Keyed Alike Deadbolts: One Key for Every Door

Why every lock can't just take your key

The most common request we get at Deadbolt Fixers on this job is "make all my locks work with this key." Often that's easy. But a key only fits a lock whose keyway, the shaped slot the key slides into, matches the key's profile. A Schlage key and a Kwikset key are different shapes, so no amount of repinning puts them in each other's locks.

That's why the first step toward keyed alike deadbolts is not cutting keys. It's finding out which keyways are already on your doors.

The three keyways on most American doors

Most residential locks in the US use one of a handful of keyways. Yale's deadbolt spec sheet, which offers all three, gives the standard names:

Two details trip people up. First, Kwikset now sells an SC1 SmartKey cylinder. Kwikset says it accepts any SC1 5-pin key, including other brands' keys, but it will not take KW1 keys or SC4 6-pin keys, and it needs its own SC1 reset tool.

Second, pin count matters as well as profile. Schlage's B60 deadbolt ships with a 5-pin C keyway, with a 6-pin cylinder available. Check both before you assume two Schlage locks will match.

Three ways to get keyed alike deadbolts

Once you know your keyways, the route usually picks itself. These are the options, in order of how often they're the right answer.

1. 01

   Count the cylinders

   Every keyed lock you want on one key: deadbolts, knobs, the garage entry, a side gate.

2. 02

   Match the keyways

   Note the brand and keyway of each. Group the ones that already match.

3. 03

   Repin the matches

   Locks on the same keyway are rekeyed to one combination. No new hardware.

4. 04

   Swap the odd ones out

   A lock on a different keyway gets a new cylinder or a new deadbolt on the shared keyway.

Rekey the locks you already own

If your locks share a keyway, we repin each cylinder to the same combination. It's the same work as a standard rekey, aimed at one shared key, and our page on deadbolt rekeying explains what changes inside the cylinder. The locks, finishes and bolts all stay.

Kwikset SmartKey owners can often do this themselves. Kwikset says SmartKey rekeying needs the current working key and the SmartKey tool, and there's no limit to how many times a cylinder can be rekeyed.

Replace the one lock that doesn't fit

A house with three Schlage locks and one Kwikset deadbolt doesn't need four new locks. Change the odd one out, either its cylinder or the whole deadbolt, to the shared keyway, then key it to match. If that lock is also worn or low grade, a full deadbolt replacement handles both problems at once.

Buy new locks ordered keyed alike

New deadbolts from the store each come with their own key unless you choose otherwise. Schlage says locks bought together need different keys by default, and lists three ways around it: ordering keyed alike, using a locksmith, or a hardware store rekey service.

Buying keyed alike deadbolts new makes sense when you're replacing the locks anyway. Buying them just to get one key usually costs more than rekeying what you have.

Smart locks fit into this plan too. Schlage says its cylinder locks, mechanical or smart, can be keyed alike, so the backup key on a new smart deadbolt can match the rest of the house when the keyway matches.

The one real downside of keyed alike deadbolts

Sharing a key doesn't make any lock weaker. Each deadbolt keeps its own grade, bolt and strike. What changes is the cost of losing a key: before, a lost key exposed one door, and now it exposes all of them.

Plan for that up front. Keep a count of every copy you hand out, and when a key goes missing, rekey the whole set together rather than just the front door. For keyed alike deadbolts, the set is only as private as its least careful key holder.

Keyed alike vs master keyed: what landlords need to know

Keyed alike deadbolts are the right setup for a single home. For a landlord with several units, they're usually the wrong one, because every tenant's key would open every unit. That's where a master key system comes in.

Schlage's glossary explains the mechanism: a master pin is a flat-ended pin between the top and bottom pins that creates an additional shear line. One shear line answers to the tenant's key, the other to the master. BHMA publishes a separate standard, A156.28, for master keying systems.

The trade-off is control. Schlage's Everest 29 service manual recommends a written key-control policy that names who may authorize new keys, and says master keys should be issued only on actual need. A master key copied at a hardware counter undoes the whole system, which is why many landlords put master systems on a restricted keyway.

Our page on high security deadbolts with restricted keys covers keys that cannot be duplicated without authorization, and commercial deadbolt locks covers staff key control for business doors.

A simple setup for a small rental

For a duplex or small building, a common plan looks like this:

• Each unit keyed alike inside itself. The tenant's front and back door share one key.
• Units keyed differently from each other. Unit A's key doesn't open Unit B.
• One master for the owner or manager. Kept off the general key ring and logged.
• Shared doors on the master and every tenant key. A laundry room or front entry each tenant can use.

Before you book: photograph every cylinder

Walk around the property and take a photo of each keyed lock face and each key you use, plus any packaging you still have. Send them with your request. With those photos, we can tell you before the visit which locks can be keyed alike as they are and which need a new cylinder, so the technician arrives with the right parts.