That all-too-familiar feeling of losing your keys is extremely frustrating, especially if you’ve already checked all of your common drop-off spots.
Here’s how to find your missing keys.
Start by recreating what you were doing before you left your keys and consider some of the most likely places you might have put them. Cycle through these locations first, and if you still haven’t found your keys, start searching room by room thoroughly more systematically.
Nothing is worse than the feeling of losing your keys, and nothing feels better than when you finally track down their hiding place. The rest of this article will cover how to find your missing keys and the most common places you may have left them.
Where Did I Leave My Keys?
A question we’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another. While you would probably swear blind that you left them on the dresser last night, if they’re not there, then it’s time to broaden your search pattern. Consider the following spots:
- In the ignition – Sometimes, it’s all too easy to forget your keys in the ignition and accidentally lock up the car. If your keys are locked up in your car, then you’ll need to enlist the help of a certified locksmith to get them back.
- At someone else’s home – If you tend to plonk your keys down the first place you see whenever you enter a friend’s house, then it might be worth giving them a call to see if they’ve got your keys.
- Drawers – There’s probably one drawer you tend to put your keys in, but it’s worth checking there again, just in case it got shuffled behind something else or you just didn’t see it the first time.
- Kitchen countertops – People are very prone to dropping off their keys on kitchen countertops, so always do a quick scan through your kitchen to check these spots.
- Your pockets – A quick pat of your front or back pockets will confirm whether you’ve accidentally forgotten your keys in your pockets. You might feel silly if you find your keys tucked away in your back pocket where they usually live, but it happens to all of us at one point or another. You also may need to head to the laundry hamper and check previously worn pants and shirts. They may be hiding in your pockets somewhere.
- In the door – I’m always guilty of this. It’s not super safe, but it always happens to me. I’m looking for my keys, and they are in the front door’s lock. Not brilliant, but it happens.
These spots are the most common places people lose their keys, and if you don’t find your keys in any of the common places you’d expect, then it’s time to start retracing your steps.
Retracing Your Steps
The best method to find something that you’ve lost is to retrace your steps. Consider where you last remember having your keys and whether or not you brought them into the house.
If so, then that narrows down your search. If you don’t recall bringing them inside, check your car. Cast your mind back to where you were before you went home. Did you stop at a friend’s house?
Did you pick up your keys from your desk at work? Did you put it down somewhere momentarily at the gym? Asking open-ended questions is the best strategy to narrow down when you may have lost your keys and where to spend your time looking for them.
If you’re still lost, but you distinctly remember taking your keys inside, then it’s worth scanning nearby your most common locations.
For example, if you always leave it on your desk, grab a flashlight, and look around the side of the desk. Maybe it got nudged off and went down the side. If you usually drop it off in a drawer, empty the drawer and search it thoroughly.
Check any coats, jackets, or jean pockets you were wearing when you lost your keys just to make sure you didn’t drop it off in a pocket and forget about it. With any luck, retracing your steps will put you back on the right track to finding your keys quickly.
Purchase a Key Tracker
One of the best ways to ensure that you always know the location of your keys is to invest in a key tracker. I purchased an Orbitkey key tracker, and I’m super pleased with the outcome. I’m able to track my keys on my phone and send an alert to the keys to tell me where they are. It’s super helpful and saves me a ton of time searching.
If you’re one that easily loses your keys, then purchasing a key tracker is the way to go. I was so impressed with having a tracker on my keys, that I decided to take it a step further and purchase a tracker for my wallet. I purchased an Ekster wallet with the slim tracker, and I absolutely love it.
It’s just nice knowing that I can know at any time where my keys and wallet are located. Its great.
Final Thoughts
There are a number of places people tend to leave their keys, but the quickest way to find them is to check the pockets of what you were wearing or see if you left them in the door or ignition. These mistakes are easy to make, but hopefully, with a plan of action, you’ll be able to recover your keys quickly.
