Forgot Your Suitcase Lock Combination? What to Do Before You Force Anything

You pack the night before, snap the lock shut, scramble the dials, and drop the bag by the door. In the morning the code has gone. Or you come home from a trip, the case is still locked, and the number you chose three weeks ago will not come back. It is a very ordinary problem and it usually has an ordinary fix. What turns it into a damaged case is panic: a screwdriver in the zip, a hammer on the lock, or a hurried cut at the airport kerb. This post is the calm order of things to try, and what to avoid.

We sell luggage, so a short note on our own cases comes near the end. The method applies to a combination lock on any suitcase.

The short answer

• First, check whether the lock is still on its factory code. Many combination locks leave the factory on one fixed setting. The packaging or the instructions that came with the case will say which.
• Then work through the dials methodically. A three-digit lock has exactly 1,000 possible codes. That is a few patient minutes, not an impossible job.
• Look for a reset method from the lock's maker. On many locks you can only set a new code after the lock is open, which is why a forgotten code is a real problem and not a small one.
• Never force the zip or the shell. A broken zip or a bent frame costs far more than the lock.
• If nothing works, remove the lock, not the case. Cutting a padlock off is cheap. Damaging the case is not.

Step 1: stop and think about when you last set it

Most forgotten codes were not forgotten, they were set wrongly. Spend two minutes on these before touching the dials.

• Did you set a new code, or only think you did? Changing the code usually means moving a small switch, button or pin on the lock, entering the new number, and moving the switch back. If the last step was skipped, the lock is still on the old code, which may be the factory one.
• Did someone else set it? A partner, a parent or a friend who packed your case or helped you at the airport may have changed it.
• Is the number in your phone? Check your notes, your messages to yourself, the photos from the packing night, and any travel-document folder. People often write the code down somewhere that felt safe at the time.
• Is it a date? Many people choose a birthday, a flight date or a year. Try the ones you commonly use before you start a full run.

Step 2: try the factory code

If you have never changed the code, or you are not sure whether you did, find the instructions or the packaging that came with the lock. A lock that has not been reset is often on a single simple setting. Try it, press the release, and see. If it opens, change the code at once, and follow the steps in the next section so that you do not repeat the problem.

Step 3: the systematic run

If the lock is on three dials, there are 1,000 combinations, from 000 to 999. The method is plain arithmetic, and it only works if you are tidy about it.

1. Start at 000. Set the dials, press the release or pull the shackle, and see whether it gives.
2. Change only the last dial by one step each time: 001, 002, 003, and so on up to 009.
3. Move the middle dial by one (010) and run the last dial through again.
4. Keep going in strict order. Do not jump around. Jumping means you will repeat codes you have already tried and miss ones you have not.
5. Press the release after every single setting. It is easy to land on the correct code and not notice, because you did not test it.

The correct code can be anywhere in the thousand, so on average you will find it about halfway through. A four-digit lock has ten thousand codes, which is a much longer job, and at that point the maker's reset method or a repair shop is the better route. If the lock is built into the case, keep to the dials and leave tools out of it.

Step 4: ask the maker, not the internet

Different locks reset in different ways, and a method that works on one can jam another. Look for the lock's brand name or a model number on the body of the lock or on the paperwork, and look for the maker's instructions. If the lock is part of the case, the case's maker is who to ask. A photo of the lock and a clear sentence about what you have already tried will save time.

What not to do

• Do not force the zip with a pen or a screwdriver. It can part a coil zip and leave it that way. A zip that no longer closes is a failed case, and it turns a one-minute problem into a replacement.
• Do not hit the lock. If it is built into the shell, you can crack the shell around it. That is the part that protects what is inside.
• Do not pull at the shackle or the frame. A bent frame can stop the case closing evenly, and a case that does not close evenly lets in dust and rain.
• Do not post the code in a public group or a message thread asking for help. If you must share it with someone, tell them by phone.

If the lock is a padlock on the zip pullers

Some cases have a lock built into the shell, and some are closed with a separate padlock through the two zip pullers. If yours is a separate padlock, you are in the easy position: the lock is a small replaceable part and the case is fine. A hardware shop or a locksmith can usually cut a small padlock off, and a padlock is cheap to replace. Take the case to a shop rather than attempting it yourself with the case in your lap.

If the flight is today

This is the awkward version, and the rule is the same: do not break the case to save the trip.

1. Leave more time than you think. The systematic run takes minutes, but a trip to a repair shop does not.
2. If the case is already packed and locked, and you cannot open it, tell the check-in staff before the bag goes on the belt. An airline can tell you what it can and cannot do.
3. Know the limit of a TSA-approved lock. It has a second keyway that screening staff in the United States can open with a master key, so a bag can be inspected without cutting the lock. It is a United States arrangement, and it is for screening, not for owners. It is not a way for you to open a forgotten code, and it is mostly irrelevant on a Singapore to Asia itinerary. We cover what it is and is not in luggage locks, TSA and what actually protects your bag.
4. After a cut lock, treat the bag as opened. Photograph the lock and the bag before you touch anything else, and follow the steps in the same post.

How not to do this again

1. Set the code with the case open, so you can still reach the inside if you make a mistake.
2. Test it at least twice. Close the lock, scramble the dials, enter the code, and open it. Then do it once more. Only then pack and lock the case for real.
3. Choose a number you can recall, not one an opportunist would guess. The lock guide makes the same point about scrambling the dials after locking, not nudging one digit off.
4. Keep the code somewhere other than the case and not on the luggage tag. A note in your phone or a password manager is better than your memory. Do not write it on the outside tag we describe in what to write on a suitcase.
5. Tell the person you travel with. If either of you can open the case, a forgotten code is half as likely to be a problem.
6. Do the lock check in the first week of owning a new case. The full list of first-week checks is in your new suitcase has arrived: what to check before its first trip.

On a VOX case

Both VOX cases, the Magnesium Aluminium Voyage Box and the RPET Voyage Box, have a TSA-approved combination lock; that is what our product pages publish, and we have not published a reset procedure beyond that. If you own one and are stuck, message us on WhatsApp with which case you have and what you have already tried, and we will tell you what we can. Please do not force the shell or the zip first.

If you are still choosing a case, you can see the VOX Magnesium Aluminium Voyage Box and the VOX RPET Voyage Box, and the questions we are asked most often are on our FAQ page.