Best sliding patio door security bars
Which bar or lock fits your sliding door, and what else it needs, because a bar stops sliding but not lifting or broken glass.
If your door slides on the inside track and you can put screws in the frame, buy the Ideal Security bar, and add screws in the upper track on the same day. The bar stops the panel from sliding. The screws stop it from being lifted out, which is a separate weakness.1 2 3 Nothing here stops someone from breaking the glass.4
If you rent, can't drill or also want to brace a hinged door, get the Master Lock instead. If the panel slides on the outside track, skip the bars and look at the LOCKiT double bolt lock, but only if your frame passes the glass test. If cost matters most, both police guides accept a snug wooden dowel in the track.1 2
Our picks
How they compare
| Ideal Security | Master Lock | LOCKiT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Inside-track doors, if you can drill | Renters and homes with hinged doors too | Outside-track doors, if the glass test passes |
| How it fits | Screwed to the frame, folds away | Sits loose in the track | Drilled in, bolts close on a latch at the jamb |
| Span | About 25.75 to 47.5 inches | Up to 42 inches | Doesn't span the door |
| Stops the panel being lifted | Not shown | No | Claimed for this type of lock |
| Material | Aluminum | 20-gauge steel | Not listed |
| Published force rating | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
Ideal Security Patio Door Security Bar with Anti-Lift Lock
Good fit if: sliding doors on the inside track, if you can put screws in the frame
Model SK110W
- Stays on the door, folds away
- No bending, sits at mid-door height
- Reaches further than the Master Lock
- Can hold the door partly open
- Doesn't stop the panel being lifted
- Aluminum can bend sideways
- Needs screw holes in the frame
The reason to buy a mounted bar is that you're more likely to use it. It stays on the frame at mid-door height and swings out of the way, so you don't have to bend down and find it every night.3 It can also secure the door while it's partly open for air.3
Bob Vila's reviewers installed it, tried to open the door from outside and gave it 5 of 5 for strength, though they published no force figures. They say a bar held by screws can't be jarred out of place.3 SafeWise, working from customer reviews, says it can loosen when jostled, so check the screws and the length adjustment now and then.5 One commercial locksmith on a trade forum still likes bars of this general type because they fold away and a cross pin resists forcing.6
Don't let the name mislead you. The anti-lift lock is a childproof latch that stops the bar itself from being raised until you release it.3 That's worth having, because Prime-Line warns that intruders may try to swing a bar up with a wire through the gap.7 But nothing shows that it holds the door panel down. SafeWise says this bar keeps a door on its track, while Acme Locksmith says a door with this type of bar can still be lifted, and both police guides treat lifting as its own problem.1 2 5 8 Follow the police advice, since the screws are cheap.
Heavy downward pressure strains the hinge and screws.3 The bar is also sold under more than one model number, including SK110 and BK110, and retail listings don't all give the same length, so check the box against your measurement.5 9
Verdict: Buy this if your door slides on the inside track and you can drill into the frame. Skip it if the panel slides on the outside track, or if you can't put holes in the door frame.
Master Lock Dual Function Door Security Bar
Good fit if: renters, no-drill homes, or anyone with a hinged door to brace too
Model 265DCCSEN
- No drilling, comes out when you move
- Also braces hinged doors
- Limited lifetime warranty
- Tops out at 42 inches
- You bend down to set it
- Blocks sliding only, like a dowel
- Stock looks patchy
On a sliding door, this is a steel bar lying in the track, so it does what a snug dowel does. What you gain is an adjustable length, a bar that leaves with you when you move, and a second use on hinged doors. The top piece comes off for sliding use.10
Bob Vila's reviewers rated it 5 of 5 for strength, and its rubber foot didn't budge when they tried to force the door, but the comments they published mostly describe hinged use.3 On a hinged door, they noticed wobble at greater heights and felt it was most secure up to about three-quarters of its height. That doesn't apply to a bar in a track.3
The real drawback is routine. You have to bend down and set it each time, so it's easier to skip than a bar that swings into place.3 Police guides limit this use to inside-track doors, and it does nothing about lifting.1 2
Check stock before you plan on this bar. One distributor marks model 265DCCSEN as discontinued and Walmart's listing shows it out of stock, while Master Lock's technical page has no such notice and smaller sellers still list it.10 11 12 If you can't find one, a snug dowel does the same job in the track.1 2
Verdict: Buy this if you can't drill, or if you also want to brace a hinged door. Measure first if your door is 8 feet wide, and ask your landlord about the upper-track screws.
