Guide

Garage Door Opener Not Working: What to Check, in Order

Updated August 27, 2026 · 7 min read · Researched in-house by GarageDoorProHQ

Part of our guide to Garage Door Repair Cost in 2026.

Short answer

Three checks cost nothing and cover most opener call-outs: mains power at the outlet, the photo-eye sensors near the floor, and the emergency release cord. Work through them in that order. If the door starts to close then reverses with the opener light flashing, it is the photo-eyes. If the motor runs but nothing moves, the release cord has been pulled. Beyond those, a diagnostic visit runs $75–$150 and is normally credited against the repair.

Photo-eye sensor, one each side
Infrared beam between them
Anything breaking the beam reverses the door
About six inches above the floor

The fault that most often needs no technician. If the door starts down and reverses, something is breaking this beam — a cobweb, a leaf, a bike wheel, or a bracket knocked out of line.

The three checks that cost nothing

Start with power, because a dead circuit presents exactly like a dead motor: no light, no hum, no response from either the wall button or the remote. Garage outlets frequently share a circuit with an exterior socket, so whatever tripped it may be outside and nothing to do with the door. Check the breaker and, if the outlet is a GFCI, its reset button.

Second, look at the two photo-eye sensors mounted about six inches above the floor on either side of the opening. They are the most common cause of an opener that appears broken, and they are one of the few parts of the system a homeowner is actively meant to touch. Both should show a steady indicator light. A blinking light, or one that has gone dark, means the pair are no longer seeing each other.

Third, find the emergency release cord — the red handle hanging from the rail — and check whether it has been pulled. If it has, the trolley is disconnected from the door and the motor will run perfectly while nothing happens. This is the most misdiagnosed fault on the list, and it is often pulled by accident by someone tall, or deliberately by someone who has since forgotten.

The door starts to close, then stops and goes back up

This is the photo-eye fault and it has a signature: the door travels a few inches, changes its mind, returns to fully open, and the opener light flashes several times. That flashing is the opener telling you the safety beam is broken. It is a report, not a fault of its own.

The causes are mundane. A cobweb across a lens. A leaf blown against a bracket. A bin or a bicycle wheel parked in the beam. A bracket knocked out of true by a car door. Overnight condensation fogging one lens. Wipe both lenses with a dry cloth and nudge one bracket until its indicator light is steady rather than blinking, then try the door again.

If one sensor stays dark no matter how it is aimed, suspect the wiring rather than the sensor. Low-voltage wire stapled to a stud and later pierced during a garage tidy-up is a recurring cause. That is where the free checks end — sensor realignment or replacement runs $85–$200 fitted, and chasing a damaged run through a wall is not a homeowner job.

The motor runs but the door does not move

Two causes, easily told apart by watching the trolley — the carriage that travels along the rail. If the trolley is moving and the door is not, the emergency release has been pulled and the door is simply disconnected. Re-latching is usually a matter of pulling the cord back toward the door and running the opener until the carriage clicks in, though the exact method varies between makes.

One caution that matters more than it sounds: only re-latch, or unlatch, with the door fully closed. Doing it part way open puts the entire weight of the door on whatever is holding it up, and if a spring has already failed, that is nothing at all. A door in that state comes down fast.

If the trolley is not moving either, and the motor hums rather than turns, that is a failed capacitor or a stripped drive gear. Both run $120–$300 and both are genuine repairs rather than checks. The drive gear is worth knowing about: on chain-drive units it is a plastic part designed to be the one that fails, so a stripped gear usually means the motor is fine.

Trolley, travelling along the rail
Emergency release cord — red, always
Stored open and closed limits
Arm connecting the trolley to the door

The two things on an opener a homeowner actually interacts with: the red cord that disconnects the door, and the stored positions that decide where it stops.

The remote does nothing but the wall button works

This narrows the fault usefully. The wall button working proves the motor, the drive and the power supply are all fine, so the problem is the remote, its battery, or the receiver’s memory of it. Nothing expensive is implicated.

