How to Pick Locks With a Paper Clip

One of the most frustrating moments in life is when you have locked yourself out of a room, or have locked something and don’t remember how to open it. Luckily, there's a solution to the problem, and it can be found in that simplest of items, the paper clip.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper clip
• Small screwdriver

1. Look at your house keys. Each one is outfitted with several grooves that line up in your lock to push the pins. Study your house keys before you are ever faced with being locked out, so you can figure out where you will need to push in the paper clip. In order to pick a lock with a paper clip, you also have to understand the dynamic of the lock. The lock is made up of cylinders and pins; the pins are what you need to push to pick the lock with your paper clip.

2. Place a small screwdriver inside a lock you are trying to open. Find the cylinder of the lock and use the screwdriver to apply pressure to that cylinder.

3. Move the paper clip in and out of the lock while pressing on the pins with the screwdriver. Be patient. Picking a lock with a paper clip can be time-consuming, especially if it's your first time.

4. Force all of the pins to stay up and the cylinder will turn all the way. Work the paper clip in and out of the lock. Wait for the lock to open.

5. Use a bobby pin in place of a paper clip if you can't find one. Go through the same steps listed above using the bobby pin until you open the lock.

Resources

• View a forum on paper-clip lock-picking
• View a photo of a lock picked with a paper clip