How to Open a Lock with a Paper Clip

Have you ever lost your keys and have an urgent need to enter the house? In fact, you only need to find a few paper clips to open the door. While this doesn’t look very good, it generally solves the problem. See step 1 to get started.

Table of Contents

Tool making

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Prepare necessary materials. Most of the items you’ll need to open a lock are fairly easy to find. You only need three things. Two paper clips, one used as a poke, the other as a spinning stick, and one pliers to shape the paperclip. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Two large paper clips, one for spinning and one for poking. There is no limit to the size of the clip, but its thickness should be thin enough to fit in the keyhole, and the length when stretched should be enough to fit into the keyway while still allowing room for grip and rotation.
Find a pair of pliers to shape the paper clip. Using pliers is easier than using bare hands.

Unfold the first clamp to make a poke. Straighten the large end of the paperclip twice to form a straight line. You will insert this piece of line into the keyway and use it as a poke. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Some locksmiths even bend the tip of the stick a little. It makes it easier to press on the latches in the lock, but this is not required.

Crafting a rotating tree. Extend the two curved segments of the paper clip to form a straight line with a hook at the end. Use pliers to flatten the hook down. Bend at a 90° angle at the hook end, about 1cm long. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Alternatively, you would stretch one edge of the paperclip to form a 90° opening. This is a basic swing tree, usable but not ideal.

Poke the padlock

Tuck the swing into the bottom of the keyway. After inserting the swingarm, you must use it to apply pressure in the direction of rotation to open the lock. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

You may have to practice to know how much force to use. If you rotate too hard, you will deform the clamp. If the swing is too light, you are not applying enough pressure to poke the lock.

Turn the spindle in the direction to open the lock. You may not know for sure which direction to turn to open the lock, but it is important to turn it in the correct direction. There are several ways to test a lock to see which key turns the key. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

If the lock rotates in any direction to open, turn the swingarm in that direction. If you don’t know, just guess and turn to one side; the first time you will have a 50% chance of success.
If your hands are sensitive, you can feel which direction the lock opens when turning the turntable. Twist clockwise first, then counter-clockwise. You should feel a little less pressure as the tree rotates in the right direction.

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Insert the poke into the upper part of the keyway and “scratch”. This means that you will insert the poke into the end of the keyway and pull it out quickly while gently pushing the poke upwards. Do this a few times to push the latch bars into place.

Maintain pressure on the spindle during operation. Without maintaining pressure, you will not be able to push the pin up.
Quick hand doesn’t mean jerking off, but you need to move fast and smooth enough. This is something that you have to practice, and is the reason why few people successfully crack the lock the first time.

Locate the latch inside the lock. While maintaining pressure on the spindle, try to locate the pins inside the keyway with a poke. Most American locks have a minimum of five pins that you need to poke to unlock.

You should feel the pin when the stick touches it. That’s where you need to hit the poke.

Click the latch. Remember to maintain pressure on the spindle while you press on the pin. You should feel a slight movement when the latch bar is pressed into the unlocked position, or a small click is heard.

An experienced locksmith can do this very well, but the inexperienced needs to be meticulous to open each latch.

Gently shake the poke until each pin opens. Apply increasing pressure on the swingarm, while gently shaking the poke to open each pin. When you hear a click, be sure to turn the turntable to open the latch.

Advice

Using a hairpin is more effective than a paper clip because it has a flat shape so the pressure will be stronger.
Most of the time you can only open the lock of the door in the house, and it depends on the age of the lock.

Warning

Poking a padlock to do something illegal can make you a criminal.

Steps

Tool making

Poke the padlock

Advice

Warning

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