Where do you hide your car keys? Turns out, keeping them on a keychain with all your other keys may not be such a great idea.
Read on to discover some of the clever ways you can hide primary and spare car keys without compromising the security of your vehicle.
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5 Best Ways to Hide Your Car Keys (And Where to Avoid)
Knowing how to hide your car keys, be it spare or primary, is crucial in helping protect your vehicle against theft and relay theft.
Find out the best and worst places to have your car keys, including where to hide car keys in the house, below.
Where Can I Hide My Car Keys?
1. Your bag/pocket
Having your spare key on you at all times is among the more useful places to ‘hide’ it, because that way it is constantly on the move.
If you get locked out of your car, you’ll instantly regret keeping spares and house keys on the same chain.
Keep the primary key and the spare one separate, so if the main key were to be kept in your handbag or backpack, the spare might be kept in the pocket of your trousers or jacket.
2. In aluminum foil
Wrapping electronic devices in aluminum foil is actually a tried-and-true way to reduce the capacity of wireless signals.
Simply place the fob inside a small container that is wrapped in ample amounts of foil. Be liberal with how much you use, because the foil causes signal interference.
Why wrap car keys in foil?
Essentially working the same way an RFID bag does (see below for our favorites), wrapping car keys in foil is a decent way to protect your fob/keyless vehicle from being opened via a relay transmitter. Place the fob inside a small container wrapped in ample amounts of foil. Be very liberal with how much you use.
The metal will cause interference with signals, but it’s not as reliable as a dedicated RFID bag, which is made with denser materials that distribute electrostatic radiation.
3. In an RFID bag, case, or wallet
RFID, or radio frequency identification technology, is the name given to various types of wireless communication readers and trackers.
RFID bags can be a useful way to store fobs, as well as other objects like credit cards, whenever you aren’t using them. This can effectively prevent relay theft.
What does an RFID bag do?
RFID bags (or wallets, cases, boxes, or other similar objects) are the more sophisticated version of smothering your devices in foil.
Using a ‘Faraday cage’, they block RFID signals by distributing electrostatic radiation around whatever’s inside it, so that external electromagnetic fields are blocked out.
Looking for RFID bags/Faraday cages to protect your car keys and credit cards? Discover the best RFID bags below.
4. Hide-a-key
Traditional keys pose less of a security threat than fobs, so more conventional ways of hiding them can be beneficial.
We’re fans of ‘hide-a-keys’, objects disguised as everyday objects, like rocks, in which you can hide keys. These can then be distributed subtly to great effect.
Considering buying a hide-a-key? Find out what we recommend. You can also follow our simple step-by-step guide to make your own hide-a-key.
Where to hide car keys at home
If you’re hiding car keys inside the home, always keep them on the upper floor if the house has one. The safest place to keep car keys at home is as far from the front door as possible. This will reduce the risk of them being grabbed and, in the case of modern car keys, prevent the wireless signal from being easily amplified in a relay theft.
Likewise, always keep fobs in RFID bags/Faraday cages when not in use.
As convenient as leaving the keys by the front door or in the garage might seem, you wouldn’t dream of leaving a handbag or an expensive watch there. Why take the risk with a car?
If convenient access to the car keys is important, keep car keys in your bag or pocket so you don’t have to hunt for them every time you leave the house.
5. Among plants
Placing a car key among potted plants is a nifty way to conceal keys if you don’t mind your fingernails getting a little dirty.
Place them inside a small zip lock bag (or an RFID bag if it’s a modern car key) and insert them deep into the soil. Turn them horizontally in the soil so there’s no chance of them sticking out, and cover them with plenty of soil.
For additional security, have a security camera watch over the area to better protect it.
Bonus: Using Alfred to Protect Your Car
AlfredCamera makes a brilliant additional security measure for watching over your vehicle. Positioning an old device, or the standalone AlfredCam, out of a window to view a parked car is a common way users have been making the most of Alfred to boost car security.
‘Camera is pointed right at my vehicle – when someone slashed my tires, I was able to confront them about it and press charges.’
Incorporating vehicle security into your overall home surveillance is easy and integral to maintaining a true sense of safety, since cars are so vulnerable to being targeted.
