How to Open a Door With a Credit Card

You see it in the movies all the time. A slick protagonist needs to explore the bad guy’s abode, so he whips out a card, wiggles it in the crack of the door, and strolls right on in. However, in real life, it’s not a universal lock pick technique, nor is it legal (if you don’t have permission to enter). But, it is a pretty cool thing to know how to do, especially if you find yourself locked out of your own home!

Steps

1. Choose your largest, most easily flexible credit card. You may want to use something other than a credit card if it’s more flexible and dispensable (such as gift cards, membership cards, ID cards, or any other plastic laminated cards).
2. Slide the card into the vertical crack between the door and the frame (where the lock is) as far as it will go at a perpendicular angle with the door.
3. Tilt the card so the side that’s closest to you is almost or is touching the doorknob. Push it again until you feel it slide in more.
4. Bend the card the opposite way, forcing the lock to go back. Quickly open the door.

Tips

• An alternative method is to push the card between the door and the frame, as said above, then pull and push at the doorknob while applying pressure on the card. This will pry the lock open eventually, but takes a bit of time, and causes more damage to the card.
• Instead of using a credit card, you can also use a strip of plastic cut out from a plastic soda bottle for extra length and flexibility, as well as not ruining your card.
• When it won’t work:
  • If you are on the side of the door that the lock is not slanted towards, the only way to open it with a card may be to cut it into a wide "U" then hook it around the lock and bend it as described above.
  • This method will only work on inexpensive or improperly installed locks. Most doors have a special tab that sticks along side the latch to prevent picking with a credit card. If you can get this tab to drop into the hole that the rest of the latch goes into, then the door is improperly installed and this method will work.
  • Many exterior doors will have an additional deadbolt lock – deadbolts cannot be picked with a credit card and require picking the lock or kicking down the door.
  • Inside doors may have trim around them that will prevent you from opening it with a card. Either remove the trim or find an alternative method of opening the door.