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Lockout and Locksmith → Rekeying

How to Rekey Locks Yourself or With a Pro

A residential rekey runs about $100 against a full lock replacement, and keeps the hardware you already have. How to rekey locks yourself stops at two details: the plug follower, and a house with two brands of lock on it.

Learning how to rekey locks is worth an afternoon, because rekeying costs $50 to $130 plus $10 to $25 per cylinder professionally and keeps your existing hardware, finish and door prep. Replacement adds the price of a lock set for every door on top of that.

What rekeying actually changes

What does rekeying a lock do?

It changes the pin stack inside the existing cylinder so a new key operates it and every old key stops working. The lock body, the handle, the finish and the holes in your door all stay exactly as they are.

That is the entire appeal. You get the security outcome of a new lock, which is that nobody holding an old key can get in, without paying for new hardware or living with a mismatched handle.

The lockout and locksmith guide covers the trade, a house lockout is the emergency version, and Emergency Services 24H routes either.

The trade treats the choice the same way. PJ Slauson, who runs a US locksmith supply business, works a residential rekey as a hundred-dollar-class job against replacing the lock outright.

Wherever the hardware is sound, rekeying is the cheaper answer. Replacement earns its price when the lock is damaged, worn or being upgraded, not because the keys changed hands.

A rekey that leaves you with a lock you do not trust is not a saving, and a replacement you did not need is not security.

Rekey kits only fit one keyway

This is the single most common reason a DIY rekey fails, and no page on the first page of results states it plainly.

A rekey kit is manufacturer-specific. Kwikset pins do not fit a Schlage plug, Schlage pins do not fit a Baldwin, and the follower supplied with one brand’s kit is the wrong diameter for another. If your house has a mix of brands, which most do after a few years of replacements, one kit will not do the whole house.

Read the brand off the face of the cylinder before you buy anything. It is usually cast into the metal around the keyway.

The DIY procedure

How to rekey locks, step by step

  1. 01

    Identify the keyway first

    Read the brand off the face of the cylinder.

  2. 02

    Remove the cylinder

    Take the lock off the door, then release the retaining clip and slide the plug out of the housing using the follower supplied with the kit.

Lock cylinder plug removed with rekeying pins laid out on a workbench
  1. 03

    Keep the springs seated

    The follower is the whole trick.

  2. 04

    Swap pins, test before refitting

    Fit the pin stack that matches the new key, slide the plug back through the follower, and turn it with the new key several times before the lock goes anywhere near the door.

The follower is the part people underestimate. It is a plain cylinder of plastic or brass that occupies the housing while the plug slides out, holding the top pins and their springs in place. Push the plug out without one and you will spend the evening finding springs under the furniture.

Do not rekey a damaged cylinder

If the lock was forced, drilled, or has been stiff and grinding for months, rekeying it is money spent on a component that is already failing. A bent plug or a worn housing will turn smoothly on the bench and jam in the door under load. Replace the cylinder and rekey the replacement to match your other doors.

Which locks cannot be rekeyed

The People Also Ask block asks this directly and the ranking pages answer it vaguely. Here is a real list.

  • Budget cylinders with staked plugs. Some inexpensive locks are assembled to be disposable and are not designed to come apart at all.
  • Restricted and high-security systems. Brands with patented keyways control the supply of blanks and pins, so rekeying requires an authorised dealer and proof of ownership.
  • Electronic locks with no mechanical override. There is no pin stack to change; access is managed in software instead.
  • Damaged plugs. Anything forced, drilled or seized is replaced rather than serviced.

Keying alike, which is what most people want

Can I have one key for every door?

Yes, and the term for it is keyed alike. Every cylinder is rekeyed to the same key, so one key opens the front, back and garage doors. It requires all the cylinders to share a keyway, and it is priced per cylinder rather than per visit.

Most people searching for how to rekey locks are actually describing this outcome without knowing the term, which matters because asking a locksmith to rekey your locks and asking them to key them alike can produce different quotes.

If your doors currently use two or three different brands, keying alike means bringing them onto one keyway, which usually means replacing some cylinders. That is worth pricing as part of the same visit rather than discovering afterwards.