‘I use 6 of my old smartphones to keep an eye on my home. One for my disabled wife, one for our exotic birds, one in a window to watch our cars, one in the kitchen to monitor the back door, one in the french doors to monitor our patio and one in the bathroom my wife uses in case she needs help.’
Similarly, you can use Alfred to observe specific valuables in the home, which might include keys.
Try Alfred for Android or iOS today and experience simple vehicle security at your fingertips.
Worst Places to Hide Spare Car Keys
1. In your car
By far the worst place to hide keys is in your car. Between 2016 and 2018, 229,339 vehicles were stolen that had keys left inside them.
Hence, under no circumstances should you hide keys inside your vehicle.
2. On your car
License plates and hubcaps can be tempting hiding places, but hiding a key on your car is a bad idea, since thieves may search around the exterior of the vehicle for them.
If the car key in question is a fob, never hide it on the car, because it can easily be intercepted or accidentally keep the vehicle unlocked even without a relay.
3. Alongside other keys
Wherever you decide to keep your primary car key or hide your spare car key, it’s important to create a habit of separating them to reduce the risk involved if you lose a keychain.
To start with, try separating house keys (front and back door) from car keys if they aren’t already.
Pro Tip: Stolen or lost keychain
If you misplace a keychain with multiple keys on it, immediately replace all locks on your home, vehicles, and any other objects or places that the chain held keys for.
Do not wait for the keychain to be returned to you, because the likelihood of this happening is small.
How Do Car Thieves Target Cars?
Keyless cars, or cars that use fobs or mobile apps to unlock, are at a higher risk of being targeted by thieves than those with traditional keys because the key isn’t actually required to open the vehicle.
Keyless thefts are becoming increasingly common as less vehicles are being manufactured with traditional key locks.
What is Relay Theft?
Keyless car theft is achieved through a relay transmitter and an amplifier, usually requiring at least two people to gain access. The relay tricks the vehicle into sensing that the fob is much closer to the car than it actually is by amplifying its signal.
Hence, the car must be close to the fob anyway, meaning that cars parked directly outside of homes are the main target of this kind of theft.
Traditional Keys
Older cars with regular key locks are more vulnerable when spare keys are produced. This increases the likelihood of them being stolen.
If you were wondering how to hide a key in or on your car, forget about it: thieves will target cars which have keys or fobs left inside the vehicle.
In fact, an average of 209 vehicles were stolen in the US every single day precisely as a result of the keys or fobs being left inside the vehicles.
Old versus New Vehicles
As discussed in our article on security for cars, the valuable metals used in newer models of cars make new vehicles, like hybrids, more attractive to thieves.
Older vehicles with compromised security, like doors hanging off hinges and broken windows, are much easier to steal.
Best Cheap RFID Bags and Faraday Cages to Protect Keys
Want to invest in an RFID bag or case to help protect your car (and credit card) against theft? Check out our picks for the best bags, card holders, and other Faraday products below.
