Garage door problems
Garage door opener not working
A garage door opener not working at all usually has lost power, been locked from the wall control, or been disconnected from the door by the manual release.
Find a Garage Door Professional What it costs
Written by HyreGarage Research Desk Primary-source research and fact checking
The short answer
A garage door opener not working at all usually has lost power, been locked from the wall control, or been disconnected from the door by the manual release.
Check the outlet, the breaker, the lock switch and the release trolley before you suspect the motor or the board.
If the motor runs and the door does not move, that is a different fault with its own page.
Key takeaways
power. Check the outlet, the breaker and any GFCI reset.
lock switch, release trolley, or a sensor fault.
gears, capacitor or a disconnected trolley. Different page.
it is a spring problem, not an opener problem.
What should I check first when the opener does nothing?
Plug a lamp into the opener’s outlet. If it is dead, check the breaker and any GFCI outlet in the garage.
Look for a lock or vacation button that has been switched on. It blocks remotes.
If someone pulled the red cord, the opener runs but the door stays put. Reconnect it with the door closed, following the manual.
A blinking opener light with no movement usually means a sensor fault.
If only the remote fails, start with the remote battery.
What faults need a technician?
The motor runs and the chain or belt does not move.
Often after a power surge. Ask whether parts are still made before paying.
A hum with no movement points here on AC openers.
The opener may be fine and the door may be jammed or out of balance.
Which symptom matches yours?
| Symptom | Where to look |
|---|---|
| No lights, no sound | Power supply or a tripped GFCI. |
| Lights on, no sound when pressed | Lock switch, wall control wiring or the board. |
| Clicks, no movement | Sensors or a relay. See light blinking and not opening. |
| Hums, no movement | See garage door opener humming. |
| Motor runs, door stays | See motor runs but door does not move. |
Repair the opener or replace it?
Repair makes sense on a sound, modern opener with parts still made. Replace an opener that has no photo-eye sensors, since it predates the 1993 federal rule, or one with a failed board on a discontinued model. Our opener selector helps if you are replacing.
What to ask before you sign
Ask to see the stripped gear or burnt board.
And are parts still made for it?
A heavy door wears out openers. Fix that first.
After any repair, ask for the test with a 2x4 on the floor.
The full ten-point checklist is on choosing a garage door company.
Where this goes wrong
A dead garage outlet is the most common cause of a dead opener. Check it first.
An opener that strains is often reacting to weak springs. A new opener on an unbalanced door fails early.
Release the door only when it is closed. An open door with a spring problem can drop.
Get connected
Tell us about the work
Three short steps: the job, your home, and how to reach you. Nothing goes to a garage door company unless you agree.
Free, with no obligation: a person at HyreGarage reads it and replies. Matching is not live yet, so this is not a quote or a dispatch line. If a spring has snapped or the door is off its track, leave it closed and call a local garage door company now.
Find a Garage Door Professional
A person at HyreGarage reads the request and replies. Matching is not live yet, so this is not a dispatch line.
Questions
Why is my garage door opener not working but has power?
How do I reset my garage door opener?
Can a power surge break a garage door opener?
How do I open the garage door if the opener is dead?
Should I replace an opener older than 1993?
Written and audited by
HyreGarage Research Desk
Primary-source research, data analysis and fact checking
We are not a garage door company. We read the agency file, the code record, the standards document or the public register ourselves, compute the figure from it, and publish it with the source and the date we retrieved it.
Where a number cannot be traced to a primary source, we publish the shorter page and say what we could not verify. Our own company records cover ten states; nothing national is ever derived from them.
- 10
- states our own company records cover — and the limit of any claim made from them
- 3,901
- garage door companies in the store
- 457
- license records verified against a state board
- 0
- national claims made from a ten-state store
How this desk works
- Primary sources only. Injury counts come from CPSC. Housing counts come from the Census file, not from a summary of it. Code history comes from the building commission that adopted the code. We do not cite an article that cites a source; we retrieve the source and do the arithmetic ourselves.
- Every figure carries its retrieval date. Registers change, datasets are revised and codes are amended. A number without the date it was read cannot be checked, so every study states one.
- Fact, calculation and analysis are labeled apart. A quote is a quote, a HyreGarage computation says so, and an interpretation says “HyreGarage analysis”. Presenting our reading of a dataset as something the agency stated would be the easiest way to lose the only thing this desk is for.
- Limitations go above the fold. If a figure is an upper bound, a bracket, or an association rather than a cause, that is said before the figure is quoted rather than in a footnote underneath it.
- No DIY instructions for spring, cable or track work. Those components hold enough stored energy to cause serious injury, and CPSC records the consequences. We describe what has failed and what a competent repair involves; we do not tell you how to do it.
Authorship on this site is organizational: the analysis belongs to the desk rather than to a named individual, and we do not publish credentials we do not hold. Our editorial policy sets out how we source, date and correct what we publish.
Sources & retrieval dates
Information on this page is general and varies with the door, the opener, local code and circumstance. It is not safety, insurance or legal advice.
Springs and cables hold dangerous stored energy: adjusting or replacing them is work for a trained technician. HyreGarage does not repair, replace or install garage doors.
This page explains the work so you can judge a quote and a company.