What is a Simple Key? It should open a simple door, right? That's exactly what they do in Hollow Knight: Silksong, but you might find more doors than keys, or vice versa.
This guide covers the location of every single Simple Key and all the doors you can unlock with them. There are some good items hiding behind those doors, so they're worth hunting down!
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All Simple Keys
If you're missing a key or just want to check which ones you already have, then here's the location of all four Simple Keys in the game.
Key 1 - Bone Bottom, Pebb's store
Once Pebb has opened up his store in Bone Bottom, you can buy your first Simple Key from him for a rather pricey 500 Rosaries.
If you're running low on cash, there are some great early-game farming spots we recommend in our Rosary Farming guide.
Key 2 - Sinner's Road, Roachkeeper fight
The next key you'll likely come across is in Sinner's Road, which is one of the paths you can take to reach Silksong's second Act — though we don't recommend it as it's the tougher of the two routes.
Anyway, when you reach the broken bench (and Shakra), you want to head all the way to the top of the area, where you'll find yourself in a long corridor where you can go east or west. Go east and fight your way through the Roaches until you find a tall room.
Climb to the very top of the room and you'll be forced to fight a Roachkeeper. Defeat him and you'll get your key.
Key 3 - Choral Chambers (Songclave), Jubilana's store
When you complete 'The Wandering Merchant' Wish, Jubliana will open up a store outside of the First Shrine, Songclave.
One of her items? A Simple Key, of course. It's expensive, though; 750 Rosaries.
Key 4 - Sands of Karak, Bench
ore you defeat the boss in the Sands of Karak, there's only one bench here, and that's also home to your last Simple Key. You'll need Clawline and Double Jump to get here.
To reach the Sands of Karak, you need to head to the area you fought the Great Conchflies in the Blasted Steps. Beyond that is a Pinmaster and her home. Rest at the bench there as this is the only one you get until you open up some shortcuts or reach the destination bench.
There are lots of tricky platforming challenges on the way, but keep heading east until you reach a tall room with a breakable wall. Break it, and head through there to reach your bench and your Simple Key.
All Locked Doors
As you'd expect, with four Simple Keys, there are four locked doors scattered throughout Pharloom that you can use them on. Here's where to find them all.
Door 1 - Above Bone Bottom, the Wormways
The first door is accessible as soon as you have access to Swift Step. Use the elevator from Bone Bottom to reach the grassy area outside of Mosshome and jump across the broken elevators to the west to reach a new area.
Here, be careful, there's a huge monster that will spit acid at you and chase you, hanging from the ceiling. Run if you're doing this early in the game — it's dangerous and will do a lot of damage.
Just keep running west then jump at the end to reach a new room. Below is a hidden Mask Shard, but ahead of you is a locked door, which will lead you to the Wormways.
Door 2 - Sinner's Road, Green Prince cage
You'll meet the Green Prince as you traverse through Sinner's Road, and there's a very clear padlock on his door that needs opening up.
He's in the second room of the area, and you just need to use the Drifter's Cloak to avoid the spikes and get to him.
When you free him, he will thank you and promise to leave the area. He's particularly relevant to an optional boss fight during Act 3 of the game. So if there's only one door you want to open, then make it this door. For more details on the Green Prince's story, check our our guide on the Green Prince and Lost Verdania.
Door 3 - Deep Docks, Under the Forge Daughter's store
You can technically unlock this door a lot earlier, but we highly recommend waiting until you have Cling Grip, Clawline, and Double Jump.
Head to the Forge Daughter's store and rest at the bench here. To the right, drop down the trap doors and then head right. Jump over the lava to unlock the door.
This opens up a huge new section of Deep Docks with some rather annoying foes, but there are plenty of goodies down here, including a Tool, a Spool Fragment, and a boss!
Door 4 - High Halls, By Ventrica station
This one's very easy to find, but it requires you to explore the entirety of High Halls, one of the last areas of the game.
Once you reach the Ventrica station and Bench, leave the room and head east until you see some platforms above you. Hop up and unlock the door here.
This door houses tons of Rosaries, and a brand new Tool.
If we find any more Simple Keys or doors, we'll update this guide! But if you need help unlocking more secrets, head to our Hollow Knight: Silksong walkthrough hub.