Digital Mechanical Locks — Passage Mode vs Holdback Mode: What’s the Difference?

Both features allow temporary free access — but they do it in very different ways, and one of them is never allowed on a fire door.

Many mechanical digital locks, including some Borg models, offer either passage mode or holdback mode. The terms are often confused because both allow a door or gate to be used without entering a code every time — but they are not the same thing.

The simple difference: passage mode leaves the latch working but unlocks the handle, while holdback mode holds the latch retracted so the door or gate cannot latch closed.

This guide covers:

• What each function actually does to the lock, mechanically
• When each one earns its keep — and the risks of leaving them on
• The fire door hard exclusion, and what holdback needs to be legal on a pool barrier gate
• Why shared and strata gates usually want neither function
• What the exit-path rules mean for knob versus lever models

If you are new to this style of lock, start with the main guide on how mechanical digital locks work and come back.

The Simple Answer

Quick way to remember it: passage mode unlocks the handle. Holdback mode holds back the latch.

What Is Passage Mode?

Passage mode example: the door can still latch closed, but the handle stays unlocked so people can come and go without entering a code.

When Is Passage Mode Useful?

Passage mode suits a door that should remain easy to use for a period of time, while the latch keeps holding it closed:

• Business hours on a staff door
• A storeroom during active use
• A meeting room or office during the day
• A commercial door where access is temporarily open
• A controlled area where the lock is only required after hours

A model such as the Borg BL7701 heavy duty lock with free passage is built exactly for this style of temporary free access on commercial doors.

What Is Holdback Mode?

Holdback mode works differently. Instead of unlocking the handle, holdback holds the latch in the retracted position — the latch is no longer projecting into the strike at all.

In simple terms: the door or gate cannot latch while holdback is engaged. It may close against the frame, but nothing is holding it there.

Holdback mode example: the latch is physically held back, so the gate swings freely. Useful for temporary convenience — but the gate has nothing holding it closed while the function is active.

When Is Holdback Mode Useful?

Holdback is best treated as a short-term convenience. If you are bringing in shopping, moving bins, carrying tools or walking back and forth through a front gate several times, holdback stops the gate latching every time it closes:

• Bringing shopping through a front gate
• Moving bins in and out
• Carrying tools or materials through a gate
• Temporary access during gardening or maintenance

Used carefully, it is genuinely handy. Left on, it is a problem: the gate may blow open in wind, sit partly open, or look closed without being secured — and shared users forget to turn it off. Treat it as a temporary feature, never a permanent state on a gate that is meant to stay secured.

A model such as the Borg BL2601 marine grade knob lock includes an optional holdback function, and for narrow gate frames the Borg BL2202SC pairs holdback with a 28mm latch.

Function availability differs even within a series: the Carbine CDL7100-HBSC-HD heavy duty carries holdback, while the CDL7200LL dual-lever model does not. Always check the exact model.

The Key Difference

The most important difference is what happens to the latch.

Passage mode allows the latch to keep working. The lever is unlocked, but the latch still catches into the strike when the door closes.

Holdback mode stops the latch from engaging. The latch is held back, so the door or gate may close against the frame, but it is not actually latched.

Practical takeaway: passage mode is generally better when you still want the door held closed. Holdback mode is for when you temporarily do not want the door or gate to latch at all — and that distinction is exactly why holdback is banned outright on fire doors, and needs the right setup on pool barrier gates — both below.

Never on a Fire Door

A fire door only does its job when it is closed and latched — the latch is part of what holds the doorset intact against fire and smoke. A latch that is held retracted defeats the door entirely, which is why the manufacturers are blunt about it. The Lockwood DX service manual states plainly: "Holdback must not be activated on fire doors."

The same logic applies to every brand's holdback function, not just Lockwood's. If the door is a fire door, holdback is never engaged — full stop. The lock itself must also be fire certified for the doorset: the requirements are covered in which locks are compliant on apartment fire doors and the AS 1905.1 fire doorset standard.

