How To: Crack a Master Lock Combination Padlock the Easy Way

Lock picking is a great skill that takes lots of practice and patience to master, but some locks simply can't be picked, like a Master Lock combination padlock. With a combination lock, you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way—cracking combinations.

If you were to try and crack the combination dial to a Master Lock by simply trying different combinations, it would take approximately 177 hours (without sleeping or eating) to solve the combination.

This trick shows you how to crack combo locks down from 64,000 possible combinations to only 100 possibilities in a fraction of the time. If you're not good with numbers and math, specifically division, then you may have difficulty with this technique.

Cracking the 3rd Number of the Combination

It sounds a little backwards, but first you need to find the last number of the combination, which is the only part of this guide where you'll actually know the exact number of a combination. The other two numbers will have groups of possibles.

Step 1: Find the First Number of the Group

• Start your dial on 0.
• Pull up hard on the shackle and hold.

• Turn the dial counterclockwise.
• It will stop in-between two positions, in this case, 1.5 and 2.5.

• Use the number in-between those positions and record it.
• In this case, it's 2.

Step 2: Find the Second Number of the Group

• Loosen the shackle a bit and turn the dial counterclockwise until you just pass the first group of numbers, in this case 2.5.
• Then pull and hold the shackle again and continue turning the dial.
• Again, it will stop in-between two positions, in this case 5 and 6.

• Use the number in-between those positions and record it.
• In this case, it's 5.5.

Step 3: Repeat Until All Numbers Are Found in This Group

• Repeat this process in the counterclockwise direction until you reach the end of the dial and have 12 numbers recorded.

• In our case, these numbers are 2, 5.5, 8.5, 12, 15.5, 18.5, 22, 25.5, 28.5, 32, 35.5, 39.

Step 4: Find the Odd Number Out

• There are 5 whole numbers and 7 fractions.
• Disregard the fractions and concentrate on the wholes.
• So, we now have 2, 12, 22, 32, 39.
• They all end it 2s, so look for the odd one out, which is 39 here.
• This is the 3rd number to the combo.

Cracking the 1st Number of the Combination

Now we can start working on the first possible number of the combination.

Step 5: Divide the 3rd Number by 4

• Divide the 3rd number of the combination we discovered back in Step 4 by 4.
• In this case, it's 39 ÷ 4 = 9.3.

Step 6: Note the Remainder

• The important part of the number we just figured out is the remainder.
• In this case, it's 3.

Step 7: Add 4s to the Remainder

• You'll want to add 4 to the remainder, and keep adding 4 until you reach the highest possible number on the dial.
• In our case, it would be 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, 39.

• These 10 numbers will be your possible number for the 1st number of the combo.

Cracking the 2nd Number of the Combination

Now we can start cracking the 2nd number of the combo.

Step 8: Use the Same Remainder

• Now, we need to use the remainder again from the last few steps.
• In our case, it's 3.
• However, it will be different for you. When you divide a number by 4, you'll get a remainder of either 0, 1, 2, or 3, and you'll use the key below to determine which number will be your starting point for the next group of possible numbers.

Step 9: Find the First Number of This Group

• 0 = 2
• 1 = 3
• 2 - 0
• 3 = 1

• So, in our case, we start with 1.

Step 10: Add 4s Again

• Now, take this number and add 4 and keep doing so until you get to the highest possible number on the dial.
• In our case, we have 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37.

• These 10 numbers will be your possible number for the 2nd number of the combo.

Cracking the Full Combination

Now you have a group of 10 possible numbers for the first part of the combo, a group of 10 possible numbers for the second part of the combo, and your third number of the combo. This is what ours looks like:

1. 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, 39
2. 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37
3. 39

Now, just try them all out. We'll start with 3, 1, 39.

Step 11: Try the 1st Number Clockwise

• First, clear the Master Lock by turning the dial multiples times clockwise.
• Then head to your first number you're trying going clockwise.
• In our case, it's 3.

Step 12: Try the 2nd Number Counterclockwise

• Then turn it counterclockwise past the second number you're trying, and rotate the dial until you reach that number again and land on it.
• So, in our case, we pass 1 once, then land on 1 the second time.

Step 13: Use the 3rd Number Clockwise

• Then turn clockwise to the last number.
• In our case, 39.

Step 14: Repeat

• Now, all you have to do is keep trying all of the possible combinations from your groups of numbers until you found the right one.
• Ours eventually ended up being 19, 33, 39.

Success!

How did this method work for you? If you're looking for a more forceful way of breaking into a Master Lock combination padlock, you can try using a beer can shimmy or drilling a hole in it, but if you like math, the above method works just fine.