Latch — Door and Gate Closing Hardware Guide at Home

A latch is the spring-loaded or mechanical fastening part of a door, gate, cabinet, or window that keeps it closed until released.

What It Is

In houses, the word usually refers to the beveled latch bolt inside a door knob or lever set, but latches also appear on gates, attic hatches, and access panels. A latch is different from a deadbolt because it is primarily meant to keep something shut in normal use rather than resist forced entry.

Types

Common residential types include spring latch bolts in interior and exterior doors, roller latches for closet or double doors, magnetic latches for cabinets, and gate latches for fences. Some latches are privacy types that lock, while others only catch and hold.

Where It Is Used

Latches are used on bedroom and bathroom doors, closet doors, exterior knob sets, cabinets, garden gates, attic panels, and access doors. Any opening that needs to stay shut but still open easily may use some form of latch.

How to Identify One

On a swinging door, the latch is the beveled metal piece that extends from the edge of the door into the strike plate. If the handle turns and retracts that piece, you are looking at the door latch.

Replacement

Replacement is common when the latch sticks, will not retract fully, sags out of alignment, or no longer catches the strike. Sometimes the problem is not the latch itself but a swollen door, loose hinges, or a strike plate that has shifted.