Garage Door Won't Close: What to Check Before You Call
Updated 2026-10 · McDonough, GA
Start with the sensors
The two small photo eyes near the floor either side of the opening stop the door closing on anything in its path. If they cannot see each other, the door will not close on the remote, or will start down and reverse. Each one has a small light. On most openers, both should glow steadily; a blinking or dark one means it is out of line, dirty or unplugged.
Wipe the lenses. Check nothing is in the beam: a bin, a bike wheel, a spider's web. Make sure each bracket is tight and the two point at each other. On a west-facing garage, low sun in the evening can blind the receiving eye, which is why some doors only misbehave at dinner time.
It touches the floor and goes back up
If the door reaches the floor and immediately reverses, the opener thinks it has hit something. That is usually the down-limit or force setting, which drifts as a door ages or after a repair. On many openers this is adjustable, but if the door is also heavy or out of balance, adjusting the opener just hides the real fault. Check the balance first by releasing the door and lifting it by hand.
It stops partway
A door that stops at the same point every time may be catching on a bent track, a dry or broken roller, or a section hinge. A door that stops at random may have an opener cutting out from heat or a failing board. Look along both tracks for kinks and rollers that sit badly.
When to stop and call
Stop checking, unplug the opener and call if: you see a gap in a spring coil, a cable is loose or frayed, the door hangs crooked, a roller has left the track, or the door feels very heavy when released. Those are not adjustments; they are repairs, and the parts involved are under tension.
Above all, if the door is stuck open overnight, do not try to force it down by hand or by holding the wall button. A local company can usually talk you through whether it is safe to leave until morning.
If the door is stuck open and the house is not secure, call now and say so. Local companies treat an open door overnight as urgent.
Where to go next
Common questions
Can I close the door by holding down the wall button?
On most openers, holding the wall button overrides the sensors, which is useful in an emergency if you can see the opening is clear. If the door is heavy, crooked or straining, do not use it.
Why does my remote close the door but the keypad does not?
The keypad usually has its own battery and code. Replace the battery and re-program it from the opener's learn button before assuming a bigger fault.