14 Easiest Ways How to Pick a Lock With DIY & Tools [Solved]
A few months ago, me and my friend Mark William were sitting in a park. Suddenly, I remembered that my house's key was inside the room! I was very tense, but Mark was joking with me and said, “Why are you panicked? Your robber friend is with you right now.
I can pick any lock within 5 minutes.” I was annoyed with him a lot. But my friend seriously said, “Don't worry, I'm not a robber, but I know how to pick a lock without a key.”
I was interested without feeling bored and asked him how he could unlock my room without the key. Mark William explained to me that it doesn't require a robber or a hero in a spy movie. It is a tricky task. I also agreed with him that if we want to acquire something, it is not impossible.
Finally, my friend successfully did this job, and I have also become an eyewitness to how to pick a lock. We have together taken coffee to my home as a thank you for helping me.
In this blog post, I will share my personal experience of unlocking the lock of the main door of the house with you. Also, discover the types of locks, how a lock works, and the basic to advanced methods of picking a lock.
How Does a Lock Work on a Door?
Before learning how to pick a lock, we have to understand how a lock works on a door. Every lock has some pins inside it. When you put your key inside the lock, it nudges these pins and makes them play nice. These pins have special bumps and dips that match up and unlock the lock of the door. And they need to be aligned in the right way.
Basic Tools for Picking a Lock
For many reasons, we may need to pick a lock in our home, office, car, or anywhere when we do not have the key. Maybe we have lost the key, or we have forgotten where the key is right now. There are a lot of methods to pick the lock. You can pick the lock with DIY, household products, basic tools, or advanced. Now let's try to pick a lock with basic tools.
01. How to Pick a Lock Using ‘Feeler Pick’
As you know, inside the lock, there are some pins available. If you can align these pins, then the lock will be unlocked. A finger pick is a small tool to unlock a lock. First, you have to put it inside the lock, then try to feel the pins inside.
Press each pin inside one by one, and try to understand which pin has locked your lock. Though it is a slow and time-consuming process, it is an effective way to feel pins. If you can align all the pins through this feeler pick, you can easily unlock the lock.
02. Use ‘Hook Pick’ to unlock a lock
If you cannot unlock it by using the feeler pick, then try to use a tiny hook to pick your lock. The hook pick has a half-O ring at the end of the pick. The half O will help you press these pins inside. By getting help from this tool, you can bring individual pins to the correct position. If you have done this, it will be automatically unlocked.
03. 'Rake Pick' to Pick a Lock
The rake pick is the easiest and most time-saving tool to pick a lock. This tool is like a multi-feeler pick. Feeler Pick works with individual pins one by one. But the Rake Pick deals with all pins at once. So it is just a master key for your lock. While you put the rake pick inside a lock, the tension is bound to turn the plug, and pins fall into place. This is a faster and more straightforward way to pick a lock.
Do you remember my friend Mark William? When I was in tension about how to pick a lock, he helped me. He had used a rake pick tool from his wallet to pick up my house's lock.
04. Wafer Pick Tool for Wafer Lock
A wafer pick is a great tool for picking, specifically a wafer lock. Nowadays, wafer locks are old-fashioned, but if you have one, no one will suggest you pick a lock. If you have lost the key to your wafer lock, then it is very easy to pick your lock with the tool.
The wafer lock is found in various places, such as car doors, cabinets, padlocks, and more. So the wafer pick tool is helpful for your household use. But be careful about the valuable products and money you give your teenage children. If your children know how to pick a lock using a wafer picker, It can affect you and your family very negatively.
Advanced Techniques to Pick a Lock
People are always scared about their security. If you see that everything is okay, the door of your house is also not broken, the lock is also well, but some important wealth is missing from your home, what do you think in this situation? Simply, you will start a conflict in your family.
You will ask your wife, and your wife will ask you, but ultimately the wealth has gone anywhere. Maybe it has been stolen. There are some advanced techniques about how to pick a lock. If any thief or robber uses these techniques, you can't understand. That's why we are here to inform you about all the advanced techniques for picking a lock.
01. Bump Keys for Pin-Tumbler Lock
If you have a pin-tumbler lock, then you must know the bump keys. The bump key is made with the kinetic energy formula. When it is inserted into a lock and forced, the kinetic energy transfers to the internal pins. After that, pins have to open the lock.
This process is time-consuming. Usually, Robbers or thieves use this key to steal from shops and markets. So if you are still using the Pin-Tumbler lock, avoid using this lock.
02. How to Pick a Lock Which Tubular
Tubular locks are typically used on vending machines and bike locks. This is a circular locker, that's why it requires advanced technique to pick this lock. There are some tools available in the market, you can try these. But no tool is 100% effective while talking about the lock picker. Picking the tubular lock is so difficult because of its structure.
