Quick answer
A stuck garage door is usually held by one of four things: a broken spring, a snapped or slipped cable, a door that has come off its track, or an opener or safety sensor that has stopped it. If the door is crooked, hanging, or a spring has a gap in it, leave the door where it is, keep people and cars clear, and call a technician. If it looks level and intact, check the safety sensors, the power and the emergency release.
What to do depends on where the door is stuck and whether it still looks level. A level door is usually a sensor or opener problem. A crooked or hanging door is a sign that something has broken.
Stuck open
A door that will not come down is most often being stopped by its safety sensors: something in the beam, a sensor knocked out of line, or sunlight in a lens. Holding the wall button down closes most doors while you watch. Our guide to a garage door that won’t close covers each check. If the door is crooked, do not force it down.
Stuck closed
The most common cause is a broken spring. Other causes are power, the remote, a locked door or a disconnected opener. See garage door won’t open.
Stuck halfway
This is the position to be most careful with. A door stopped partway may be held only by a jammed roller or a single cable. Do not stand or drive under it, do not try to push it up or pull it down, and do not pull the emergency release: if a spring or cable has failed, the door can fall as soon as it is disconnected.
Stuck and crooked, or off its track
If one side is lower than the other or rollers have come out of the track, the door is not properly supported. Unplug the opener and keep clear. See garage door off track.
What not to do
- Do not keep pressing the opener button. It can bend the door or burn out the opener.
- Do not pull the emergency release on a door that is open or partly open unless you are sure the springs and cables are intact.
- Do not loosen the bottom brackets, cables or anything on the spring bar. They are under heavy tension.
- Do not hammer the track to free the door.
Keeping the house secure until it is fixed
If the door is stuck open and cannot be closed safely, lock the door between the garage and the house and move valuables out of sight. Call us; a garage door that leaves the house open is one of the emergencies we answer 24 hours a day.
Common questions
Why is my garage door stuck halfway?
Usually a broken spring or cable, a roller jammed in the track, or the opener stopping because it senses resistance. Because the door may be held by very little, keep clear of it and call a technician rather than forcing it.
How do I close a garage door that is stuck open?
If it is level, hold the wall button down until the door closes; this overrides the safety sensors on most openers. If that does not work and the springs and cables are intact, you can disconnect the opener and lower the door by hand.
Is a stuck garage door an emergency?
It is if your car is trapped, the house cannot be secured, or the door is hanging. We answer emergency calls 24/7 at (512) 273-3798.
