Lock unlocked

The Lock unlocked trigger helps you react when a lock reaches the unlocked state. Use it when you want Home Assistant to welcome someone home, keep track of entry events, or adjust security devices after a door is no longer locked.

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. Select what you want to monitor. Under By target (see Targets), pick the area your lock is in, like your front door or garage entry. You can also select a floor, a device, a specific entity, or a label.
5. From the triggers shown for that target, select Lock unlocked.
6. Under Trigger when (see Behavior), pick Each, First, or All to control how the trigger behaves when multiple locks are targeted.
7. Under For at least, set how long the lock must stay unlocked before the trigger fires. Leave it at zero to fire immediately.
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 lock.unlocked. A basic example looks like this:

trigger: lock.unlocked
target:
  entity_id: lock.front_door

This fires when lock.front_door changes to the unlocked state.

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 lock entity behind that target.

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

• The trigger fires only when a lock changes into the unlocked state from a known state. If a lock comes back from unavailable or unknown, that recovery does not fire this trigger.
• Use For at least if you want to ignore very brief unlock events.
• To react when the door is secured again, use Lock locked.

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: turn on the hallway light when the front door unlocks

If you often arrive home with your hands full, it helps when the light is already on. This automation turns on the hallway light when the front door unlocks.

• Trigger: Lock unlocked
• Target: Front door lock
• Trigger when: Each
• For at least: 00:00:00
• Action: Turn on

alias: "Turn on the hallway light when the front door unlocks"
triggers:
  - trigger: lock.unlocked
    target:
      entity_id: lock.front_door
    options:
      behavior: any
      for: "00:00:00"
actions:
  - action: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: light.hallway

Automation: send a message when any storage door lock unlocks

If several storage areas use smart locks, you may want a quick record when one of them is unlocked. This automation sends a phone notification when any targeted storage lock unlocks.

• Trigger: Lock unlocked
• Target: Storage locks (by label)
• Trigger when: Each
• For at least: 00:00:00
• Action: Send a notification via mobile_app_phone

alias: "Notify when a storage lock unlocks"
triggers:
  - trigger: lock.unlocked
    target:
      label_id: storage_locks
    options:
      behavior: any
      for: "00:00:00"
actions:
  - action: notify.mobile_app_phone
    data:
      title: "Storage door unlocked"
      message: "One of the storage door locks has been unlocked."

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:

• Lock locked: Triggers after one or more locks lock.