How to turn off your RAV4's automatic parking brake (PKSB)

Quick picks

What PKSB, the automatic parking brake, actually does

So PKSB is the part of your RAV4 that brakes for you at parking speeds. Basically, if you're going about 9 mph or slower and you keep rolling toward a wall, a post or another object, PKSB first cuts the power. And if you still keep going, PKSB slams on the brakes. When you're backing up, PKSB also brakes for a car crossing behind you. On the 2026 RAV4, PKSB brakes for people walking behind you too.

PKSB uses the small round sensors in your front and rear bumpers to see walls and objects. And PKSB uses the radar in the rear corners of the RAV4 to see cars crossing behind you. Toyota's manual says PKSB reacts to objects about 6 to 13 feet away.

Now here's what you'll see on the screen behind the steering wheel when PKSB steps in, in this order:

1. "Object Detected Acceleration Reduced" means PKSB cut the power. There's no beep for this message.
2. "BRAKE!" with a short beep means PKSB is braking the RAV4. On a 2026, the beep is one long beep, and on a 2026 with the camera system, "BRAKE!" also shows on the center touchscreen.
3. "Switch to Brake" or "Press Brake Pedal" shows once the RAV4 has stopped.

Something to note is that PKSB only holds the brakes for about 2 seconds after the RAV4 stops, and then PKSB lets go. So once PKSB stops you, you'd want to press the brake pedal yourself right away. And Toyota says never to test PKSB by driving at a wall.

What Toyota has called PKSB over the years

So Toyota has used a few names for the automatic parking brake, which makes it harder to tell if your RAV4 has PKSB.

• On a 2019 RAV4, the window sticker calls the feature "Intelligent Clearance Sonar with Rear Cross-Traffic Braking."
• From 2020 on, the window sticker and brochure call the feature "Front and Rear Parking Assist with Automatic Braking."
• In the owner's manual and on the RAV4's screens, the automatic braking is always called PKSB, or Parking Support Brake.

The easiest way to tell if your RAV4 has PKSB is to look in the settings menu. If your RAV4 shows a line called PKSB in the settings, your RAV4 has the automatic parking brake. And if there's no PKSB line at all, your RAV4 didn't come with PKSB. On 2019 to 2025 RAV4s, PKSB came in packages or on the upper trims, which I go through in my 2019 to 2025 Technology Package guide. On the 2026, PKSB is standard on every trim except the LE, which I cover in my 2026 RAV4 technology guide.

The four separate switches, and what each one turns off

So the switches are the part that trips up almost every new owner. Your RAV4 has four different parking and crash features, and each feature has its own on and off switch. Turning off one of the four switches doesn't turn off the other three.

So basically, if you want the RAV4 to stop braking on its own while you park, the PKSB switch is the one that matters. And if you also want the beeping to stop, you'd turn off the Intuitive Parking Assist switch too.

Something to note about RCTA is that Toyota's manual doesn't say whether turning off RCTA changes the braking for crossing cars on 2019 to 2025 RAV4s. And owners don't agree on the answer. But the manual does say that turning off PKSB turns off all of the PKSB braking at once, including the braking for crossing cars. So if you want no automatic braking, PKSB is the switch to turn off.

When Toyota says to turn PKSB off

So Toyota's owner's manual has its own list of times to turn PKSB off, because something on or around the RAV4 could set off the braking by mistake. The list is the same in the 2019, 2022, 2023 to 2025 and 2026 manuals. So PKSB should be off any time one of these is true:

• A bicycle carrier, a towing eyelet, a bumper protector or a snow plow is near one of the bumper sensors. A towing eyelet is the screw-in tow hook.
• You're going through an automatic car wash.
• You're towing a trailer.
• The RAV4 is being loaded onto a truck or a boat, or tested on a roller machine, which Toyota calls a chassis dyno.
• The suspension has been modified, or the tires aren't the factory size.
• A heavy load raises or lowers the front of the RAV4.
• The RAV4 has been in an accident.
• You're doing sporty or off-road driving.
• The tire pressure is wrong, the tires are very worn, or you're using tire chains, the spare tire or the tire repair kit.

And keep in mind that Toyota's towing steps also say to turn PKSB off before the RAV4 is towed with the towing eyelet.

Now the reasons owners actually turn PKSB off are mostly bike racks, hitch-mounted spare tires, cargo carriers and small trailers. About 8 owners across RAV4World threads describe hard braking in reverse with one of those on the back. One owner's RAV4 even braked hard while backing out of a spot at the post office. If you go through car washes, I cover every step in my RAV4 car wash checklist.

How to tell which steps to follow for your RAV4

So the PKSB switch is in a different place depending on your RAV4's year and its gauge screen. Basically, the gauge screen is the screen behind the steering wheel, which Toyota calls the multi-information display.