LOCKiT Black Double Bolt Sliding Door Lock 200100300
Good fit if: outside-track doors, or one fix for sliding and lifting
Model 200100300
- Bolts close above and below a latch
- Fits at any height
- Can sit above children's reach
- Drilling near tempered glass
- Won't fit every door
- No strength figure for this model
- Leaves holes, so poor for rentals
This is a different kind of product from the bars. You fix a latch to the jamb, the upright part of the frame the door closes against, and bolts close above and below it.13 One locksmith ranks this type first because it resists lifting as well as sliding, though he was describing the Cal lock he sells, not the LOCKiT.8 It's the option to consider for outside-track doors, though LOCKiT's sheet doesn't address them.13 SafeWise calls it the best secondary lock, but it chose from reviews and videos, not testing.5
Drilling is the risk. Tucson police warn that tempered glass, the safety glass used in these doors, will often shatter if a drill bit touches it.1 LOCKiT's sheet has you probe the frame with a toothpick first. If you find glass, stop, because you can't install the lock there.13 On a retirement community forum, one owner of a similar surface lock warned that the supplied screws were long enough to crack the glass, so check screw length against the frame.14
Some doors won't take a lock like this at all. Acme Locksmith names c-channel doors and says the bracket needs about 1/2 inch of flat space.8 If you see a claim of 1,000 pounds of strength, it comes from a seller describing a different brand, not from LOCKiT.8 13 15
Verdict: Buy this if your panel slides on the outside track, or you want one lock for sliding and lifting, and your frame passes the toothpick test. Skip it if you rent or if you see any doubt about the glass.
How to choose
Find out which track your door uses
Stand inside and look at the moving panel. If it sits closer to you than the fixed panel, it slides on the inside track, and a bar or stick can block it. Tucson police say this advice works only on inside-track doors. For outside-track doors, Seattle police suggest a slide bolt along the bottom or a commercial lock.1 2
Not everyone agrees. Prime-Line says its bar works whether the sliding panel is in front of or behind the fixed one, and a Pennsylvania locksmith suggests a bar in the track for outside-track doors.7 16 Police have no sales interest here, so check the fit carefully before you rely on a bar on one of these doors.
Try to lift the panel
With the door closed, try raising the moving panel. A door that lifts out has too much space in the upper track.2 Do this check whichever product you choose, because a bar or stick alone doesn't fix it.
Tucson police advise pan-head screws in the upper track about 2 feet apart, set so the door just barely slides by. Seattle police suggest large flat-head screws at both ends and the middle.1 2 Some modern doors can be adjusted to prevent lifting instead.1 The screw fix may not work on some hollow frames.17
Measure the real span
Close the door and measure from the edge of the moving panel to the far side of the frame, at the height where the bar will sit. Two-panel doors are commonly 6 feet wide, and half of an 8-foot door is about 48 inches, so the Master Lock can come up short on the widest doors, and the Ideal will be at its limit there.3 10 18
Set it every time
A bar left folded up does nothing, and most burglaries don't take force. In federal crime survey data for 2003 to 2007, about 1.95 million of 3.08 million completed burglaries a year were entries without force. When nobody was home, 40% of those came through an unlocked door or window and 17% through an open one.19
Don't treat the bar as a bedtime routine only. In the same data, 43% of burglaries with nobody home happened between 6 am and 6 pm and 26% at night, with the time unknown for the rest.19 Lock the door and leave the bar set during the day unless you're using that door.
Keep your way out
A patio door is often the second way out of a family room or bedroom, and NFPA's escape checklist asks for two ways out of each room and quick-release devices on barred doors.20 If a sliding door is a bedroom's escape opening, code guides say it must open from inside without keys, tools or special knowledge.21
Keep the bar easy to clear, and have everyone who sleeps there practice doing it in the dark. Never put a keyed add-on on that door.
