Tips to Open your Car Door without a Key

These lockout techniques may seem impossible, but they most surely work—it only depends on the type and model of your car. With automatic locks and security systems, it will be more difficult to break into newer cars and trucks, but not impossible. Before hiring an expensive professional to do it for you, you can at least attempt one of these lock-picking tips.

Use a shoelace
Even though it may seem impossible, you can quickly unlock your automobile door with nothing more than one of your shoelaces.

Remove a shoelace from one of your shoes, and then tie a slipknot in the center of it that you can tighten by pulling on the ends of the string. Use a back-and-forth motion to lower the string through the corner of the car door so that the knot may pass over the doorknob while holding one end of the rope in each hand. Pull the string to tighten it after it’s in position, and pull it up to unlock it.

For vehicles with locking mechanisms on the side of the door, this method won’t work, but if your door has a knob at the top (as in the images above), you stand a good chance of making it work.
Use a Long Rod

Number 2 Method

Use a wooden wedge

Air wedge, and a rod to unlock your automobile as long as you can at least partially push the top portion of the door open. First, take hold of the wooden wedge and insert it through the top of the door. Put a cover (ideally plastic) over the wedge to prevent damage to the paint.

If you plan doing this frequently, consider buying a long reach tool as well as a set of wedges or an inflatable wedge.

To further distance the automobile from the door, slide the air wedge next to the wooden wedge and inflate it with air. Put as much pressure as you can on the wooden wedge to create a wide gap. Finally, carefully unlock your door using the locking mechanism on the side by inserting the rod through the door gap. You could probably get by without one if you don’t have one. Even though it will be more difficult, the following video makes it seem simple.

Number 3 Method

Use a Plastic Strip
A strip of plastic can be used in place of a shoelace if the locking mechanism is located up top rather than on the side. With or without an air wedge, you will still need to force the door open in some manner.

Number 4 Method

Use a Slim Jim or a coat hanger.
A DIY slim jim made from of a wire coat hanger is one of the most popular ways to unlock a car door. The idea behind it is the same. For doors with manual locks, this method works better; for doors with automatic locks, see one of the other methods.

The control arm inside the door, which is attached to the lock rod, needs to be pulled up, so unravel the coat hanger with the aid of some pliers so that you have one straight side and one hooked side.

The control arm is typically located near the inside door handle, about 2 inches below where the window and the car door meet. After that, move the hanger down between the car window and the weather stripping until it is there. (You should first search online for a diagram for the placement for your particular make and model of car.)

To locate the control arm, which is occasionally difficult to find, turn the hanger so that the hook is towards the interior. When you pull up after being locked in, the automobile door will unlock. Once more, the coat hanger trick only functions with specific lock mechanisms, typically on older vehicles, thus this is probably unlikely to work with current model vehicles. To unlock a door from the inside of a newer automobile, you can still use a coat hanger, but you’ll need to wedge it between the door and the body of the vehicle (as in Method #2).

Number Method

Use your antenna
You might be able to unlock the door from the outside on older model automobiles with a particular sort of exterior handle, as shown in the screenshot below, using nothing more than the antenna from your vehicle.

Simply detach the antenna and move it around until the lock begins to jiggle before carefully guiding it up into the interior of the door handle. Push your antenna forward when you notice a connection forming, and the door will unlock.

Number 6 Methd

Utilize the windshield wipers.
The process for removing your car’s windshield wipers varies depending on the model, but it is typically rather simple. However, a windshield wiper might save you from needing to contact a locksmith to open your locked car door, regardless of the type of vehicle you drive.

First, take the front wiper from your car. You can maneuver it inside the car if your window is slightly ajar or if you can pry the door open. Grab the keys off the chair using the wiper, or use the door’s side unlock button (which I tried out successfully myself in the video below).

Almost anything long enough to fit through your window can be used, but if you’re in a rush and can’t find anything else nearby that will fit, the windshield wiper is your best option.