How to Reset a Yale Smart Lock (Every Model)

If you’re looking up how to reset Yale locks, start with the Yale Access app: on any lock that’s set up there, the factory reset is a menu option and takes a few seconds. Without the app, Yale uses three different hardware resets depending on the model: a reset pin under the battery cover, a button behind the inside cover, or a Mode button.

Every one of them erases all the codes on the lock, so check whether a smaller fix will do first. This guide covers those fixes, then the reset for every current and older Yale model, with the steps from Yale’s and Google’s own support pages and manuals.

Quick Answer

• Any lock set up in the Yale Access app: open the lock, tap the gear icon, select the lock, scroll to Factory Reset and tap Reset Lock. Stay within Bluetooth range.
• Assure Lock 2 (including Touch and Plus) and Yale Smart Lock with Matter: remove one battery, hold the reset button with the reset pin, put the battery back while you hold it, and keep holding.
• Original Assure Lock, Assure Lock SL, Assure Lever, Nest x Yale and Real Living: take out the batteries, remove the inside cover, and hold the reset button next to the cable connector while you put the batteries back.
• Yale Code: with the door open, wake the lock and hold the Mode button under the battery cover for about 3 seconds.
• New router or Wi-Fi password: use Switch Wi-Fi Network in the app instead of a reset.

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Yale Lock Not Working? Try These First

These fixes don’t erase anything:

• Wait a minute. After five wrong codes, an Assure Lock 2 keypad shuts down for 60 seconds by default. On the Nest x Yale it’s 90 seconds.
• Put in fresh batteries. Yale’s manuals ask you to replace all four AA batteries with new alkaline ones. If they’re completely dead, hold a 9V battery against the contacts at the bottom of an Assure Lock 2 and enter your code (the Assure Lock SL has 9V terminals on the front too).
• Reboot it. Slide up the battery cover, take out one battery and put it back. Yale says to give the Wi-Fi module a couple of minutes to reconnect.
• Switch the Wi-Fi network. For a new router or password, open the lock in Yale Access, tap the gear icon, go to Lock Settings and choose Switch Wi-Fi Network. Assure Lock 2 models with a built-in Wi-Fi module also connect to 5 GHz networks, on module firmware 1.0.32 or later.
• Check the Lock Handing setting. If the bolt grinds or doesn’t extend when you lock with the keypad, Yale’s manual points to this setting in the app, not to a reset.

If your Yale Smart Lock with Matter has an amber flashing gear key, it’s updating. Leave the batteries in for about 5 minutes. For Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and bridge problems, our guide on why a smart lock won’t connect goes through each connection in turn.

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Reset It in the Yale Access App First

Yale recommends the app reset for any lock you set up in Yale Access, and it’s the better option because it also removes the lock from your account and from every owner’s and guest’s app. A factory reset erases all owner and guest data and returns the lock to its out-of-the-box settings.

1. Open Yale Access and go to the lock screen (the circle that shows locked or unlocked).
2. Tap the gear icon to open Settings.
3. Select the lock.
4. Scroll to Factory Reset and tap Reset Lock.

You need a Bluetooth connection to the lock. If you’re out of range, the app shows “Trouble Connecting to Lock”. Move closer and try again, or, if you’ve already moved out, tap Reset Anyway to remove it from your account.

Knowing how to reset Yale locks properly matters most when a lock changes hands. Yale won’t let a new owner set up a lock that’s still on someone else’s account. Instead, Yale emails the previous owner for permission, and that can take up to 30 days. So if you’re selling your home, reset the lock in the app before you leave.

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How to Reset Yale Assure Locks Without the App

Here’s how to reset Yale Assure locks if the lock was never set up in Yale Access, or if the app can’t reach it. Where the reset is depends on the generation of your lock.

Yale Assure Lock 2, Including Touch and Plus

This covers the YRD410, YRD420, YRD430 and YRD450 models, with or without a keyway. Find the small reset pin from the hardware box first.

1. Slide up the battery cover and take out one battery.
2. Put the reset pin in the reset hole and press and hold the button.
3. Put the battery back while you keep holding.
4. Keep holding. Yale’s manual says 5 more seconds, and its support page says a full minute, so hold it for the minute.
5. Put the cover back and wait 1 minute before you set the lock up in Yale Access again.

If the lock used a Z-Wave module, add it to your Z-Wave hub again after the reset.

Yale Smart Lock with Matter

Remove the lock from every Matter app first: Google Home, Alexa, Apple Home or SmartThings. Yale says the hardware reset is required if you use Apple Home or SmartThings on an iPhone.