Replace the battery first — it is the answer most of the time and costs almost nothing. If a fresh battery changes nothing, the remote needs reprogramming to the opener. Every manufacturer documents the sequence for its own units, and it is typically a learn button on the motor head followed by a press on the remote within thirty seconds.

Modern openers use rolling-code encryption, which changes the transmitted code on every press so a recorded code cannot be replayed later. That is a real security benefit, but it also means a remote that has fallen out of sync needs re-pairing rather than repairing. If the remote is physically damaged, a replacement remote or keypad runs $40–$120.

Fixed code — note the DIP switch bank inside older remotes
Rolling code, on every current opener

The whole difference in one picture. A fixed-code remote sends the same number every press, so a captured signal still works later; a rolling-code remote has already moved on.

The door stops short, or touches down and bounces straight back up

Both symptoms usually point at settings rather than failures. The limit switches tell the opener where the floor and the fully-open position are; the force setting tells it how much resistance should count as an obstruction. Either can drift after a power cut, a service visit, or simply over years.

A door that halts a foot short of closed, or that touches the floor and immediately reverses, is typically a limit set slightly wrong. Most openers expose the adjustment as two dials or buttons on the motor head, and professional adjustment runs $85–$175 if you would rather not.

There is one version of this symptom that is not a settings problem and deserves attention: if the door has also become noticeably harder to lift by hand, the opener is reading genuine resistance and doing exactly what it should. That points at the springs or the rollers, not the opener. Test the balance before touching anything electronic — an unbalanced door will defeat any force setting you choose, and raising the force to compensate removes the protection that setting exists to provide.

Where the free checks stop

The line is easy to state: anything you can see and reach from the floor is fair game. Anything involving the springs, the lift cables, or the inside of the motor head is not.

The springs above the door hold enough stored energy to cause serious injury, and they stay loaded whether the door is open, closed or already broken. The logic board inside the opener is mains-connected. Neither is a reasonable place to learn, and neither failure is common enough to be worth the risk of finding out.

A diagnostic visit runs $75–$150 and is normally credited against the repair if you go ahead, so calling someone once the free checks are exhausted often costs nothing extra. Where the state licenses the trade — California, Florida and Arizona license garage door work specifically — ask for the licence number and check it on the state register yourself. It takes about a minute.

Terms used on this page

Frequently asked questions

Why does my garage door open but not close?

Almost always the photo-eye sensors near the floor. An opener will raise a door with a broken safety beam but refuses to lower one, because that beam is the entrapment protection. Check both lenses for dirt and alignment — the indicator lights should be steady, not blinking.

My garage door opener motor runs but the door does not move. Why?

The emergency release cord has been pulled, disconnecting the trolley from the door. Re-latch it with the door fully closed, never part way open. If the trolley itself is not moving and the motor hums, it is usually a capacitor or a stripped drive gear at $120–$300.

Why does my garage door reverse before it touches the ground?

Either a blocked or misaligned photo-eye, or limit and force settings that have drifted. If the opener light flashes at the same time, start with the sensors. If the door has also become heavier to lift by hand, the springs are the real cause and the opener is behaving correctly.

My garage door remote stopped working but the wall button still works.

The motor and power supply are fine — the wall button proves it. Replace the remote battery, then reprogram the remote to the opener. Rolling-code openers change their code on every press, so a remote out of sync needs re-pairing rather than repair. A replacement remote runs $40–$120.

How much does it cost to fix a garage door opener that is not working?

Most opener repairs run $100–$300. Sensor work is $85–$200, a capacitor or drive gear $120–$300, a logic board $150–$400. Expect a $75–$150 diagnostic fee, usually credited against the repair.

Should I repair or replace an opener that keeps failing?

If the quoted repair exceeds half the installed price of a replacement and the unit is over ten years old, replace it. Any opener made before 1993 predates the federal photo-eye requirement and should be replaced rather than repaired, whatever has actually failed.