If you revoked a guest's access in the DOOR App but the guest can still unlock the door, the revoke is most likely already successful on your account — but the lock itself hasn't been updated yet. DOOR devices fall into two categories: internet-connected doors, which receive access changes from the cloud within a few minutes; and non-internet-connected doors (including most residence doors and many communal doors), which only learn about a change when a phone with access performs a door sync within Bluetooth range. Until that sync happens, the lock is still running its previous list of credentials, which may still include your guest.
This article is for the resident who sent and then revoked a guest's access. If you are the guest whose access was revoked, the resident or property manager controls your access — contact them directly.
Symptom
- You revoked a guest in the DOOR App → Access → Manage Guests, and the guest no longer appears as active there.
- Despite that, the guest is still able to unlock the door with a doorcode.
Why this happens
DOOR distinguishes two classes of locks:
- Internet-connected doors. These receive access changes from the cloud automatically, usually within a few minutes. A revoke propagates to the lock without any action from you.
- Non-internet-connected doors — which includes residence doors and any communal door that isn't connected to the internet on your property's side. These locks store their credential list on-device and only refresh it when a phone with DOOR App access performs a door sync while within Bluetooth range. If no one with access approaches the door with the DOOR App, the lock keeps running the old credential list — including the guest you revoked.
This means your guest's access is already cancelled on your account the moment you confirmed the revoke. But the physical lock at the door may still let the guest in until a sync reaches it.
Quick fix
- Confirm the revoke completed on your side. Open the DOOR App, go to Access → Guests, and check that the guest no longer shows with active access. If they still appear as active there, the revoke didn't complete — re-run it (select the guest, tap Revoke Access at the bottom, confirm).
- Perform a manual door sync. Within Bluetooth range (~3 m) of the affected door, open the DOOR App, tap the door, tap the gear icon, and tap Sync door. Keep the phone near the device until the sync completes (usually under 30 seconds). A sync pushes the updated credential list — which no longer includes the revoked guest — to the lock. See How to perform a Door Sync.
- Confirm by testing. If possible, ask the guest (or test yourself with their now-revoked credential, if safe and applicable) to try unlocking again after the sync completes. If the revoke has reached the lock, the attempt should now fail.
If the door is internet-connected and the revoke still hasn't taken effect after 10–15 minutes, escalate — see below.
Which type of guest access was shared?
How the revoke behaves at the physical door depends on the type of access originally shared. From the DOOR App → Access → Guests → Add Guest +, a resident has two main options:
- Send App Access — the guest gets a DOOR App login via email. They unlock with the app.
- Send doorcode (daily doorcode) — the guest gets a numeric code by email or SMS that works for either the rest of today (expires midnight tonight) or the full 24-hour window starting midnight tonight.
Both types of access require a door sync on non-internet-connected doors for the revoke to fully take effect at the lock. The timing is the same.
If your guest was issued a daily doorcode, the code also naturally expires at its original end-of-day even without a revoke + sync. If the door isn't reached by a sync in time, the code will still expire on its own schedule — but do not rely on that for a guest you're revoking early.
When to escalate
Contact your property management team if:
- You performed the door sync and the guest can still unlock hours later.
- The affected door is a communal door that your property says is internet-connected and the revoke still hasn't propagated after more than 15–30 minutes.
- You revoked guests at multiple doors and only some of them took effect.
Contact DOOR Support if:
- You confirmed the revoke is complete in Guests.
- You completed at least one manual door sync on the affected non-internet-connected door since the revoke.
- The guest can still unlock afterward — especially if this is consistent across multiple guests or doors.
- You are not sure whether the original guest access was App Access or a daily doorcode (DOOR Support can review the access history to confirm).
Include: the door name, the time you revoked the guest, the time you performed the sync, the type of access originally shared if you know, and what credential the guest is still using to unlock.
This article does not cover
- How to invite a guest in the first place, or the types of guest access available — see Inviting Guests and Revoking Guest Access.
- How a door sync works or how to perform one — see How to perform a Door Sync.
- Revoking access for a resident (not a guest) — that's a property manager action, see How do I invite, edit, or remove a resident in DOOR OS?.
- Cancelling a daily doorcode before its natural expiration — see Inviting Guests and Revoking Guest Access for the revoke flow.
- Out-of-schedule or other unlock errors at the same door — see I'm having issues unlocking my door or seeing a Bluetooth Error and I'm getting an 'Out of Schedule' error in the DOOR App.
Related articles
- Inviting Guests and Revoking Guest Access
- How to perform a Door Sync
- How do I invite, edit, or remove a resident in DOOR OS?
Questions this article answers
- "I revoked my guest but they can still unlock the door."
- "Why does revoking guest access not take effect immediately?"
- "Do I need to sync the door after revoking a guest?"
- "Does a revoked daily doorcode still work?"
- "How long does it take for a revoke to reach the lock?"