• A 2019 to 2022 RAV4 has either a small 4.2-inch screen or a 7-inch screen between two round gauges. The PKSB steps are the same for both screen sizes.
• A 2023 to 2025 RAV4 with a 7-inch gauge screen has real needles on the gauges on each side of the screen. If your speedometer has a physical needle, you have the 7-inch screen.
• A 2023 to 2025 RAV4 with the 12.3-inch gauge screen has one big digital screen that fills the whole gauge area, with no physical needles. Toyota put the 12.3-inch screen on the Limited, and on the Hybrid XSE with the Technology Package.
• A 2026 RAV4 uses the center touchscreen for the PKSB switch, not the gauge screen.

The steering wheel buttons you'll use on 2019 to 2025

So on 2019 to 2025 RAV4s, you move around the gauge screen with the buttons on the left spoke of the steering wheel.

• The arrow pad is a round pad with up, down, left and right arrows.
• The OK button is in the middle of the arrow pad.
• The back button has a curved arrow on it and sits just to the right of the arrow pad. On most RAV4s, a phone button sits below the back button.

Toyota says to stop the RAV4 before you use the steering wheel buttons to change settings. So I'd park, shift into P, which is Park, and leave the RAV4 turned on before you start.

How to turn off PKSB: 2019 to 2022, and 2023 to 2025 with the 7-inch gauge screen

Here's the PKSB line in the gauge screen settings on a 2020 RAV4 Hybrid, switched to OFF, with the orange PKSB OFF light now showing at the lower right, from Hoosier in the woods' video.

The steps below work on gas and hybrid RAV4s from 2019 to 2022 with either the 4.2-inch or the 7-inch gauge screen. And the same steps work on 2023 to 2025 RAV4s with the 7-inch gauge screen.

1. Turn the RAV4 on, so the engine is running or the gauge screen shows READY on a hybrid. Stop and shift into P.
2. Press the left or right arrow on the steering wheel pad until the gear icon is highlighted. The gear icon is the settings tab, in the row of icons on the gauge screen. You'll see a list of settings.
3. Press the down arrow to move through the list until you reach PKSB. On a 2023 to 2025, the line reads PKSB (Parking Support Brake System). The PKSB line shows "On."
4. Press OK once. The PKSB line changes to "Off," a message confirms the change, and the PKSB OFF light comes on in the gauge screen.
5. Press the back button to leave the settings.

And to turn PKSB back on, you'd follow the same steps and press OK on the PKSB line again. The PKSB line then reads "On," and the PKSB OFF light goes out.

Now the parking beeps switch is in the same list. The parking beeps line is called Intuitive Parking Assist, and RCTA has its own line a few rows away. Owners describe the little icons next to each line in different ways, so I'd go by the letters PKSB on the line rather than the icon.

How to turn off PKSB: 2023 to 2025 with the 12.3-inch gauge screen

So the 12.3-inch gauge screen is split into three areas: left, center and right. That's why the 12.3-inch screen needs one extra step to get a cursor first.

1. Turn the RAV4 on, stop and shift into P.
2. Press and hold OK on the steering wheel pad until a cursor, which is a highlight box, shows up on the gauge screen.
3. With the cursor on the center area of the gauge screen, press the up or down arrow until the gear icon is highlighted. Then press OK.
4. Press the up or down arrow to move the cursor to PKSB (Parking Support Brake System).
5. Press OK to switch PKSB off. The PKSB OFF light comes on in the gauge screen.
6. Press the back button to finish.

And to turn PKSB back on, you'd follow the same steps and press OK on the PKSB line again.

Something to note is that the parking beeps line is in the same list. In the Toyota dealer's video further down this page, he scrolls down past the parking beeps line to reach PKSB. And he points out that the parking beeps line "just beeps." So make sure the cursor is on PKSB before you press OK.

RAV4 Prime, 2021 to 2025

So the RAV4 Prime is the plug-in hybrid RAV4. I haven't been able to confirm the Prime's PKSB steps from a Prime owner's manual, because Toyota's site doesn't have one for the 2021 to 2025 Prime. But Prime owners on RAV4World describe the same gauge screen settings as the regular RAV4. So on a Prime, I'd follow the 7-inch or 12.3-inch steps above, whichever matches the gauge screen in your Prime.

How to turn off PKSB on a 2026 RAV4

So on the 2026 RAV4, Toyota moved the PKSB switch to the center touchscreen. The 2026 manual's settings table shows PKSB can only be changed on the touchscreen, not on the gauge screen. The same goes for the parking beeps switch, which the 2026 calls Parking Assist-Sensor, and the RCTA switch.

These are the steps Toyota's 2026 manuals give:

1. Stop, set the parking brake and shift into P. Leave the hybrid system on. Toyota says to change these settings in P with the hybrid system running.
2. On the center touchscreen, tap the gear icon, which is Settings, on the main menu.
3. Tap Driving Assist in the side menu. The 2026 multimedia manual says the Driving Assist menu holds the Parking Assist-Sensor settings and the other driving support settings.
4. Find PKSB (Parking Support Brake) and tap PKSB to switch PKSB off.
5. The PKSB OFF light comes on in the gauge screen, and a message shows.

And to turn PKSB back on, you'd go back to the same PKSB line and tap PKSB on again.

Now if you just bought a 2026 and the RAV4 doesn't seem to brake when you creep toward your garage wall, check the PKSB switch on the touchscreen first. One owner who traded a 2022 for a 2026 XLE Premium noticed his 2026 didn't seem to brake. Other owners told him to make sure PKSB was on, and that he wasn't mixing up PKSB with the parking beeps.

Times the 2026 turns PKSB off by itself

So the 2026 RAV4 turns PKSB off on its own for a while in a few situations. The 2026 manual lists these four situations:

• Folding the outside mirrors turns off PKSB, and turns off RCTA too.
• Opening the back door, which is Toyota's word for the liftgate, turns off PKSB.
• Opening a side door turns off PKSB.
• Hooking up a trailer turns off PKSB, RCTA and the rear parking sensors once the 2026 confirms a trailer is connected.

What happens after you turn PKSB off

So the four switches don't all behave the same way when you restart the RAV4. The table below shows what stays off and what turns itself back on.

So basically, PKSB and the parking beeps stay off until you turn them back on, but RCTA comes back on its own on 2019 to 2025. Now a common trap is forgetting to turn PKSB back on. Owners who turn PKSB off for a bike rack tend to forget PKSB is still off. The PKSB OFF light on the gauge screen is your reminder. So if you see the PKSB OFF light and nothing is on the back anymore, turn PKSB back on.

And if the PKSB OFF light is flashing, or the gauge screen says "PKSB Unavailable," that's a different problem from turning PKSB off. I cover what the flashing light means and how to fix it in my PKSB Unavailable guide.

How to quiet the parking beeps for now, without turning anything off

So if you just want the beeping to stop for a moment, like in a car wash or a tight garage, you don't have to turn anything off. You can mute the parking beeps instead.

• On 2019 to 2025, when the parking beeps start, the gauge screen offers a mute option. Press OK on the steering wheel to mute the parking beeps for now. The mute cancels when you change gear, go above a set speed, or restart the RAV4. So in a car wash, you'd shift into N, or Neutral, first and then mute.
• On the 2026, a mute button shows up on the center touchscreen when the sensors detect something. The 2026 mute button quiets the parking sensor, RCTA and rear camera detection beeps together. The 2026 mute cancels when you change gear.

But keep in mind that muting only stops the noise. Muting the parking beeps does not turn off the automatic braking.

Common PKSB problems owners run into

• "I turned off the beeps and the RAV4 still slammed on the brakes." This is the most common mix-up by far. The beeps switch and the PKSB switch are separate, so you'd turn off PKSB to stop the braking.
• "My RAV4 says Parking Brake Unavailable." That message is about the electric parking brake, the one you set with the switch near the shifter. The electric parking brake is not PKSB, even though the names look alike. Owners say "Parking Brake Unavailable" usually comes from a weak 12-volt battery or bad wiring, like a dash cam spliced into the car's wiring.
• "My RAV4 brakes hard in reverse with my bike rack on." A bike rack, hitch-mounted spare tire, cargo carrier or small trailer can sit close enough to the rear sensors to set off PKSB. Toyota's manual says to turn PKSB off when a bicycle carrier or towing eyelet is near a sensor.
• "I can't find the PKSB switch." On 2019 to 2025, the PKSB switch is on the gauge screen behind the steering wheel, not the center touchscreen. On the 2026, the PKSB switch is on the center touchscreen, not the gauge screen.
• "My RAV4 braked for nothing." Toyota says PKSB can brake for things that aren't a real threat. Toyota's list includes railroad crossing arms, tall grass, banners, low branches, gates, narrow tunnels, steep slopes, metal grates and a moving automatic car wash. When PKSB brakes for something like that, press the brake or wait about 2 seconds, and then you can drive.

Tips and things other sites get wrong

• The parking beeps can sound without PKSB braking. The area where the sensors beep and the area where PKSB brakes are different sizes. So hearing the beeps doesn't mean PKSB is about to brake.
• PKSB may not brake for objects when the shift lever is in N. Toyota's manual says the object braking may not work in N. But I'd still turn PKSB off before a car wash, as Toyota's own list says to.
• PKSB doesn't come in the same package every year. Some sites say only the Limited has PKSB, or that PKSB comes in one particular package. Which RAV4s have PKSB changes by year and package, so the PKSB line in your settings menu is the real answer.
• On 2019 to 2025, the PKSB switch is on the gauge screen. A lot of how-to pages skip this, so owners waste time looking through the center touchscreen.
• Turn PKSB back on when you're done. Once the bike rack, trailer or car wash is behind you, turning PKSB back on gets you the parking protection again.

Videos that show the PKSB switch

And if you'd like to see the PKSB switch on a real screen, here are the clearest videos I found. You can play each video right here on the page, and YouTube's usual controls work, including skipping ahead, changing the speed and going full screen. Under each video, I've put a quick summary so you can decide whether the video is worth your time.