Amazon
| Hodufy Faraday Bags 9.8 x 11 Inches, Fireproof & Waterproof | TICONN Faraday Bag for Key Fob (2 Pack) | Simliang RFID & NFC Blocking Card (4 Pack) |
 Image via Amazon |  Image via Amazon |  Image via Amazon |
| ‘I was a little skeptical at first. I placed my mobile phone in the bag and asked someone to call me – nothing – it is as if my phone was not in service. Perfect.’ – Mr Warren N Keir on Amazon. | ‘I have a 2017 Honda Civic. I put the key fob in the correct pocket while sitting in the car and held the bag up to the push button start and the car wouldn’t do anything, so worked as advertised.’ – STZ on Amazon. | ‘Can’t find a problem with this blocking and it really works perfectly straight away. It’s just a plain card but it manages to transform my wallet into a contactless blocking machine. The card is the same size as a bank card and it just slots into one of the card slots in my wallet.’ – Cesar Hernandez Castaneda on Amazon. |
| From $15.79 | From $14.95 | From $8.30 |
Walmart
| Alpine Swiss Mens Genuine Leather Bifold Wallet | Viugreum Key Case | Iaowalm PU Leather Faraday Cage Protector Box |
 Image via Walmart |  Image via Walmart |  Image via Walmart |
| ‘It has EVERYTHING! RFID protection, which is key, also very soft supple leather. This held good amount of cash, all the cards, and has a flip out double-sided picture window (drivers license or ID) for ease and visibility. ‘- Quality4Me on Walmart. | ‘I have a 2017 Honda Civic. I put the key fob in the correct pocket while sitting in the car and held the bag up to the push button start and the car wouldn’t do anything, so worked as advertised.’ – STZ on Amazon. | ‘Can’t find a problem with this blocking and it really works perfectly straight away. It’s just a plain card but it manages to transform my wallet into a contactless blocking machine. The card is the same size as a bank card and it just slots into one of the card slots in my wallet.’ – Cesar Hernandez Castaneda on Amazon. |
| From $19.99 | From $9.29 | From $25.58 |
Best Buy
| Swissdigital Design Katy Rose Backpack | Samsonite Classic 2 RFID Crossbody | Nite Ize Financial Tool RFID-Blocking Wallet |
 Image via Best Buy |  Image via Best Buy |  Image via Best Buy |
| ‘This Swissdigital backpack is great! Such fine quality and so many pockets!! The big surprise was how light weight it is and comfortable to carry because it is well balanced!! I feel safe using with my wallet safely in the RFID pocket!!’ – 65NRockinit on Best Buy. | ‘Light weight with plenty of room to hold your items’ – Renee S. on Samsonite.com | ‘Great tool to have just incase. Money clip and used as multiple tools. I can’t complain.’ PEEJ37 on Best Buy. |
| From $99.99 | From $29.99 | From $15.99 |
FAQ
Where is the best place to keep car keys?
Keeping your car keys on you may be among the best places to keep them, since that way they are both constantly on the move and protected. Spares can be kept inside hide-a-key objects around your property, while fobs should be kept inside RFID/Faraday bags. The safest place to keep keys in the home is as far from the front door as possible, so keep them upstairs if possible.
Where do you put your car keys at night?
Putting the keys near you at night is best. Avoid leaving them downstairs, near the front door or in the garage. Keyless fobs should be placed in an RFID/Faraday box.
Does putting car keys in a tin block the signal?
Putting car keys into a tin will not block the signal, though it may interrupt it to a minimal degree. By wrapping the tin up in plenty of aluminum foil, you can improve the effect. Otherwise, buy a dedicated RFID/Faraday box to store it in for total peace of mind.
Why would you wrap your car keys in foil at night?
Wrapping your car keys in foil at night mimics the effect of a Faraday cage, an object which shields whatever is inside it from electromagnetic fields. By doing this, you can prevent relay attacks.
Relay attacks are used to unlock keyless vehicles by amplifying the signal the fob produces.
If the keys are in foil, it may increase interference and block some of the electromagnetic waves from reaching the key, though it is not as reliable as a dedicated Faraday cage.
Are push start cars easier to steal?
Yes, push start cars are significantly easier to steal than ordinary key turn cars. Any vehicle with onboard computing is susceptible to hacking. Cars that don’t have computers in them are not. A relay attack can be used to open and start the car by tricking the car’s system into registering the key as nearer than it actually is.
Can someone steal my car without the key fob?
Yes, someone can steal your car without the key fob by using a relay transmitter and an amplifier. So long as the perpetrator is within reasonable distance of the fob (for example, outside your home), the signal can then be relayed and amplified to trick the car into detecting it as closer than it actually is.
Conclusion
Following our tips and tricks on hiding and storing primary and spare car keys will help significantly reduce the risk of your vehicle being stolen.
When it comes to modern car keys, blocking the signal is fundamental to avoiding relay theft, an increasingly pervasive crime.
Recommended reading:
How To Find A Stolen Car in 3 Steps
Protect Your Vehicle From Auto Theft with These 6 Car Security Tips
Keep Your Vehicle Safe With These Top 5 Security Cameras For Cars
Another Car Blocking Your Driveway? | Here Is What You Should Do
How to Hide a Key (And Keep Home Invaders in the Dark)