How to Open a Door Quietly

Co-authored by Ryaan Tuttle and Christopher M. Osborne, PhD

Last Updated: February 2, 2023 References

If you want to sneak in after curfew, avoid waking up your roommate, or check on a sleeping baby, it pays to know how to open and close doors quietly. Opening a door quietly boils down to setting up slowly and acting quickly with a smooth, steady, controlled motion. That said, you may decide that your best option is to just go ahead and fix the squeaky door!^{[1]
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Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Opening a Hinged Door

1
Grip the handle or knob firmly while standing close to the door. Square up your body so that you’re facing straight towards the door's handle or knob. Stand close enough to the door that you can reach it with your arm slightly bent and without leaning forward. Firmly grab the handle or knob, using your hand that's closest to the hinge side of the door.^{[2]
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- The key to opening a door quietly is taking your time getting into position and “sizing up” the door, then opening it with a single quick motion.
2
Get a “feel” for the latching mechanism before unlatching the door. If the door has a round knob or horizontal handle, rotate it slightly clockwise. If it has a vertical handle with a thumb latch, press down a bit on the latch. Pay careful attention to how the latching mechanism feels—is it moving smoothly, is there resistance, or is it squeaking a little?^{[3]
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- Don’t release the latch after this test—keep your hand steady and move right on to completely unlatching the door.
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3
Maintain a firm hold on the handle or knob as you unlatch the door. If the latching mechanism moves smoothly, slowly unlatch it with a steady hand movement. If the mechanism seems to be catching on something, work even more slowly. If, however, the latch is squeaky, unlatch it with a quicker—but still smooth and steady—hand motion.^{[4]
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- Your best option with a squeaky latch is to get the process over with quickly—and the same is true for opening the door!
4
Lift up on the handle or knob and push towards the door’s hinges. Over time and due to their weight, doors sag towards the bottom corner on the latch side. By lifting up and pushing towards the hinge side slightly with your hand that’s on the knob or handle, you’ll reduce the strain on the door’s upper hinges. This reduces the likelihood of squeaking.^{[5]
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- Don’t lift or push forcefully, though, or you may press the door against the frame and cause a scraping sound when you open it.
5
Swing the door open quickly in a single, smooth motion. Your natural instinct is to open the door very slowly—and, if the door isn’t squeaky at all, this will work. However, a door with any squeakiness or creakiness to it will almost certainly open more quietly if you move quickly. Even if the squeak ends up a little bit louder, it will be over with much faster!^{[6]
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- For a door that opens away from you, take a short step forward as you push the door open. For a door that opens towards you, take a short step back and to the side so you can pull the door open without hitting your body.
- Move fast, but stay under control! Use a smooth, steady motion, not a jerking motion.
6
Open the door only as far as is needed. If you’re opening the door to enter, don’t bother opening it the whole way. Instead, open it just enough that you can comfortably slip through the opening without accidentally banging against the door.
- Maintain a firm grip on the door handle or knob. Don’t let the latching mechanism move and make any noise that might ruin your quiet door opening!
7
Keep the door unlatched with both hands while you close it. As you pass through the doorway, keep the latching mechanism disengaged by maintaining your grip on the handle or knob. Switch hands (and knobs/handles) as you reach the other side of the doorway, using your free hand to grip the handle or knob on the other side of the door. Close the door with the same smooth, quick, controlled motion you used to open it, but stop a few inches/centimeters short of smacking the door against the door jamb.^{[7]
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- Close the door smoothly and slowly for the last few inches/centimeters, continuing to keep the latch disengaged. Slowly engage the latch (by releasing the button on the handle or twisting the knob) once the door is fully closed.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Opening a Sliding Door

