page_title: Lock picking
section_title: Warded locks
hierarchical_section_title: Lock picking / Methods / Warded locks
caption_attribution_description: English: A padlock skeleton key with all of the teeth filed down (right) and a normal key (left) for the same lock. The normal key on the left will open only the lock that it goes to, but the skeleton key on the right will open any lock with this particular keyhole.
context_page_description: Lock picking is the art of opening a lock without the key and without damaging or destroying the lock or its door. It is usually used by locksmiths to let people back in who have lost their keys or locked them inside a car or house. Lock picking is very rarely used by criminals, because picking a lock is difficult and other ways of entering such as breaking a window are much easier. Some people pick their own locks as a hobby. In most places picking locks that you own is legal, but it is illegal to pick locks that you do not own or do not have permission to pick.
  History of keys and locks goes back for about 4,000 years. Ancient people also wanted to protect their possessions and keep them in places where other people cannot get access to them. The first locks and keys were made of wood and other easily accessible materials and they provided the small safeguard against theft or break-in. However, such locks at least let the owners know if someone tried to tamper with the lock.
  The earliest known key and lock was discovered in the Nineveh ruins, which was the capital of ancient Assyria. They were dated to 704 BC.
context_section_description: Warded locks are the simplest locks to pick and are picked by inserting a warded lock pick (also called a skeleton key) into the keyhole and turning it as if it were the key. A pick for warded locks can be made by filing down all of the teeth on a regular key except the last one, or for some locks, the last two.
caption: A padlock skeleton key (warded lock pick) that can open any lock with this keyhole (right), compared to a normal key that can only open the lock that it was made for (left).
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