Here are some tips for locking and unlocking your door the right way. We also provide some steps you can take if your lock isn’t working as expected.
There are three basic ways to lock and unlock your door: using the Nest app on your phone, using the keypad installed on your door, and using the traditional thumb turn inside your home. For details, see the link below.
How to lock and unlock the Nest × Yale Lock >
First, try each way to figure out what’s not working. Then read the section below that applies to you.
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| Nest app | Keypad | Thumb turn |
Tip: If you need to lock or unlock your door right away and you’re inside your home, you can always use the thumb turn.
Locking
Can’t lock your door with the Nest app
If you can’t lock your door with the Nest app, but you can lock it with the keypad and the thumb turn, try these troubleshooting suggestions.
Be sure to hold the button in the Nest app for one second
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When you use the Nest app to lock your door, you’ll |
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Check your lock's Wi-Fi connection
If your lock icon says Offline on the Nest app home screen, you won’t be able to use the app to lock or unlock it remotely.
Tip: To save battery power, your Nest × Yale Lock only checks in with the network every few minutes. So if your lock isn’t responding when you use the Nest app, but it doesn’t appear as Offline, wait 30 minutes and then see if it appears as Offline in the app.
We have some troubleshooting tips to help get your lock back online if it has lost its Wi-Fi connection:
Can’t lock using the keypad
If you can’t lock your door with the keypad but you can lock it with the Nest app and the thumb turn, try these troubleshooting suggestions.
Press the keypad, don't tap it
Be sure to firmly press the lock’s keypad. Use more pressure than you might use to tap something on a phone screen.
If you’re wearing gloves, you might need to press even harder. And if your gloves are thick or wet, you may not be able to use the keypad with your gloves on.
Check the One Touch Locking setting
One Touch Locking lets you quickly lock your door by pressing the Yale logo on the keypad, pressing your palm on the keypad, or pressing three fingers on the keypad.
Tip: If One Touch Locking is disabled, you can still lock your door using the keypad, but you’ll need to press the Yale logo and enter your passcode.
You can enable One Touch Locking using the Nest app. For instructions, see the following article:
Can’t lock your door with the keypad or the Nest app
If you can’t lock your door with either the keypad or the Nest app, but you can lock your door with the thumb turn inside your home, try these troubleshooting suggestions.
Check that your door's closed all the way
If your door isn’t completely shut, the Nest × Yale Lock’s deadbolt may run into the doorframe when you’re trying to lock it, preventing the deadbolt from fully extending. You might also see a message in the Nest app.
Push or pull on your door to make sure it’s closed all the way before trying to lock it with the keypad or the Nest app.
Note: If your door always sticks when you try to close it, a local Nest Pro
Check for low or dead batteries
Your Nest × Yale Lock is battery powered. As long as your lock has an internet connection, the Nest app can let you know when your batteries are getting low. That should give you plenty of time to change them.
When the batteries are dead, you won’t be able to lock your door with the Nest app or the keypad. However, you can hold a 9-volt battery on the lock from outside your home to temporarily provide enough power to lock your door.
How to use the Nest × Yale Lock if the batteries are dead >
See the following article for more information about how to check and change batteries:
Check and calibrate the deadbolt
When you’re installing your lock, the Nest app will have you check the deadbolt’s calibration. Your door needs to be closed during this step. If your door was open, your lock may not be able to properly calibrate.
Without accurate calibration, the Nest app may say that your door’s locked when it’s not, or vice versa.
Here are some troubleshooting steps to try:
- Open your door.
- Slowly use the thumb turn inside your home to extend the deadbolt all the way to the locked position, then retract it back to the unlocked position.
- Close your door.
- Again, use the thumb turn to extend and retract the deadbolt.
If it feels like the deadbolt is sticking or scraping at any point, or if it feels like the deadbolt isn’t able to fully extend when your door’s closed, you may need to make some adjustments. See the section below, “Check the deadbolt’s alignment”
Check whether your lock's updating itself at the moment
Occasionally, your Nest × Yale Lock will update itself when we release new software for it.
While your lock is updating, you won’t be able to use the keypad or the Nest app to lock, unlock, or change settings. The update should only take a few minutes.
The indicator light inside your home will pulse blue during the update to let you know what’s happening. You can also check your Lock History in the Nest app to confirm that the software update was the issue preventing you from being able to use your lock at that moment.
Can’t lock your door at all
If none of the ways to lock your door are working (Nest app, keypad on your door, and thumb turn inside your home), try these troubleshooting suggestions.
Check the deadbolt's alignment
If the deadbolt on your door isn’t perfectly aligned with the strike plate on your doorframe, your lock may not be able to lock itself.