1. Remove one battery.
2. Put the reset pin in the reset hole under the battery cover, on the inside part of the lock, and hold it.
3. Put the battery back while you hold it, and keep holding for about 5 more seconds, until you hear 4 beeps.
4. Wait 1 minute. Then open the door and hold the gear key until it blinks slowly. That’s pairing mode, and you can add the lock to your Matter app again.

Matter over Thread needs a Thread border router, and our guide to the best Matter hubs explains which ones work.

Original Yale Assure Lock and Assure Lock SL

This is the earlier Assure generation: YRD216, YRD226 and YRD256, plus the YRD416, YRD426 and YRD456 versions.

1. Remove the battery cover and the batteries.
2. Remove the inside cover of the lock (the interior escutcheon) to get to the reset button, next to the cable connector on the circuit board.
3. Press and hold the reset button for at least 3 seconds while you put the batteries back in.
4. Release the button and put the battery cover back.

Yale Assure Lever

1. Remove the battery cover and the batteries, then the inside part of the lock to get to the reset button.
2. Put in three batteries and hold the reset button for 3 seconds.
3. Keep holding it, put in the fourth battery, and hold for another 3 seconds.
4. Release the button and put the inside part back on the door.

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Other Yale Models

Nest x Yale Lock

Google stopped selling the Nest x Yale Lock in 2025, but it still gets updates, and since March 2026 you manage it in the Google Home app. Google’s reset steps:

1. Remove the battery cover and all the batteries. Press the key from the box or a thumbtack into the hole on top of the battery compartment to release the cover.
2. Unscrew the two bolts and take off the inside part of the lock. The reset button is on the left side of the cable connector.
3. Hold the reset button while you put the batteries back, until the light turns red and the lock says “Just a moment, erasing all settings.”
4. Release it, put the inside part back on the door, and wait for “Hi, from Yale and Nest.”

Remove the lock from your account in the app as well. Google’s page still describes it in the Nest app: open the lock, tap Settings, then Remove lock.

Yale Code

The Yale Code (YED210) is a keypad deadbolt that doesn’t connect to an app, so the reset is on the lock itself. Open the door, press the Yale logo to wake the keypad, then press and hold the Mode button under the battery cover for about 3 seconds. When the light turns yellow and the lock beeps, all the entry codes are gone and you can add a new one.

Yale Real Living and Older Keypad Deadbolts

The Real Living deadbolts (YRD210, YRD220 and YRD240) and the key-free B1L and T1L reset the same way as the original Assure Lock: batteries out, then hold the reset button for at least 3 seconds while you put them back. On the Real Living models the button is behind the inside cover; on the B1L and T1L it’s under the battery cover.

Yale Approach

The Yale Approach fits over your existing deadbolt and sets up in Yale Access, so use the app reset above. Yale doesn’t publish a hardware reset for it on its support pages, so if the app can’t reach the lock, contact Yale’s support team.

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After a Factory Reset

1. Create a master code. On the Assure Lock, Assure Lever, Nest x Yale and Real Living locks, creating a new master code (Master PIN) is the only thing the lock lets you do until it’s set.
2. Set it up again. Add the lock in Yale Access as a new device, include it again in your Z-Wave hub, or pair it again with your Matter app. On a Nest x Yale, set the master passcode on the lock before you add it in the app.
3. Check the handing and add new codes. Every old code is gone. If the bolt struggles, run Lock Handing in the app, and check that it lines up with the strike plate.

If you just moved in, a reset removes the previous owner’s codes and app access, but not their keys. Re-key the lock or replace the cylinder for that. Our guide on how to install a smart lock covers the alignment checks, and if you’d rather replace the lock, our guide to the best smart locks compares the current Yale models with other brands. Have a Kwikset on another door? Our Kwikset reset guide has those steps too, and our guide on how to reset a Schlage smart lock covers every Schlage model.

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The Bottom Line

Try the small fixes first: wait out the keypad shutdown, put in fresh alkaline batteries, take one battery out and back in, or use Switch Wi-Fi Network for a new router. When you do need a reset, use the Yale Access app whenever you can, since it removes the lock from your account too. Without the app, how to reset Yale locks depends on the generation: the reset pin (Assure Lock 2 and the Matter lock), the button behind the inside cover (original Assure, Assure Lever, Nest x Yale, Real Living) or the Mode button (Yale Code). Yale’s own Assure Lock 2 factory reset page has the steps for the newest locks.