How to Open an Electronic Safe

Electronic safes are considered by some people to be among the best security you can have for your valuables. Compared to traditional dial safes, they are much more difficult to crack. However, many electronic safes have a weak spot that allows a nimble hand to open them with a little fancy work. Here are some steps to opening an electronic safe.

Look on the back of the safe for the bolt openings. Many safes, especially smaller ones, will have small openings on the back or bottom that allow bolts to be fed through. Locate this hole or holes.

Hold a small flashlight up to the hole and peer through it (or use the opposite hole in a two-hole-style safe). Look inside and locate the back panel to the electronic element of the safe. It should have a keypad and some other buttons.

Find a long, slim stick that will fit through one of the holes. A coat hanger is a good option but may be too large depending on the safe you have. If the coat hanger is too large, buy a small, stiff roll of wire at your local home-improvement store and use that.

Slide the wire through the hole and press the red "reset" button on the inner keypad. Enter a new code on the pad. The code should be short and simple to remember. Press the "set" button, which should be next to the "reset" button and wait for the pad to give you a response, which is usually a beep.

Enter a new code on the front of the safe. This should allow you to easily open the safe from the outside. However, if this doesn’t work, you may have accidentally entered a different code on the inner pad or failed to hit the "set" button. If this happens, repeat these steps until the safe opens.