Door closed

The Door closed trigger fires when a targeted door changes to closed. Use it when you want an automation to run only after a door is shut, like locking up, turning lights off, or resuming another routine.

This trigger is especially useful for routines that should wait for a clear end state, such as a garage door finishing its close cycle or a back door being fully shut before you lock it.

Using this trigger from the user interface

If you prefer building automations visually, Home Assistant walks you through this trigger step by step. You pick what to watch, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To use this trigger in an automation:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. In the When section, select Add trigger.
4. From the search box, search for and select Door closed.
5. Select what you want to monitor. Under By target (see Targets), pick the area your door is in, like your entryway or garage. You can also select a floor, a device, a specific entity, or a label.
6. Under Trigger when (see Behavior), pick Each, First, or All.
7. Under For at least, enter how long the door must stay closed before the trigger fires. Leave it at zero to fire right away.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this trigger in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this trigger as door.closed. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: door.closed
target:
  entity_id: binary_sensor.back_door

This fires when binary_sensor.back_door closes.

Options in YAML

YAML sometimes provides additional options for more complex use cases that are not available through the UI.

Targets of the trigger

This trigger requires a target. The target is the object that Home Assistant will watch. You can select a single entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], a device, an area, a floor, or a label as a target, and Home Assistant will watch every matching door entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific door entity, such as door.living_room.
• Device: every door entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every door entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every door entity on a floor.
• Label: every door entity that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one trigger. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same trigger to monitor both of them at once.

Behavior with multiple targets

When you target more than one entity (or select an area, floor, or label that contains several), the Trigger when option controls how the trigger responds:

• Each (any in YAML, default): the trigger fires every time any one of the targeted entities transitions. For example, if you monitor three motion sensors in the living room and someone walks past sensor 1, the automation fires. When they walk past sensor 2 a moment later, it fires again. Every individual event counts.
• First (first in YAML): the trigger fires only on the first transition in the targeted group, then waits until all targeted entities have reset before it fires again. For example, if you monitor the same three motion sensors, the automation fires when the first one picks up movement (someone entered the room). The other two firing afterward are ignored, so you get one notification per “someone walked in” event instead of three.
• All (last in YAML): the trigger fires only after the last targeted entity in the group has fired, meaning all of them are now in the expected state. For example, if you monitor the lights in the living room, bedroom, and hallway, the automation fires only once all three have turned off. This is useful for scenarios like “start the robot vacuum only after every light on the floor is off,” so you know the room is truly empty.

Good to know

• This trigger works with door contact sensors and door covers, like garage doors, as long as they use the door device class.
• If an entity comes back from unavailable or unknown, that recovery does not count as the door closing.
• The for option only fires the automation if the door stays closed for the entire time you set.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Go to Settings > Automations & scenes, create a new automation, and add this trigger. Save the automation, then change the state of the targeted entity to watch the trigger fire on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more].

More examples

Real scenarios where this trigger fires in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: lock the back door after it has been closed for 30 seconds

This automation waits until the back door has stayed closed for 30 seconds, then locks it. That short delay gives you time to come inside without the lock engaging immediately.

• Trigger: Door closed
• Target: Back door sensor
• For at least: 00:00:30
• Action: Lock: Lock

alias: "Lock back door after it closes"
triggers:
  - trigger: door.closed
    target:
      entity_id: binary_sensor.back_door
    options:
      for: "00:00:30"
actions:
  - action: lock.lock
    target:
      entity_id: lock.back_door

Automation: turn off the hallway light after the garage door closes

If you turn on a nearby hallway light while bringing things in from the car, there is no reason to leave it on once the garage is shut again. This automation turns the light off after the garage door has stayed closed for a minute.

• Trigger: Door closed
• Target: Garage door
• For at least: 00:01:00
• Action: Light: Turn off

alias: "Turn off hallway light after garage door closes"
triggers:
  - trigger: door.closed
    target:
      entity_id: cover.garage_door
    options:
      for: "00:01:00"
actions:
  - action: light.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: light.hallway

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the trigger you’re using and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related triggers

These triggers work well alongside this one:

• Door opened: Triggers after one or more doors open.