How to open a locked interior door with a latch or no key

What you need

• A 1 or 2 euro coin
• Small flat and Phillips screwdrivers
• Straightened office paper clip or a thick blunt needle
• Needle-nose pliers
• Torch
• Small hammer and a thick nail, only as a last resort
• Silicone spray or fine lubricant (WD-40 Specialist Silicone, 3-in-One)
• Replacement handle or privacy latch (Leroy Merlin, Bricodepot)
• Spare M3 or M4 screws for the rose
• Masking tape to hold the mechanism while you work

Step by step

1. 1

   Confirm it is an interior door in your own home

   This guide is for a bathroom, bedroom, study or storeroom in your home. If it is the entrance door, an armoured door, a shop or someone else's home, do not touch it and call a locksmith. A lock in a property that is not yours is never forced.

2. 2

   Judge whether it is urgent

   If there is a small child, an elderly person or someone not answering inside, call 112 first and follow their instructions. If it is a child who has locked themselves in while playing, stay calm, talk to them through the door and tell them not to touch anything until you open it.

3. 3

   Identify the type of latch

   Look at the handle from outside. A straight slot or a cross in the centre of the rose is a bathroom privacy latch with an emergency release. A small hole is a safety button. If there is nothing, it will be a sliding bolt, a key left inside or a key lock.

4. 4

   Latch with an outside slot

   Put the coin or the tip of a flat screwdriver in the slot and turn it until it sits horizontal, just as it does when the latch is turned from inside. Open the handle and push. If the slot is a cross, use a small Phillips screwdriver.

5. 5

   Safety button with a hole

   Insert a straightened paper clip or a thick needle through the hole until you feel the button and push 5-10 mm. The button releases and the mechanism unlocks. When it opens, turn the handle. Afterwards leave a small release pin hanging from the frame for next time.

6. 6

   Spring latch bolt, no thumb-turn

   If the door is simply stuck and the latch will not go in, see how to open a stuck door. If the handle is broken or spins freely, take the rose off: with a flat screwdriver lift the cover or loosen the screw, remove the handle and turn the square spindle with pliers.

7. 7

   Key lock with no key

   On interior doors with a keyhole, many keys from the same set in the house open several rooms: try the ones you have from other interior doors. If none works, remove the handle and rose on whichever side you can reach and work the spindle or the bolt from there. If the lock will not give, call a locksmith.

8. 8

   Sliding bolt or latch on the inside

   If the latch is a sliding bolt of the kind you slide by hand, there is no release from outside. If the hinges are on your side, hold the leaf with a wedge, knock the pins out from below with a nail and hammer, starting with the bottom one, and remove the door. Get help, it weighs 12-20 kg. If the hinges are on the inside, call a locksmith.

9. 9

   Test the door once it is open

   With the door open, turn the latch and check that it moves freely, that the emergency slot is visible and that the handle has no play. Lubricate the latch bolt with a drop of silicone and tighten the rose screws with the screwdriver.

10. 10

    Stop it happening again

    In children's bedrooms, remove the latch or swap it for one with an outside emergency release. If the mechanism is worn, replace the whole handle and latch set (Leroy Merlin and Bricodepot sell them in several finishes). See how to fix a loose door handle.

How to open a door locked with a latch, by type of fastening

Almost all internal doors to bathrooms, toilets and bedrooms have a privacy latch: a keyless mechanism worked by a button or a turn knob on the inside, which gives privacy, not security. That is why manufacturers include an emergency release on the outside, so an adult can get in if a child has locked themselves in or someone is unwell. It is a slot in the rose (turned with a coin) or a small hole (pushed with a pin).

Other doors have a key lock, a sliding bolt or a bolt screwed onto the leaf. These have no outside release. If the bolt is on the inside, the only way in is to lift the leaf off its hinges. And if what stops the door opening is a seized latch bolt or a broken handle, the latch is not to blame: it is the handle's internal mechanism that needs checking.

What not to do when opening a door with a latch

• Force it with your shoulder or a kick. The frame splinters, the keep is torn out and you end up paying more than for a professional opening.
• Use a knife or a large screwdriver as a lever. They break the door lining and mark the paint. A rigid card is enough for the latch bolt, and only if there is no thumb-turn latch.
• Try these methods on your own front door or a shop door. They have deadbolts, bolts and security cylinders, and a locksmith opens without damage.
• Open the door of someone else's home. Not a neighbour's, a guest's or a tenant's. Never force a lock that is not yours. If there is an emergency, call the emergency services.
• Drill an armoured door. Never drill an armoured door: anti-drill plates break bits, the cylinder ends up blocked and the repair costs more.
• Pour in thick oil. Dust turns it to paste and the mechanism jams; use silicone spray.

When to call a professional

Call a locksmith if the door is an entrance door, an armoured door or a shop door, if the lock needs a key and none of the ones at home opens it, if the bolt is on the inside and so are the hinges, or if you have already tried the methods in this guide and the door is still shut. We arrive in 20-45 minutes in Valencia, Alicante, Torrevieja and Benidorm, and in 30-60 minutes in Dénia, Jávea, Calpe and Altea.

Our rates: opening a door slammed shut €60-90 (8:00-21:00), night or bank holiday opening €90-150, opening an armoured or reinforced door €90-180, changing a complete lock €80-150 plus the lock. Fixed price on WhatsApp before we come, payment when finished and a 6-month guarantee on labour.

See locksmith in Valencia, Alicante and the Costa Blanca, how much a locksmith costs, locksmith in Valencia, locksmith in Alicante and locksmith in Torrevieja. For changing the lock, see how to change a door lock and what to do if the door slams shut.

Damp, salt air and neighbours: three coastal details

Bathroom latches are among the first mechanisms to rust on the coast: shower steam and salt air seize the spring and the emergency slot. If the latch in your bathroom is stiff to turn, a drop of silicone and a new set (stainless steel or brass) will make it like new. In holiday lets it is worth checking the latches every season: a guest locked in with a child is a bad experience.

In a comunidad de vecinos (residents' association), the door to the meter room, the roof or the communal storeroom is not yours even if you have a key: whoever must open it is the administrator or the president. And if a neighbour asks you to open their door because they have left their keys inside, do not do it yourself: a professional locksmith asks for proof that the home belongs to whoever is calling.