How to Open a Genesis with a Dead Key Fob
- First, if you are already inside, click here for help getting started!
- Second, you can find video help here!
- Finally, if you need or want another manufacturer, click here.
Retrieving the mechanical key
To use the most common Genesis key fob, press and hold the release button at the key ring end of the remote control or ‘clicker’ and pull the key ring to remove mechanical key. Use the key to unlock the driver’s door. They remain in limited use today (2025).
Newer version key fobs are available from the car maker. They look very similar and operate in the same way.
If a key hole is visible, use the key to unlock the driver’s door.
Genesis has added a new key fob, which has the mechanical key inside the fob. To remove the mechanical key first place a soft cloth over the groove on the side of the fob (narrow arrow). The cloth is for protection of the plastic. Then use a small screwdriver to pry open the cover. Do this carefully! The press the mechanical key (large blue arrow) on the bottom end and remove it from fob.
Genesis has also introduced new digital access options, which has resulted in a mechanical key being supplied separately from yet another new fob! It is removed by putting a little pressure on the long end and pushing it out.
In our opinion, this development is a prescription for disaster, as the mechanical keys can easily be lost or simply left behind, so by all means activate the additional unlock features described below!
Hidden Keyholes
Two Piece Door Handles
The newly-independent Genesis line, who’s models debuted in 2017, adopted the hidden keyhole trick. Changes were made to the G80 and GV80 in 2021 and newly introduced models use other methods found below. These models all feature a two-piece door handle. As shown in the image to the left, press the mechanical key into the slot found under the cover at the back of the driver’s door handle (1) and pull forward and up (2). Note that the moment the once the key is in the slot, the cover is free to move with your hands! There is a black button in the slot that is being pushed up with the key in this move.
One Piece Door Handles
Genesis GV60 and G90 (beginning with the 2023 model year) vehicles feature a flush door handle. A push on the front of the handle will rotate the rear part outward. Then pull the handle out as far as it will go. In the GV60, the key hole is immediately visible (left). The mechanical key can be inserted and turned to unlock the vehicle.
The G90 adds a cover that is revealed when the handle is pulled out, likely protection from the elements. Swing it out towards the rear of the car (right). The key hole is revealed and the key can be used to unlock the car.
Beginning in 2021, in G80, GV70 and GV80 models, the key hole or lock cylinder is revealed immediately behind the driver’s door handle when it is pulled to the open position, as seen to the left. The mechanical or emergency key can then be simply inserted into the key hole and turned to unlock and open the vehicle.
Digital Unlock Options
Genesis vehicles that include a separate mechanical key include two digital options and a facial recognition option. Digital options include a pre-registered card key and a smart phone app on a registered smart phone. The card key and app can also start the car. However, facial recognition will only open the vehicle, so the key fob, card key or smart phone app will be needed to start the car.
Place the registered smart phone or card key against the pad for two seconds to unlock the driver’s door and for four seconds to unlock all the doors.
Facial recognition is accomplished using a camera mounted in the pillar behind the driver’s door. Again, this will only allow entry and other means will be needed to start the car, so this is of limited value.
However, given that the mechanical key is supplied separately and can be far too easily misplaced, we highly recommend following the instructions in the owner’s manual to activate both the smart phone and facial recognition features as back up entry options and to keep the card key with you at all times.
Also, check our videos for additional help.
Continue to Part II, Getting Started …
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
Open and Start GMC
These include are the Acadia, Canyon, Hummer, Sierra, Terrain, and Yukon.
Mercedes Benz video
But the primary reason for this update is to cover getting past two new door handles added since 2022, including the one seen here.
It gets a little more complicated from here. There are four electronic key styles that have a mechanical key hiding inside. In the first three (right), the arrow points to a button or slide lever. Push the button or slide the lever and pull the key ring end to remove the mechanical key.
This fourth style is used exclusively in some Astra models and the mechanical key is hiding behind a cover. Press locking mechanism on back side and remove cap by pushing it gently forward. Push the mechanical key towards the outside over the detent and pull it away.
In some Astra and Insignia models, the key hole is hiding behind a cap at the back of the driver’s door handle. Look for a slot under the cap. Insert the mechanical key into the slot and again hold upward pressure. Then rotate the key upward until the cap comes away (right).
Holden uses three key fob or transmitter styles. To get in the vehicle when the key fob battery is dead, a mechanical key will have to retrieved from the fob and used to unlock the car.
The next two (shown to the right) feature a removable mechanical key and are quite similar (one has more buttons than the other). Each has a button on the side of the transmitter (remote control or ‘clicker’) near the key ring end. Press the button, as shown, and pull the key out.
The Commodore, Acadia and and Equinox models are hiding their key holes behind a cover at the back of the driver’s door handle. To remove the cap on the Acadia and Equinox, pull the door handle out to the open position. Insert the key into the slot on the bottom of the cap (number 3, right).
The cap on the Commodore is slightly different but there is still a slot under the cap. Insert the mechanical key into the slot and again hold upward pressure. Then rotate the key upward until the cap comes away.
Hyundai, Kia, Genesis back up entry page overhaul is complete
We just completed the last step of a Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis back up entry page overhaul. The intent is to fully separate the three manufacturers who now have way too many back up entry processes.
As a first step, we separated Genesis, admittedly the simplest of the three. Overall, the page used to have only a handful of entry processes, made necessary when the battery in the key fob dies. But Hyundai in particular seems to add a new one each year!
The final step was to move Kia to its own page, leaving parent company Hyundai to populate the original. Its done, and we believe that the result is a cleaner and simpler user experience across all three vehicle lines.
And given that we have 18 videos from all three manufacturers lumped together, it’s likely time to separate them as well…
The new Genesis page is here.
The new Kia page is here.
And the original page, now belonging solely to Hyundai, is here.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY