Best way to cut a cable lock?

First time for everything, I guess 🙁
Yep.. locked up bike and lost the key!
Tried hacksaw, no jpy.
Only about half-inch thickness–twisted thin layers of steel.
Just after quickest/easiest way with minimal faff..

Side cutters

Asking for a friend? 😉

Ask the local chavs to sort it for you…..

Otherwise angle grinder

large boltcrops.

As Ton says

or battery angle grinder (2 second job) – stretch it across a block of wood

Also possible to put a bottle jack inside and pull it apart if its short enough

Fiskars X27

junior hacksaw took about 10seconds when I had to…

Large boltcrops will be the quietest. 14v angle grinder will be the quickest.

Hacksaw is surprisingly tricky on cheap ones, because it binds up. If it’s a half inch, there’s a decent chance you could cut it with kitchen scissors

Just give it a sharp tug.

As this article says, “never, ever use a cable lock”.

Who’s trying to steal your bike (and what tools are they using)?

If it were me and I had the problem locked at home I’d be getting an angle grinder on it.