Can you open a lock with a screwdriver?

A screwdriver is not shaped to do what a key does. Pushed into the keyway and turned, it tends to bend or break the small parts inside rather than line them up. Locksmith guides warn that forcing tools into the keyway or attacking the cylinder usually ends with the lock being drilled out and replaced at your expense, when it could have been picked.

Levering is worse. Used as a pry bar on a uPVC door, a screwdriver can crack the frame, and locksmith guides point out that a frame costs far more than a lock. On a wooden door it tends to split the timber around the lock. Either way, the door may not lock properly once you are back inside, which leaves you with a second problem.

From outside, a shut door gives a screwdriver very little to work on. The screws that hold a lock or handle in place are usually on the inside face or the edge of the door, which you can only reach once it is open. That is where a locksmith uses one: changing or repairing the lock after entry, not getting in.

Bathroom and toilet locks are different. They often use a turn and release, with a thumb turn inside and a slot on the outside that one supplier describes as usually operated by a coin or screwdriver. It is there for emergencies, such as a child who has locked themselves in, and it does not apply to front doors.

If a lock has to be drilled or snapped to get you in, we charge the usual lockout rate plus the cylinder: £25 for a standard euro cylinder or £60 for a TS007 3 star anti snap one. Non destructive entry comes first wherever possible, and where drilling is the only route we say so before we set off.

Related questions

• Can a credit card open a locked door?
• Can picking a lock destroy it?
• How to remove a key that's stuck in a lock?