SmartKey and self-rekeying locks

A different mechanism entirely, and the search results conflate the two constantly.

Self-rekeying systems such as SmartKey use a sliding wafer arrangement rather than pin stacks. You insert the current key, turn it, insert a learn tool, then insert the new key, and the lock reconfigures itself in about fifteen seconds with no disassembly.

The trade-off is that they have their own failure modes and their own security debate, and a general rekey kit will not touch them. If your lock has a small slot beside the keyway, that is what you have.

When rekeying is urgent Stop. Call 911 first: An active security threat at the property. Contractor tonight: Keys lost with an address attached; Keys stolen; A tenant or contractor who did not return keys; After a break-in. Can wait for an appointment: Moving into a new home; Consolidating several keys onto one; Routine security upgrades; After a house sale completes When rekeying is urgent Stop. Call 911 first Leave the building An active security threat at theproperty Contractor tonight Damage is compounding Keys lost with an address attached Keys stolen A tenant or contractor who did notreturn keys After a break-in Can wait for an appointment Book in normal hours Moving into a new home Consolidating several keys ontoone Routine security upgrades After a house sale completes When in doubt, treat it as the more serious lane. A false alarm costs nothing.
Rekeying changes the pins so old keys stop working. It costs a fraction of replacing hardware and achieves the same security outcome.

Rekey or replace, priced

Indicative US ranges. Always get a written quote.

Job Typical range
Rekeying, professional $50–$130
Service / trip fee $50–$100
After-hours premium +$100–$250
Rekey kit, homeowner one keyway only
Replacement lock set hardware + labor per door

Source: Thumbtack 2026 national locksmith price data; published 2026 locksmith cost guides (retrieved August 2026). Figures vary by region and timing.

Figures last checked

The arithmetic is one-sided for a house move or a lost key: rekeying four cylinders professionally sits comfortably below the cost of four new lock sets plus fitting, and the doors end up with the hardware they already had.

Replacement earns its place when the hardware is worn, when a handle is failing mechanically, or when you are upgrading to a keypad or smart lock anyway. Full rate detail sits in our what a locksmith charges after hours.

When to rekey rather than wait

Four trigger events account for almost every rekey, and three of them are predictable enough to plan for.

  1. Moving into any property. You have no idea how many keys exist or who holds them, and neither does the seller or the agent.
  2. A lost or stolen key. Particularly one on a fob with an address attached to it.
  3. A tenant, contractor or relationship change. Anyone who legitimately held a key and no longer should.
  4. After a break-in. Covered separately in our guide to changing locks after a break-in, because the order of operations matters there.

Know the line

Safe to check yourself, or call a pro now

Safe to check yourself

  • Rekeying a standard pin-tumbler cylinder with the matching brand kit
  • Self-rekeying a SmartKey-style lock with the learn tool
  • Rekeying several locks of the same brand to one key
  • Reading the brand off a cylinder before buying anything

Call a pro now

  • Any restricted or high-security keyway
  • Bringing mixed brands onto one key
  • Any cylinder that was forced, drilled or is grinding
  • Multi-point patio and uPVC door mechanisms
  • A whole property where you want it done in one visit

24/7 dispatch network

Get a licensed locksmith moving on this

Tell us how many cylinders and whether you want them keyed alike. Licensed, insured locksmiths covering your area will contact you directly. No obligation to hire.

Fire, a gas smell, or an injury? Leave the building and call 911 first, then your gas utility or power company. Use this form once you are safe.

By submitting this request you agree that Emergency Services 24H and the licensed contractors in its network may contact you at the phone number and email you provided, including by automated dialing system, prerecorded message, or text.
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See our privacy policy and terms.
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How the matching works, and what we do not do

Emergency Services 24H is a referral service. We do not employ locksmiths and we do not rekey locks.

Your request routes to licensed, insured contractors covering your area, and they contact you directly. Tell them the brands on your cylinders and whether you want one key for everything, because both change the quote.

