How to Rekey a Kwikset SmartKey Lock (and When It Fails)

Kwikset SmartKey is one of the most common locks on newer San Diego homes, and it is one of the very few residential locks you can rekey yourself in about a minute with no pins, no tools beyond a tiny piece of metal, and no disassembly. It is also the lock we get the most panicked calls about, because the same feature that makes it easy to rekey makes it easy to get stuck. Here is the correct procedure, the ways it goes wrong, and what a locksmith can do when it does.

What is Kwikset SmartKey?

Instead of a stack of pins, a SmartKey cylinder uses a row of small sliders that reposition to match whatever key is in the lock during the learn step. The give-away is a small horizontal slot to the left of the keyway. That slot is where the learn tool goes.

Kwikset introduced SmartKey in the late 2000s, so it is common on builder-grade deadbolts and handle sets in tract homes built since then in San Marcos and Santee, and it turns up on many remodeled older homes in Mira Mesa where the original hardware has been swapped. It is also inside Kwikset’s Halo and SmartCode smart locks.

What do you need?

• The current working key (the one that turns the lock today)
• The SmartKey learn tool that came with the lock
• A new Kwikset key cut to a valid pattern (a spare from another Kwikset lock works)

If you are missing the working key, skip to the failure section. The procedure below will not work without it.

How do you rekey a Kwikset SmartKey? Step by step

1. Insert the working key and turn a quarter turn clockwise

Open the door and put the lock in the locked position, with the deadbolt extended, so nothing is under load. Push the current key all the way in. Turn it 90 degrees clockwise, so the key is horizontal. Stop there. This position is the whole trick; the lock only enters learn mode at exactly a quarter turn.

2. Insert the learn tool fully

Push the learn tool straight into the small slot beside the keyway until it stops. You should feel a slight click as it seats. Then pull it straight back out.

3. Remove the working key

Pull the old key straight out without turning it. The cylinder stays in the quarter-turn position.

4. Insert the new key all the way

Push the new key fully into the keyway. Make sure it is seated completely. A key that is not all the way in teaches the lock the wrong pattern.

5. Turn the new key a half turn each way, then back to start

Without pushing or pulling on the key, rotate it 180 degrees counterclockwise, then 180 degrees clockwise. That locks in the new pattern. Tug gently on the key: it should not come out in this position. Then rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise to the vertical starting position and pull it out. Test: the new key should turn smoothly and the old key should no longer turn at all.

Repeat on every SmartKey lock in the house with the same new key and every door is on one key.

What goes wrong, and how to fix it

The old key still works

The learn tool was not seated fully, or the key was not at exactly a quarter turn. Start again from step 1 and push the tool in until it clicks.

The new key will not turn

Usually the new key was not fully inserted at step 4, or it is a worn or badly cut key. Try the procedure again with a different, freshly cut Kwikset key.

No key works anymore

The most common cause is a key pulled out while the cylinder was between positions, or a damaged key that was learned. The lock has not “broken” so much as memorized something no key matches. This needs a locksmith with a SmartKey reset cradle, which returns the cylinder to a learnable state, or a cylinder replacement. Our Kwikset SmartKey service handles both on-site.

You lost the only working key

Same answer. Without a working key there is no learn mode. A locksmith either resets the cylinder or replaces it, then teaches it a fresh key. If a key was lost rather than simply misplaced, this is also covered under lost or stolen keys.

The key turns but the bolt does not move

That is not a SmartKey problem. The tailpiece, bolt or door alignment is the issue. See Rekey vs. Change Locks for how to tell a cylinder problem from a hardware problem.

Can SmartKey be keyed alike with other locks?

With other Kwikset locks, yes. Every SmartKey lock in the house can learn the same key. A conventional (non-SmartKey) Kwikset lock uses the same keyway, so a locksmith can pin it to match the SmartKey key and the whole house shares one key. Our keyed-alike service does exactly this.

With Schlage, Baldwin, Emtek or other non-Kwikset keyways, not with the standard cylinder. The key blank physically will not enter the other lock, so one of the two has to change. Kwikset sells a SmartKey cylinder in the Schlage SC1 keyway for that case.

Is SmartKey safe? Calm notes on security

SmartKey’s sidebar design does resist common picking and bumping better than a plain pin-tumbler cylinder, which is genuinely useful. Like every consumer lock, it has known weaknesses; forcing tools exist that can defeat some generations. Kwikset has revised the cylinder design over the years.

For most San Diego homes, a SmartKey deadbolt with a solid strike plate and long screws is a reasonable front-door lock. If your situation calls for more, a Grade 1 deadbolt or a high-security cylinder from a brand like Medeco is the upgrade, and that is a replacement rather than a rekey. The same logic applies to smart locks, which we cover in Can a Smart Lock Be Rekeyed?

Tips from the truck

• Keep the learn tool taped inside a kitchen cabinet. Nobody remembers where it went.
• Use freshly cut keys. Hardware-store copies of copies drift a little each generation.
• Rekey one lock, test it, then do the rest. If something is off, you find out on door one.
• If a key feels gritty or catches, stop. A learned bad key is harder to fix than a stuck one.

Next step

If you have a working key and the learn tool, you can do this right now. If you are missing either, or a lock has stopped accepting every key, book our Kwikset SmartKey rekey and reset and we will recover or replace the cylinder on the spot and put every door on one new key.