If you have lost your bike's key, and you want to start the bike by picking the lock, first try tools for the specific tubular lock. It may maybe easier if you know the number of pins on your lock. Typically, the circular lock has 8 pins. When it is 8, you have to use the tool with 8 needles. When it is about 7 pins, you have to use a tool that has 7 needles to pick the lock.
03. How to Pick a Lock With a Tension Wrench
A tension wrench is an effective tool while it is about how to pick a lock. Tension wrenches are effective for different types of locks. The wrench works by putting a little twist at the edge. If you want to pick a lock by using this tool, you have to put the wrench into the keyhole of the lock.
Then try to pressure to pins by the twist part of the wrench. Keep balancing the pressure so that these pins will not break or hold inside. Be careful while you are trying to pick a lock using a tension wrench. Because it required a skilled lock picker to pick a lock.
04. Use the Blank Key to Pick a Lock
You can magically unlock a lock if you can use the advanced method, impressioning. If you can acquire the technique of how to pick a lock using impressioning, you can unlock any lock within a minute. In this method, a skilled lock picker can create a blank key into a working key by wiggling it inside the lock.
Here is a simple guide to how can you pick a lock with a blank key:
- First, you have to put a blank key into the keyhole of the lock.
- Then, wiggle the blank key and turn it clockwise.
- Gently wiggle the key up and down also.
- Turn the key anti-clockwise and wiggle it again
- Remove the key and check for tiny impressions on its top.
Repeat the process until the lock will not unlock. This is a very effective solution for picking the lock. But it may take time if you are not skilled at this.
05. Electronic Lock Picking
Nowadays, almost everywhere uses electric locks or digital locks. What will happen if you lose that key of an electric lock? You have to pick the lock. Now you will see here how to pick a lock that is electronically powered.
Before picking the electronic lock, you have to understand the mechanism behind the lock. Usually, an electronic lock works by magnets, solenoids, or a motor to activate the lock. If you want to pick the electronic lock, you need to have a deep knowledge of electronics, programming, and cryptography. Electronic lock picking is a type of hacking.
We don't recommend you for criminal activities or illegal uses. Anyway, the electronic lock can be connected to a computer system or not connected to that. If your door is connected to a computer system, it is more secure than others. If anyone tries to unlock the lock, you will need to permit to access them.
Be careful about crossing wires, power flow, etc. These can backdoor to bypass your electronic lock. If it is how to pick a lock in emergencies, cutting power to the lock is a common tactic.
Download How To Pick A Lock Infographics
Common 5 DIY Solutions to Pick a Lock
Besides the basic and advanced techniques, we have also included DIY solutions about how to pick a lock. Here, you can see the cost-effective and easy solutions for picking a lock without a key. Check out these 5 interesting methods such as Paperclip, Bobby Pin, Pen, knife, and Credit card.
Method | Tools Needed | Steps |
Paperclip | Paperclip |
|
Bobby Pin | Bobby Pin |
|
Card | Credit Card or Similar |
|
Knife | Small knife |
|
Pen | Empty Pen Casing |
|
Lock Picking Laws & Rules
Lock picking means opening a lock without a key by manipulating the lock. So you can understand that this can be a great security issue for any lock. But on the other side, it plays an important role in helping us to unlock locks. When you have lost your key, or you have forgotten the key inside the room, lock picking helps you. That's why we need to know how to pick a lock. But it may be used for unethical activities.
Robbers, thieves, and all types of wicked people can use these lock-picking methods for their illegal activities. So there are lock-picking laws for most of the country and states. If we talk about the USA, most of the states allow lock picking, but you have to show them transparent intent to use this. Some states don't allow lock picking, such as Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, etc.
Before trying to pick a lock, be careful about the laws and rules of your state. You can also hire a professional Locksmith, who has a license, to fix your lock problem.
Conclusion | How to Pick a Lock
At the end of the comprehensive guide about how to pick a lock, we have covered from basic to advanced. Not only that, we also discussed 5 interesting DIY methods that you can use to pick a lock by yourself. Doesn't matter if you use any lock-keeping tools or DIY methods, you have to understand the mechanism behind the lock at first.
We are not promoting any products related to lock picking and not promoting any illegal activities. This post is just for learning purposes and ethical uses. You may need to know about lock-picking for various ethical reasons. So try these useful methods to pick the lock and solve your problems within a short time.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lock Picking Legal?
Yes, lock picking is legal in most of the States of the USA, and most of the countries overall in the world, without a few countries such as Japan. But you have to show the ethical reasons for lock picking.
What are the Easy Ways to Pick a Lock?
DIY solutions such as using a Paperclip, Bobby Pin, or a Credit Card are the easy ways to pick a lock. We have covered 5 DIY methods that make it easy to pick a lock.
What are the Mistakes in Lock-picking?
Doesn't matter what you use in your lock-picking, but remember that never pressure too much. If you try to pick the lock forcefully, it can be broken.