Even if you installed the lock perfectly when you first got it, the door and the frame can shift over time, or they can shrink and swell in different weather conditions. This can cause just enough misalignment to prevent the lock from being able to work on its own any more.
Over time, the deadbolt may acquire a build-up of dirt, dust, or other material that slightly changes its size enough to prevent it from perfectly aligning with the strike plate any more.
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Try these quick fixes:
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Further troubleshooting
If none of the suggestions above helped:
- You might need to remove the strike plate from your doorframe and chisel more space into the hole for the bolt. This will give the bolt more room to extend.
- You might need to adjust the position of the strike plate on the doorframe so that it’s perfectly aligned with the deadbolt as it extends.
A Nest Pro can help
If you’re having trouble with a misaligned lock, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. A local Nest Pro can diagnose what’s causing the problem and fix it for you.
Check if the deadbolt is jammed
If the deadbolt catches on the strike plate or if the hole in your door frame is the wrong size for the bolt, the Nest app will show a message saying the lock has jammed. During installation, the Nest app will have you confirm that the bolt can extend and retract without jamming. It’s important not to skip this step. An incorrectly installed lock may jam during use.
When the bolt is jammed, you won’t be able to use the Nest app or the keypad to lock or unlock your door. You’ll only be able to use the thumb turn inside your home.
A Nest Pro can help
If you’re having trouble with a jammed lock, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. A local Nest Pro can diagnose what’s causing the problem and fix it for you.
Unlocking
Can’t unlock with the Nest app
If you can’t unlock your door with the Nest app but you can lock it with the keypad and the thumb turn, try these troubleshooting suggestions.
Be sure to hold the button in the app for one second
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When you use the Nest app to unlock your door, you’ll |
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Check your lock's Wi-Fi connection
If your lock appears as Offline in the Nest app, you won’t be able to use the Nest app to lock or unlock it remotely.
Tip: To save battery power, your Nest × Yale Lock only checks in with the network every few minutes. So if your lock isn’t responding when you use the Nest app, wait 30 minutes and see if it appears as Offline in the app.
We have some troubleshooting tips to help get your lock back online if it has lost its Wi-Fi connection:
Check for tampering
Can’t unlock using the keypad
If you can’t unlock your door with the keypad but you can unlock it with the Nest app and the thumb turn, try these troubleshooting suggestions.
Press the keypad, don't tap it
Press firmly when you’re entering your passcode on the lock’s keypad. Use more pressure than you might use to tap something on a phone screen.
If you’re wearing gloves, you might need to press even harder. And if your gloves are thick or wet, you may not be able to use the keypad with your gloves on. Remove your gloves and press on the keypad barehanded.
Check the Privacy Mode setting
With Privacy Mode, you can disable the keypad so that no one can use a passcode to unlock your door. When someone tries to wake up the keypad, the lock will say, “Please try again at another time.”
Check your entry schedule
With the Nest × Yale Lock, you can specify certain times for someone to be able to open your door with a passcode. If they try to use their passcode when it’s not their scheduled time, the lock will say, “Please try again at another time.”
Check your passcode
Can’t unlock with the keypad or the Nest app
If you can’t lock your door with the keypad or the Nest app but you can lock it using the thumb turn, try these troubleshooting suggestions.
Check for low or dead batteries
Your Nest × Yale Lock is battery powered. As long as your lock has an internet connection, the Nest app can let you know when your batteries are getting low. That should give you plenty of time to change them.
When the batteries are dead, you won’t be able to unlock your door with the Nest app or the keypad. However, you can hold a 9-volt battery on the lock from outside your home to temporarily provide enough power to unlock your door.
How to use the Nest × Yale Lock if the batteries are dead >
See the following article for more information about how to check and change batteries:
Check whether your lock's updating itself at the moment
Occasionally, your Nest × Yale Lock will update itself when we release new software for it.
While your lock is updating, you won’t be able to use the keypad or the Nest app to lock, unlock, or change settings. The update should only take a few minutes.
The indicator light inside your home will pulse blue during the update to let you know what’s happening. You can also check your Lock History in the Nest app to confirm that the software update was the issue preventing you from being able to use your lock at that moment.
Check if the deadbolt is jammed
If the deadbolt catches on the strike plate or if the hole in your door frame is the wrong size for the bolt, the Nest app may show a message saying the lock has jammed. During installation, the Nest app will have you confirm that the bolt can extend and retract without jamming. It’s important not to skip this step. An incorrectly installed lock may jam during use.
When the bolt is jammed, you won’t be able to use the Nest app or the keypad to lock or unlock your door. You’ll only be able to use the thumb turn inside your home.
A Nest Pro can help
If you’re having trouble with a jammed lock, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. A local Nest Pro can diagnose what’s causing the problem and fix it for you.