Cited source11:31
On weighing a rekey quote against a replacement quote.
“Cost and value are two very different things.”
PJ Slauson
Locksmith supply company owner
CLKsupplies / Lock Boss, 2022
An independent source we cite. Not affiliated with Emergency Services 24H, and not a network contractor.
Watch the source : Do You Charge Too Much? (for Locksmiths) (opens in a new tab)

Straight answers

Frequently asked questions

The questions homeowners actually search for on this problem, answered in plain language.

Browse all guides
Can I rekey a door lock without the original key?

Not with a consumer kit, which needs the working key to rekey door hardware at all. A locksmith rekeys a house lock without a key by pulling the plug with a plug follower.

Does a rekeying kit cover every lock in a new house?

Only the brand it is cut for. A kit home rekey works where all the house locks share one make, common on new builds and rare on older houses.

Do smart locks need rekeying too?

The keyway does, if it has one. A smart key deadbolt still opens with the old key until you rekey your cylinder, and the bottom pins are what change when you do.

Can I rekey my locks myself?

Yes, with the correct kit and a little patience. The critical detail is that rekey kits are specific to one manufacturer keyway, so a Kwikset kit will not rekey a Schlage cylinder.

Is it cheaper to rekey or replace a lock?

Rekeying, in almost every case. Professional rekeying runs $50 to $130 plus $10 to $25 per cylinder and keeps your existing hardware, finish and door prep.

Can all door locks be rekeyed?

No. Some budget cylinders have staked plugs that are not designed to come apart, certain high-security systems require dealer authorisation to obtain keys and pins, electronic locks with no mechanical override have nothing to rekey, and a plug damaged in a break-in or a drilling is usually replaced rather than serviced.

What does keyed alike mean?

It means every cylinder is rekeyed to the same key, so one key opens the front, back and garage doors. It is what most people actually want when they say rekey, and it requires all the cylinders to share a keyway. Professionally it is priced per cylinder rather than per visit.

Will a retailer rekey locks for free?

Some home improvement retailers rekey locks bought from them at the same visit, and terms vary by store and by region. It is worth asking rather than assuming, and it only applies to compatible cylinders.

How long does it take to rekey a lock?

A locksmith rekeys a standard residential cylinder in ten to fifteen minutes once the door is accessible, so a whole house of four to six cylinders is comfortably inside a single visit. A first-time DIY rekey on one lock takes most people around half an hour.

Lock cylinder plug removed showing driver pins and springs in the housing
Inside the cylinder
Compartment tray of graduated rekeying pins with new keys cut alongside
A rekeying pin kit
Rekey versus replace Rekey, per cylinder: $20 to $60, most often around $40. Locksmith call-out: $50 to $150, most often around $90. New deadbolt installed: $100 to $350, most often around $200. Whole-house rekey, typical: $150 to $400, most often around $260. Smart lock installed: $200 to $600, most often around $380. Source: Aggregated 2026 US cost guides (HomeGuide, Angi, This Old House), cross-checked against UGC-reported prices. Rekey versus replace $0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 Rekey, per cylinder $20–$60 Locksmith call-out $50–$150 New deadbolt installed $100–$350 Whole-house rekey, typical $150–$400 Smart lock installed $200–$600 Most commonly reported figure Source: Aggregated 2026 US cost guides (HomeGuide, Angi, This Old House), cross-checked against UGC-reported prices
Rekeying every cylinder in a typical house usually costs less than replacing two locks, and gets you one key for everything.

Sources for this page

Reviewed on . If a figure here no longer matches its source, that is a bug, so tell us and we will correct it.

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Tell us what has failed and where you are

Tell us what has failed and how soon you need someone. We route your request to licensed, insured contractors covering your area, and they contact you directly.

Fire, a gas smell, or an injury? Leave the building and call 911 first, then your gas utility or power company. Use this form once you are safe.

By submitting this request you agree that Emergency Services 24H and the licensed contractors in its network may contact you at the phone number and email you provided, including by automated dialing system, prerecorded message, or text.
  • Consent is not a condition of purchase.
  • Message and data rates may apply.
  • You can opt out at any time.
See our privacy policy and terms.
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