French door security bar: a chrome U-shaped bracket with two notched rails and a black keyed locking body clamped across them
French door security bar fitted across two black lever handles on a pair of French doors, the locking body by the outer leverFrench door security bar: a chrome U-shaped bracket with two notched rails and a black keyed locking body clamped across themFrench door security bar size chart: Small 25 mm opening for slim levers, Medium 34 mm for most levers, Large 43 mm for knobsFrench door security bar clamped across two round door knobs on a white double door, the locking body beside the right knobFit diagram: the lock bar passes behind both French door handles and locks with a key, no drilling, in-swing or out-swingWhat is in the box: the chrome U-bracket with notched rails, the black locking body, and keys on a ringFrench door security bar spec card: two handles locked to each other, no screws, keyed shut, fits in-swing or out-swing doorsFour setup steps for the French door security bar: check the handles, pass it behind them, slide it snug, turn the key
Door SecurityFor French doors

French Door Security Bar, Keyed Lock for Double Doors

4.8 · 22 reviews

It locks both inside handles together with a key, so it works even on French doors that open outward.

Locks the two inside handles together. Neither door opens, even if they swing out.

$24.99One-time · free tracked shippingOne-time · free shipping · 30-day returns
  • No drilling
  • Key in the box
  • In or out-swing

Opening the handle passes through. Full size chart in the photos.

Pick the opening that clears your handle.

Free tracked shipping Free 30-day returns 1-year warranty
  • Both handles, held togetherThe curved end goes around one interior handle and the rails lie behind both. The locking body slides in against the other one and closes the pair inside the bracket. Neither handle turns, so neither leaf opens. Lever handles and round knobs both work, as long as you pick the size whose opening clears your handle.
  • Works on doors that open outIt holds the two handles to each other, so it never needs the floor or the frame. Outward-swinging French doors, where a floor brace is useless, are exactly where this one works.
  • Set by hand, held by the keyNotches along the rails let you match the bracket to your own handles, no tools. The key holds that setting, and nothing moves it back until you unlock it. Keys are in the box.
  • Nothing drilled, nothing left behindIt goes on in seconds and nothing is screwed or drilled into the doors or the frame. Unlock it, lift it off, and the pair looks exactly as it did before, so a rental stays as you found it.
French Door Security Bar, Keyed Lock for Double Doors $24.99

Why this door gets skipped

Two doors, and nothing solid in the middle.

Most door hardware assumes one door in a solid frame. A deadbolt throws into a stud. A floor brace pushes back against a shove. French doors break both assumptions: there are two leaves, they meet each other in the middle instead of a post, and on plenty of homes they swing outward, which puts the whole idea of a floor brace on the wrong side of the door. So the pair keeps the handle set it came with, and that is usually where it stays.

The useful thing about a pair of doors is that each one is standing right next to something solid. The other door. Tie the two interior handles together and neither one can rotate. A handle that cannot turn cannot pull its latch back, and a latch that never moves holds its leaf shut. That is the whole idea, and it is why a lock across the two handles does a job a floor brace cannot do on an outward-swinging pair.

Two things follow. The first is the key. The locking body slides along the bracket to match your handles, and the key is what holds it there, so nothing shifts it back until you decide to. The second is that the doors have to cooperate. Both leaves need an interior handle or knob, roughly level with each other, or there is nothing for the bracket to close around. Stand inside and look at yours before you order. That one detail decides whether this works on your doors.

Each door is standing next to something solid. The other door.
2handles
locked to each other, not to the frame
0screws
nothing drilled into the doors
KEYEDshut
it comes off with the key, not by hand
BOTHways
in-swing or out-swing doors
French door security bar size chart: Small 25 mm opening for slim levers, Medium 34 mm for most levers, Large 43 mm for knobs
In or out, same job

A floor brace needs the floor. This needs the other door.

Braces and bars push against something: a track, a jamb, the floor. That works on a door that opens inward. French doors that swing outward give a brace nothing to push against, because the force you want to stop is pulling the leaf toward the yard, not shoving it into the room. A lot of patio pairs are hung that way, and their owners usually find that out after the box is open.

This one pushes against nothing. The curved end of the bracket goes around one interior handle, the rails lie behind both, the locking body closes in against the other one, and the key holds it there. The two leaves now hold each other, and swing direction stops mattering. It touches no part of the frame or the threshold, and one turn of the key takes the whole thing back off.

