Smart Lock will not Manually Lock

@avfc1960​ thanks for reporting. If you haven't already, I strongly recommend trying a Re-Calibration. You can access the option through the Keypad under Menu > Devices > [your Smart Lock]. That will re-teach your Smart Lock the correct locked and unlocked positions, so it will no longer freeze up.

If that doesn't work, we should try a replacement. Our Support team can help.

I just did the recalibration this morning. The lock again stuck on me after keypad entry. Not I have previously reset and reinstalled the lock.

@avfc1960​ in this case, I would reach out to our Support team to get a replacement.

@srmartin724​ Have you tried recalibrating your Smart Lock? You can do this using your Keypad by navigating to Menu > Devices > [your Smart Lock]. If a recalibration doesn't work, you may need a new Smart Lock - our Support team can help with that.

@saintgermainfun1​ I'm afraid you were given incorrect information, you are able to lock and unlock the Smart Lock from the SimpliSafe mobile app.

@tim2d63c5 first, we would want to reset the Smart Lock to see if that resolves the issue. You can find step-by-step instructions to do this in the How to Reset the Smart Lock article in our Help Center. 

If a reset does not help, try recalibrating the Smart Lock with your door open. If the Smart Lock successfully recalibrates, that could indicate that there's some physical obstructions getting in the way between the deadbolt and the door's borehole. This could happen if the deadbolt is hitting the door's strike plate, or there's an obstruction getting in the way. 

But if the Smart Lock does not recalibrate when the door is open, that can indicate an issue with the Smart Lock's adapter. It could be that the adapter used does not fit the door's tailpiece properly, or that it was placed incorrectly. In that case, take down the Smart Lock and check the adapter for any cracks or damage.

@russmchugh Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have forwarded your case details to our tech team so they can look into this further. A member of the team will reach out to you soon to help.

I noticed that if you move the lock knob the opposite direction (ie to unlock) the Smartlock will let you move the lock to the locked position.

Calibration usually solves this, but only for a while.  It has been behaving for a week or two now.

The lock is not bound up.  When the motor is not trying to hold it in place, it moves very freely with minimal torque required.

@hdjdz123 Thank you for letting us know the troubleshooting steps you have previously taken. Recalibrating the Smart Lock can generally help resolve this issue, but we see in your scenario that it has not. We've forwarded your case to our Tech team to investigate further. A member of the team will be in touch soon with next steps.

I got the Smart Lock in late spring/early summer 2025. It worked great until one day when the app said I should install the new Smart Lock software update that had just come out. As soon as I installed this 'update', the lock started freezing in exactly the manner described throughout this thread. Here's the scenario:

You put the system in 'Away' mode and leave the house. When you return and unlock the lock via the keypad, once you are inside, you'll find that you cannot manually lock the lock – it's stuck in the 'open' position.

Needless to say, there are countless safety hazards here. (Someone chasing you inside? Good luck trying to distract them while you open the app and control the lock that way. Have friends housesitting for you? Well, they'll need to text you "can you lock the door now?" every time they get home. Etc. etc.). 

The weird thing is that, if you open the app and click 'lock', the lock re-closes just fine. This is clearly not a motor issue – it is a software bug.

To the Simplisafe agents reading this, yes, I did try to recalibrate my lock, multiple times. I even waited and monitored this thread until now, thinking that surely, you would provide a more reassuring answer here than the sporadic 'get a replacement' replies here.

Many of these people are just like me – their locks are new or recent. If your lock is developing a personality of its own after a software update, I need to see that you are on top of that and providing a long term solution. What reassurance do I have that this won't happen again with the replacement that you send me?

My first purchase, brand new lock worked great for a couple months until your software 'update' gave it this bug. People are in this thread saying this same issue happens again with their replacement!

Update: I used SimpliSafe chat to request help. I told the agent I had already tried recalibrating the lock. Next, they had me do a Power cycle on the lock (removing and replacing battery), then a Factory Reset (long press on the button inside the cover, then removing and re-adding the lock in Device Settings). 

Lo and behold, next time I put the system in 'Away' mode and came back, the lock did not freeze in open position, and the issue appears fixed.

This doesn't feel like a victory though...tbh I feel just as unsettled as before. Because:

1) This proves that the issue is not mechanical.

2) Replacing the lock wouldn't have done anything.

3) I now see zero reason that this issue couldn't randomly start occurring again. 

I tried to voice these concerns to the chat agent. They were nice but I think they are unfortunately instructed to follow scripts, because all they were able to do was agree this issue was not good, and said their engineers are working as fast as possible to fix this.

When I pointed out that they've been saying "we're working on this" for years in this thread, they didn't have a response to that.

After my lock "healed" and suddenly started working (see the issues I had in my post above), I also had this issue again after updating my lock. I spent quite some time on the phone with support, and finally removing it from the door and calibrating it on a table is what helped. Then, I put it back on the door and it has worked fine ever since. Not sure why that worked, but it did.