Oven locks are a mechanical feature that allows you to secure your oven door. Typically the oven lock only really needs to be engaged if you don’t want young ones opening the door while the appliance is on or when the self-clean function is running to keep everyone safe from the extreme heat. Yet, there may be times when the lock becomes engaged, but you cannot get it disengaged. When this happens, how do you unlock your oven?
If your oven was locked because you accidentally started the self-clean feature, then stopped it, there is a chance that the oven will not unlock afterward. If this is your issue, the solution can be to just start the self-clean cycle and let it run until it is finished. When the oven finishes this cycle, it will unlock the oven as the final step. In many ovens, the lock mechanism is heat-sensitive, so you will also want to keep in mind that you may simply need to just let your oven cool down to get it to disengage.
Of course, if you have food in your oven already waiting to be cooked, then this is not a viable option. Instead, you will want to try shutting off the power to the oven. This involves either unplugging it or shutting off power to the appliance at the circuit breaker. You will want to leave the power off for at least 10 minutes for it to reset. When you turn the power back on the oven door should open or the lever should be able to be slid to the unlocked position, if applicable since not all ovens lock with a lever.
If neither of these work, you can manually disengage the lock from the inside. Some ovens may require you to simply lift up the range top or you may have to go in through the back. However, using your user manual to find the proper entrance, you can simply disengage the lock yourself.