Swings in or outLocks with a keyTool-freeRenter-friendly
Setup

On from the inside, off with the key

1

Set it behind the handles

Stand inside with both doors shut. Pass the curved end of the bracket around the outside of one interior handle and lay the two rails behind both of them.

2

Slide the body snug

Slide the locking body along the rails until it sits against the outside of the other handle. Snug, not forced. The rails are notched, so it holds where you set it.

3

Lock it with the key

Turn the key in the locking body, then take the key out. The body can no longer slide, so the bracket cannot come off the handles.

4

Try it, then take it off

Push and pull both doors and try to turn each handle. Nothing should move. To open the doors again, unlock the body with the key, slide it back and lift the bracket off.

Both leaves need an interior lever handle or knob, at roughly matching height, or there is nothing for the bracket to sit behind, and the size you order has to have an opening wide enough to pass over that handle. Because this one locks with a key, decide where the key lives before you fit it: a hook beside the doors, within reach of anyone at home. If these doors are the way you would get out of the house in a fire, take the bar off before you go to bed and put it back on in the morning.
Where it belongs

The back wall of the house

French doors are usually the back of the house: the patio, the deck, the garden side that nobody on the street can see. That is the side worth covering, and it is the side most people leave on factory hardware. This one goes on at night, comes off with the key in the morning, and lives in a drawer the rest of the time, so it packs for a vacation rental with a pair of patio doors just as easily. Put a vibration alarm on the glass beside it and both halves of the opening are covered: the handles cannot be turned, and the pane cannot be worked on quietly.

Layer your defense

The bar holds the doors. The alarm covers the glass.

A pair of French doors is mostly glass, and no bar can do anything about a pane. The TremShield Alarm sticks straight to it and fires 125dB the moment someone pries or knocks on the glass, before they are through it. A back wall usually has more panes than one worth covering, which is why the 6-pack lands at $16.50 an alarm instead of $29.99.

See the alarm
White TremShield vibration sensor alarm
Good to know

Questions, answered calmly

It adjusts along its length, so the gap between your two handles is not what you need to measure. The rails are notched and the locking body slides to whatever width your handles sit at. What decides the fit is the handle itself, because the bracket has to pass over it: Small has an opening of about 25 mm (1.0 in), Medium about 34 mm (1.3 in), and Large about 43 mm (1.7 in). Both leaves also need an interior lever handle or knob at roughly the same height, so the bracket has something to sit behind on each side. We ship free to the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and returns are open for 30 days if the size turns out wrong.

Measure your handle at the point where the bar will cross it, then pick the size with the larger opening. Slim lever handles usually take the Small. Most lever handles take the Medium. Round knobs and thick pull handles need the Large, because a knob is the widest thing the bracket has to pass over. If you are between two sizes, take the larger one: the locking body still slides in tight against the handle, so a wider opening does not leave the bar loose. The size chart is in the product photos.

Yes. This French door lock bar holds handle to handle, so it works on outward-swinging French doors, which is where a floor brace or a track bar can do nothing at all. The bracket sits behind both interior handles and the locking body clamps the rails at the width you set, so the two leaves hold each other shut and the direction they swing stops mattering.

This bar locks with a key, and keys come in the box. Keep one on a hook beside the doors, within reach of anyone at home, and put the spares wherever your other spare keys live. If all of them go missing while the bar is locked on, it stays on, so treat them the way you treat a house key. One thing worth settling the day it arrives: if these doors are the way you would get out of the house in a fire, take the bar off before you go to bed. It goes back on in the morning.

No. The bracket sits behind the two interior handles and the locking body holds it there. Nothing is drilled or screwed into the doors or the frame, which makes it a clean option for renters and for anyone who does not want hardware in a glass door. When you want the doors open, unlock it with the key and lift it off.

No. A French door lock bar like this one goes on and comes off from inside, so you set it while you are home and take it off on your way out. The key holds the bar at the width you set; it does not let you lock the doors behind you. It is a lock for nights and for the hours you are in the house, not for an empty house. For an empty house, a vibration alarm on the glass is the layer that keeps working while you are gone.

No. A French door lock bar holds the two handles, not the pane, so neither handle turns and the pair stays shut. It does nothing about the glass itself. French doors are mostly glass, and that gap is the one an alarm covers. A TremShield Alarm sticks to the pane and fires 125dB at the first pry or knock, so the quiet way in stops being quiet.

From the security guide

How to Secure French Doors Without Ruining Them

How to secure French doors: bolt the passive door into the frame, lock the two inside handles together or brace the pair, then put film a...

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