Plan for the glass separately
A bar does nothing if the glass goes, and glass is a common way in. When force was used, a door was involved in about 70% to 73% of burglaries and a window in 47% to 49%, with a pane damaged or removed in 28% to 30%. Households could report more than one type of damage, and the data doesn't separate sliding doors.19
If your slider is hidden from neighbors, think about the glass too. Seattle police prefer heavy laminated glass on glass doors, and otherwise suggest security film or metal grilles.2 Film slows entry but doesn't make glass unbreakable.4 A glass-break sensor is an alarm, not a barrier. It alerts you and doesn't stop entry.22
Treat a bar as one layer
Good locks elsewhere matter as much as the bar. In England and Wales, forced-entry burglaries fell from 31 to 7 per 1,000 households between 1993 and 2006/07 while unforced ones stayed at 7, and researchers linked much of that to better physical security. Window locks plus door double locks or deadlocks scored a protection factor of 13 compared with no security, and adding outdoor sensor lights raised it to 34.23 That's a UK survey about whether devices were present, not about sliding doors, but it does favor combinations over a single device.
Don't shop on strength claims
Most bars are steel or aluminum. A few makers quote a pressure figure, such as 350 pounds for the SecurityMan, but none of our picks does, and no independent test lets you compare them.3 7 10 A test does exist for complete sliding doors, ASTM F842, which measures how well a door holds off unskilled or opportunistic burglars. It doesn't cover glass breakage.24 If you're replacing the door anyway, ask the maker for its F842 result.
How many you need
Buy one for each sliding glass door. If your home has none, you can skip this guide.
Others we looked at
- Prime-Line U 9920The same kind of mounted bar as the Ideal, adjusting from 28 to 48 inches, with a two-part saddle meant to stop a wire from swinging the bar up. It's a fair swap if the Ideal is out of stock, but it has no independent review. Prime-Line says you still need a working latch.7
- Cut dowel or broomstickA reasonable low-cost choice with upper-track screws. Tucson and Seattle police both accept a snug stick in the track, and Checkbook recommends a broomstick against pry-bar attacks.1 2 17 It does about the same job as a loose bar, so it works only on inside-track doors and doesn't stop lifting or broken glass.1 2 4 Acme Locksmith considers a dowel better than nothing but rates a folding bar a big step up, though it sells locks.8
- SecurityMan SecurityBar2Bob Vila's reviewers gave it the lowest strength score of the group, 3.3 of 5. Its sliding-door range stops at 39.25 inches, shorter than the Master Lock's.3
- Lion Locks Sliding Door LockSafeWise's budget pick clamps to the track with thumbscrews and needs no tools. SafeWise says it's easy to undo from inside and warns that children might loosen the thumbscrews. It doesn't address lifting.5
- Cal Double BoltAcme Locksmith's first choice and the source of the 1,000-pound claim. Acme sells this lock, and that figure has no independent check.8
How we picked
We haven't tested these products ourselves. No peer-reviewed study or lab test covers sliding door bars, and nobody has published independent force measurements for them or says how often sliding doors are the way in. The picks rest on police guidance, one hands-on review in a single home with scores and no measured force, a roundup built from customer comments, and maker instructions. The Ideal's specs come from reviews, not from its maker, and owner reports on all three picks are thin. Nobody has tested whether the Ideal's latch resists panel lifting. The US burglary data is about 20 years old, the Seattle guide dates from 2015 and the Tucson guide is undated. CPSC's recall list showed no recall of these three products in November 2026.[s18] Availability changes, so confirm that a pick is still sold before you plan around it.
Sources
- Home Security Survey booklet Tucson Police Department
- Home Security: Window Security Seattle Police Department, 2015
- The Best Door Security Bars Bob Vila, 2026
- Sliding door security Bob Vila, 2026
- Best Sliding Glass Door Locks of 2026 SafeWise, 2026
- Stupid patio doors thread Lock Picking 101 forum, 2016
- Aluminum Adjustable Security Bar for Sliding Doors, U 9920 Prime-Line
- Best Sliding Glass Door Lock: Locksmith Picks ACME Locksmith, 2026
- Adjustable White Patio Door Security Bar listing Home Hardware, 2026
- Security Bar: 265DCCSEN technical literature Master Lock
- Master Lock 265DCCSEN listing Zoro, 2026
- Master Lock Adjustable Door Security Bar listing Walmart, 2026
- LOCKiT! Sliding Glass Door Lock installation instructions Home Fashion Technologies (hosted by Home Depot), 2016
- Slider Door Locks thread Talk of The Villages forum, 2016
- Home Fashion Technologies home page Home Fashion Technologies