# Do you know what all the keys on your key chain are for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577 "2010-06-17T17:28:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/1 "2010-06-17T17:28:20Z")
I only have a half dozen keys on my key chain but there is one key that for the life of me I can’t figure out what it goes to! I can see if I had 40 keys that I might not remember one or two of them. But I have 6 keys. Two go to my cars, one to the house, one to my office and I have one to my younger brothers house. But what is the mystery key? There really isn’t anything else I need a key for. Maybe I should start trying to unlock random doors? So do you know what all the keys you have go to? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/2 "2010-06-17T17:35:51Z")
I usually have at least one key I can’t identify. ---
**Author:** ![moldybread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@moldybread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldybread)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/3 "2010-06-17T17:43:32Z")
Very strange. I just had this conversation with my wife not even 15 minutes ago. As for the question, of about ten keys, I have four that I have’nt the slightest idea what they are for. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/4 "2010-06-17T17:46:10Z")
Work door Work cabinet Home door Outer apartment door Home mailbox ??? ??? Maybe guitar case? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/5 "2010-06-17T17:50:52Z")
I know what all of my keys are for, but one of them is for a lock that doesn’t exist any more. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/6 "2010-06-17T19:32:27Z")
In order around the ring: Fenix E-01 flashlight, truck key, school master key, school master gate key, house key, mailbox key, truck tool chest key, storage unit key, threaded cotterpin off my first Hobie-Cat. Don’t ask about the set of keys in my desk at work. I think some of them are for filing cabinets I got rid of in the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/7 "2010-06-17T19:43:02Z")
Yes, but I only have four keys. Car, apartment, apartment mailbox and house I’m about to move into. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/8 "2010-06-17T19:55:16Z")
Keys on key chain: Key to small lock for daughter’s jewelry box Animas battery cap remover (about the size of a nickel: not a key, but used just as often) Key to lock for laptop bag Two file cabinet keys House key Storage Room Key Office key Key that’s actually a small pocket knife Yup. I know all of them. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/9 "2010-06-17T19:56:49Z")
Apartment building, apartment unit, mailbox, car, bicycle lock, parents’ house. What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/10 "2010-06-17T20:02:58Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Apartment building, apartment unit, mailbox, car, bicycle lock, parents’ house. What do I win? The extra key on my keychain! 😃 Good luck on figuring out what it is for! ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/11 "2010-06-17T20:05:49Z")
Yes, but I don’t think I’ll win anything: on my personal keyring, there’s just a car key and a house key! On my work keys I have the area master, and keys to the toilets, the lights, the windows, the back gate, the padlock on my classroom cupboard, and the fire alarm. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/12 "2010-06-17T20:10:34Z")
Not only do I have two mystery keys but they have been migrated from the old keyring to the new. More than once. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/13 "2010-06-17T20:11:07Z")
After a few too many instances of forgetting a set of keys in the wrong place, work and home keys now live happily together. However, I’m in maintenance, so listing them all would take too long. Personal is easy, only 5: front door, sliding door, bedroom door, my car, his truck. There’s a secondary ring at home with home safe, keys to my parents and sisters, etc. Fourteen work keys. I know what most of them are for, and even the ones I can’t immediately identify a use for are handy enough to earn their place on the ring. All other keys classified as either somewhat useful or just hey, I don’t have one of those yet live in the top drawer of my toolbox. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/14 "2010-06-17T20:53:31Z")
Yup, house, shop, truck and the lock I use on all of my exhibits. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/15 "2010-06-17T20:54:27Z")
> [@Hakuna\_Matata](#): > > The extra key on my keychain! 😃 Good luck on figuring out what it is for! Yay, mystery key! ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/16 "2010-06-17T21:10:36Z")
Master key for all the office doors, key for the reception glass, key to the office mailbox, key to my desk pedestal, key to my apartment door, key the the apartment building staircase doors, apartment mail key, key to my dad’s condo 250 miles away, and a keyfob to get through the external doors/into various common rooms of my apartment building. I also have a number of keys in a drawer at home: storage room key, key for the padlock on my storage unit, key to the bike room, key for my bike lock, and keys to the house Dad used to live in here in Milwaukee (which I should probably pitch one of these days). A while back, I couldn’t remembered what one of the keys on my main ring was for, 'cause I never use it–but after letting it percolate in the back of my head for a bit, it finally came to me that it was the key to Dad’s place. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/17 "2010-06-17T21:19:51Z")
Y’all have too many work keys, unless that little wand/card thing you wave in front of the black box by the entrance a key. In that case, I have two work keys as well, and yes, I obviously know what they’re for, so I still want my mystery key! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/18 "2010-06-17T21:36:28Z")
… well shit. I guess I don’t. Guess we’re doing a purge tonight! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/19 "2010-06-17T22:18:41Z")
There are only four, so it’s not hard to know. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/20 "2010-06-17T22:25:21Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > There are only four, so it’s not hard to know. Yea I thought the same thing with six! But I can only identify five of them. ahh…mystery key what do you open? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577.md?page=2)