down to the latch and angle it at about 45 degrees.
Bend the card back and shimmy it under the angled edge of the latch.
Press on the door with your shoulder and wiggle the card if it doesn’t unlatch right away.

Section 1 of 2:

Unlocking a Door with a Credit Card

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1
Slide the card into the vertical crack between the door and frame. Insert the card into the gap between the doorknob and door frame, then slide it down next to the doorknob. Push it in as far as it will go at a ninety-degree angle to the door.^{[1]
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- What kind of locks can a credit card open? Lawrence explains that “you can only do it with knobs or levers. You can't do it with deadbolts [or] on a door that's an interior door without weatherstripping if it's got a key locking lock. When [the door] is deadbolted, you can't shim the bolt back. That's the whole idea behind the name deadbolt versus spring latch. Spring latches are generally a doorknob or lever handle.”^{[2]
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- To see the location of the door frame more easily, push the door back as far as it can go with your other hand.
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Ray Lawrence is a locksmith and owner of NorCal Locksmith in Placer County, California with over 20 years of experience specializing in residential, commercial, and safe locksmithing services.
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Tilt the card about 45 degrees towards the doorknob. Tilt the side of your credit card facing you towards the doorknob until it is almost touching it. You’ll be able to push the credit card further into the gap between the door and door frame.^{[3]
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- What kind of card should you use? Choose a card that’s flexible, laminated, and that you don’t mind getting potentially scratched up.
- Some people try to shim open doors with a butter knife, but according to Lawrence, “I would probably advise anyone not to use a butter knife. I use a credit card or some sort of plastic shim instead because they’re more flexible.”^{[4]
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Bend the card back the opposite way. Bending the card back the other way will make the card slip under the angled end of the slant-latch, forcing it back into the door. Quickly open the door and unlock it on the other side.^{[5]
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- If the door has a dead latch and weatherstripping, “oftentimes you can pull the door towards yourself, and that will cause the whole lock, including the dead latch, to drop inside the hole where the latch goes,” Lawrence explains. “And once that dead latch, which is supposed to prevent shimming of a door like this, falls in that hole, then you can stick your credit card in there and pull the latch back. The only time you can shim a door like that is when there is weatherstripping.”^{[6]
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If your door did not easily pop open, try leaning against the door while bending your card back and forth a few times. This will add more pressure to the latch and should open it.^{[7]
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Section 2 of 2:

Other Ways to Get Inside

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1
Try picking the lock with a bobby pin or paperclip. This may not work on all locks, but it’s worth a shot! This method works best with 2 bobby pins or paperclips. If you just have one, break it in half so you have 2 pieces. Here are the steps:^{[8]
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- Bend one piece into an “L” shape. This will be your “tension wrench” to hold the lock in place.
- Straighten the other piece and bend or crimp a small “W” into the wire at the end. This will help unlatch the pins inside the lock.
- Insert the L-shaped piece and hold it in place, keeping tension in the lock.
- Insert the W-shaped piece and feel for pins inside the lock.
- Push the pins upward with the W-shaped piece to unlock the door.
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Check for unlocked windows. Walk around to all of the ground-level windows that your home has and try to open them. If you find that one is unlocked, pop the screen out and open the window as wide as you can. Then, climb through to get inside.^{[9]
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- Climbing through a window can be dangerous. Only try this if you’re confident in your ability to climb inside safely.
Tip: If you have a back door or side door, check that too. You or someone who lives with you may have forgotten to lock it.
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Call your roommates. If you live with friends or a significant other, call or text them to see if they’re nearby. If so, ask if one of them would mind stopping by the home to let you in. While this may require that you wait a few minutes on your front porch steps, it doesn’t involve potentially damaging your property or paying expensive service fees.
- Also, consider walking to a nearby coffee shop to pass the time if you live somewhere where this is possible.
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Call your landlord. This is a great option if your landlord lives on-site or nearby. Give them a call to see if they’re home and ask nicely if they’d mind letting you in. Even if they don’t live on-site, they may work nearby and be kind enough to swing by and help you out.
- Many landlords or apartment management companies may send an on-call maintenance worker or locksmith in their place. Be prepared to wait several minutes (or sometimes, hours) for help.
If you don’t have any roommates and your landlord isn’t available to help, it might be time to call a locksmith. Hire them to come to your home and change the locks so that you can get in. While this will effectively solve the problem, it may be pricey, so it’s a good idea to only do it if you’re out of options.

Note: Keep in mind that your landlord may charge you for changing the locks and/or for damaging the door.
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Keep a spare key or lock-picking kit in a secure location outside your home. To prevent future lock-outs, copy your keys and leave them in a hidden spot outside your home or with a trusted friend or neighbor for safekeeping. Or, try using a lock-picking kit to manipulate the latch into opening. These kits include different types of lock picks and tension wrenches to mimic a key and unlock doors.
- Store your lock-picking kit in your garage or a hidden place in your yard or garden so you can access it whenever you’re locked out.

Community Q&A

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Question

Can I use a library card?

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Community Answer

It depends if the library card you have has a similar density and shape to your credit card. If it does, then it most likely will work.

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Do I have to use a credit card? Can I use a gift card?

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If the gift card is plastic, yes.

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Will the lock get damaged or break if I open a door this way?

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It depends on the way you open it. If you are too rough and impatient, some locks may get damaged or your credit card could snap and become a blockage.

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Tips

To avoid having to deal with this again, make a few copies of your key and keep a spare on you at all times, and/or hide one near your home.

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Some doors require very little effort, while others may be opened by simply pushing a card into the door frame at the same height as the handle without any tilting or bending.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Cut out a bit of plastic from a soda bottle to use instead of a credit card. The plastic is sturdy but more flexible, which makes the process easier and less risky.
Make sure you can prove that you have a right to open the door. Otherwise, you may have to deal with law enforcement if someone sees you and gets suspicious.

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Warnings

Be prepared to show proof that you have the right to open the door to avoid any potential legal trouble for breaking and entering.

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