A garage door that won't open is almost always one of nine things, and about half of them you can fix in under five minutes without any tools. Before you call anyone, work through this checklist in order — the fixes get progressively more serious, and stopping at the first thing that works can save you a $150 service call. If you get past cause number four and still have no movement, that's when it's time to bring in a pro.
Look at the LED on the opener motor. If it's dark, the outlet lost power. Reset the GFCI in your garage or laundry room, check the breaker, and plug a lamp into the outlet to confirm. A surprising number of 'dead opener' calls turn out to be a tripped GFCI from a heat wave, a lightning storm the night before, or a beer fridge on the same circuit that cycled hard.
If the LED is on but the wall button and remote both do nothing, the logic board may have failed — jump to cause number eight below.
The wall button works but the remote doesn't. Pop the remote open, swap the coin cell (usually a CR2032 or CR2450), and try again. Cost: $3, time: 30 seconds. This is the number one reason a garage door 'won't open' — start here every single time, and while you're at it, swap the battery in every remote in the house so you don't repeat this next month.
Every opener made since 1993 has photo-eye sensors 4 to 6 inches off the ground on each side of the door. If one sensor's LED is off or blinking, the opener will refuse to close (and on some models, refuse to open too). Wipe both lenses, make sure nothing — a bike, a bag of mulch, a spider web — is blocking the beam, and gently nudge the brackets until both LEDs are solid. This is the second most common cause and takes about two minutes to check.
Modern wall consoles have a 'lock' or 'vacation' button that disables all remotes. Somebody in the house probably leaned on it. Hold the lock button for 2 seconds until the LED stops blinking. If your kids are old enough to reach the wall console, this happens more often than you'd think.
Walk into the garage and look up. If you see a 2-inch gap in the coiled spring above the door, that's your problem. The opener will hum or lift the door six inches and stop because it's not rated to carry the door's full weight. Do not keep pressing the button — you'll burn out the opener. See our full spring replacement cost guide for pricing and what to expect.
If one side of the door is lower than the other, or a cable is dangling loose, the lift cable snapped or came off the drum. Do not operate the door — it can fall. This is a same-day service call for a licensed tech, typically $150 to $300 to repair, and it needs to happen before anyone parks under that door again.
The opener motor runs but the chain or belt doesn't move. Nine times out of ten, that's a stripped plastic drive gear inside the motor housing. Replacement gear kits are $25 and take about 45 minutes if you're handy; a tech will charge $150 to $250 installed. On any opener older than 12 years, replacing the whole opener is usually the smarter play.
The door opens partway and stops, or opens all the way and immediately reverses. Adjust the up/down travel screws on the back of the opener a quarter turn at a time until it behaves. The manual for your specific model has the exact procedure — it's five minutes of work with a Phillips-head screwdriver.
Nothing responds — not the wall button, not the remote, not the keypad. If the outlet has power and the internal light doesn't come on, the logic board is toast. Replacement boards are $80 to $200 and are model-specific; on an opener older than 10 years, replacing the whole unit is usually the smarter play because the rest of the opener isn't far behind.
The red rope hanging from the trolley disconnects the door from the opener so you can operate it manually during a power outage. If it's been pulled, the opener motor will run but the door won't move. Pull the rope toward the door (not down), then run the opener through one full cycle to re-engage. This one catches everyone at least once.
This is almost always the safety sensors. The opener starts to lift, then realizes the beam is broken (or thinks it is), and reverses as a safety measure. Clean both photo-eye lenses, check for cobwebs, and confirm both LEDs are solid green. If that doesn't fix it, one sensor is likely bad — replacement pairs are $30 to $60 and take about 15 minutes to install.
Two likely culprits: the emergency release rope was pulled (re-engage it by pulling toward the door and cycling the opener), or the internal drive gear stripped. Look inside the motor housing — if you see plastic shavings, the gear is done. It's a common failure on 10+ year old chain-drive openers and a straightforward repair for a technician.
No. If the door is fighting you, something structural is wrong — usually a broken spring, snapped cable, or door off its tracks. Forcing it can send the door crashing down or bend the tracks into a much more expensive repair. Pull the emergency release, leave the door in whatever position it's in, and call a pro. This is not a job for muscle.
Most garage door companies charge a $60 to $125 service call fee that's waived if you approve the repair. Get the fee confirmed in writing before the tech arrives, and be wary of any company advertising a $19 service call — that's a bait price and the real quote will be dramatically higher when the tech shows up.
Yes. Pull the red emergency release rope hanging from the opener's trolley. This disconnects the door from the motor and lets you lift it by hand. Just be aware that a door with a broken spring will be extremely heavy — 200+ pounds — and shouldn't be lifted manually. When power returns, pull the rope toward the door and run the opener to re-engage.