1
Grab the handle with both hands and face the far side of the door. Stand at the handle side of the sliding door, but angle your body so you're facing towards the opposite side of the door panel. Get close enough to the door that you can grab onto the handle with your elbows bent at about 90-degree angles.^{[8]
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- Putting both hands on the handle gives you better control. If the handle is too small for both your hands, wrap one hand over the other so you still get 2-handed control.
2
Push the door open slightly so you can see if it slides evenly. Give the door a slight, steady push, using only your hands and arms. Feel for any scraping, rubbing, or catching, and listen for any squeaking sounds. Use this as a test to figure out how to quietly open the door the rest of the way.^{[9]
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- If the door is sliding smoothly and quietly, move immediately to opening the door up without pausing. Don’t worry about lifting up on the handle—this is only needed if the door is catching along the bottom track.
3
Lift on the handle slightly if you feel friction along the bottom track. Lift just enough with both hands so that you feel the friction releasing. If you lift the handle too high, you’ll end up scraping the far side of the door along the bottom track and/or the handle side along the top track.^{[10]
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- Don’t plan on lifting the handle any more than about 1 cm (0.39 in), and probably less.
4
Use your legs more than your arms to “walk” the door open smoothly. Instead of extending your arms to open the door, keep your elbows bent between 45 and 90 degrees and push the door by taking a few short steps. Don’t lean or lunge forward—keep your legs centered under you. Walk smoothly and at an even pace.^{[11]
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- Don’t inch the door open slowly or fling it open quickly. Maintain full control throughout. Speed up only if the door is still squeaking.
5
Slide the door open just as much as you need it to be. Don’t slide the door open completely unless you really need it to be that way. If you want to go through the doorway, for example, slide open the door just enough to squeeze your body through the opening.
- The average person can comfortably slip through a standard-size sliding patio door that’s only open halfway.
6
Rely on your hands to slow down the door once it’s opened. Stop walking once the sliding door is opened far enough for your needs. Keep a firm grip on the handle and use your hands and arms to steadily slow the door’s momentum. Don’t jerk back on the door or let it bang into the door frame—you’ll make too much noise!^{[12]
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7
Reverse the process if you also need to close the door quietly. Face the door handle and grab it with both hands, on the same side or the other side of the door (if you opened the door to go in or out). Start sliding the door slowly to check and adjust for any sticking spots, then walk the door almost completely closed at an even pace.^{[13]
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- To complete the task, slow down the momentum of the sliding door with your hands and gently nestle it back into its fully closed position.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Quieting a Squeaky Door

1
Apply a lubricating spray to every moving metal component on the door. Use WD-40 or an alternative lubricating spray product. Spray each hinge, then open and close the door several times to help the lubricant work its way deep into the hinges. Likewise, spray the moving parts of the latching mechanism, then latch and unlatch the door several times to work in the lubricant.^{[14]
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- Instead of spraying the lubricant directly on the door materials, you can also spray it onto a clean cloth and wipe it onto the metal components.
- Eventually, WD-40 or any other product will dry out, and you will need to reapply it or to try a different solution.
- If the door still makes noise when you open or close it, move on to other possible solutions.
2
Tighten or replace any hinge screws that aren’t securely in place. Open the door so you can access all the screws that attach the hinges to both the door and the door jamb. Check each one with a screwdriver to ensure they’re hand-tight, and tighten any that are loose. If any of the screws are spinning freely and won’t tighten, replace them with screws that are at least 0.5 in (1.3 cm) longer.^{[15]
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- The screws in the top hinge tend to loosen up over time. To get them extra tight, lift up on the door handle or knob while you tighten them. You may need a friend to help you do this.
- If you need to replace any of the screws that go into the door jamb, try using 3 in (7.6 cm) screws that will dig deep into the framing material.
3
Swap out a worn-out top hinge with the hinge on the bottom. Open the door so you can access all the hinge screws. Support the weight of the door by wedging wood shims or pieces of folded up cardboard under the door on the latch side. Once the door is supported, remove all the screws from the top and bottom hinges, swap the hinges (top to bottom, bottom to top), and screw them back in place.^{[16]
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- Top hinges take a lot more punishment than bottom hinges, and often get bent out of shape in the process. Swapping hinge locations may solve your noisy door problem.
- If the top hinge is noticeably bent out of shape, take it to a hardware store and find a matching replacement. In fact, at this point, you may want to replace all the door hinges.
- Cheap hinges rub on themselves, squeaking and leaving metal shavings. Replacing them with ball bearing hinges is the best way to eliminate rubbing and squeaking.
4
Replace the door’s latch mechanism if it’s still making noise. If lubricating the latch components with WD-40 or a similar product doesn’t solve the problem, removing and replacing them may be your best option. Replacing the latch mechanism—which includes the door handle or knob—only requires a screwdriver, but you do need to tackle the project step-by-step.^{[17]
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- Remove the screws and pull out all components of the current latching mechanism. Bring these with you to a home improvement store so you can get a new set that will fit your door.
- Follow the installation instructions that come with the new latch set. If you’re not confident in your DIY abilities, consider hiring a pro.