Hard exclusion: holdback must never be activated on a fire door. A held-back latch means the doorset cannot perform in a fire, and interfering with a required fire door is a compliance breach, not just a bad habit.

Pool Safety Barrier Gates

Pool barrier gates are not a hard exclusion — they are a setup question. A gate forming part of a pool safety barrier must self-close from any position and self-latch automatically. In a compliant setup, that self-latching duty is performed by a dedicated high-level pool latch such as the D&D MagnaLatch — not by the mechanical digital lock's own latch. The mech-digi lock handles keyed-in access control; the MagnaLatch keeps the barrier legal.

That separation is what makes holdback workable on a pool gate: with a compliant MagnaLatch fitted and doing the self-latching, engaging holdback on the mechanical digital lock does not stop the gate from self-latching. The full pool barrier treatment is in our guide to pool safety barrier gates.

Pool safety barrier gates: holdback is fine on a pool barrier gate so long as a compliant self-latching pool latch is fitted and doing the self-latching — such as the D&D MagnaLatch, which provides the high-level latch release the barrier rules require. Never rely on the mechanical digital lock's own latch as the barrier latch. That combination is one we are comfortable fitting. Final approval always rests with a licensed pool safety inspector — have the gate certified before you rely on it.

Pool equipment enclosures, pump rooms and access gates that are not part of the safety barrier are a different matter — holdback can be used on those the same as any other gate.

Apartment Blocks and Shared Gates

In an apartment block, strata property, shared entry gate or high-use common area, neither passage mode nor holdback mode is usually ideal. The whole point of a shared access gate is to keep the area controlled — and if one person leaves the lock in a free access mode, everyone has free access:

• Residents may accidentally leave the gate unsecured
• Visitors or trades may forget to turn the function off
• Holdback may stop the gate from latching altogether
• Passage mode may leave the handle unlocked for anyone to use
• The gate no longer provides the access control people expect

Where a shared gate genuinely must stay controlled in both directions, the better instrument is usually a lock with a keypad on each side rather than a free-access mode — see why double-sided locks suit shared gates.

Shared gate warning: for apartment blocks and shared access gates, these functions are best disabled or avoided unless there is a very specific management process in place.

Doors in Required Exit Paths

While choosing between functions, commercial buyers also need to check the door itself — because on some doors the format of the lock is regulated before the functions even come into it.

Doors in required exit paths: under NCC 2022 D3D26, a door in a required exit — or on the way to one — has to open from the inside without a key, with a single downward action on a lever or a single push. Knobs fail that test because they need a grasp-and-twist, and the ABCB guidance rules them out on these doors. So if the door sits on an exit path, it needs to be a lever model. That is what "BCA compliant lever" means on the Carbine CDL7200 heavy duty range, and it is why Borg builds the BL5401 flat-bar DDA lever to AS 1428.1. One thing worth knowing: the inside lever on these locks always gives free egress. Passage mode and holdback make no difference to getting out — they only change how people get in.

Passage mode has a natural home on those doors — free egress during business hours with the latch still doing its job. Holdback does not.

Can These Functions Be Disabled?

On some models, yes. Some Borg mechanical digital locks include parts or plugs that disable the passage or holdback function when it is not wanted — useful in managed environments where users should never be able to put the lock into a free access mode.

Because the exact function varies by model, always check the product listing before ordering.

Before buying: check whether the lock has passage mode, holdback mode, neither, or both — and whether the function can be disabled if required.

Which Should You Choose?

Choose a lock with passage mode if you want the latch to keep working while allowing temporary code-free access. Choose a lock with holdback mode if you want the latch held back for short periods, such as bringing shopping through a front gate. For apartment blocks, strata gates, shared entries and areas that should stay locked at all times, avoid or disable both. Which models carry which function is one of the things a curated range gets right — see how the professional range compares.

Related Guides

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Disclaimer: This article is general information only. Passage mode and holdback mode vary by lock model and installation. The correct product depends on your door or gate, security requirements, user behaviour and intended application. Always confirm the exact function before purchasing or installing hardware.