How to open a garage door with an opener manually
During a power outage, the garage door will need to be opened manually by disengaging the trolley. And while it may be annoying that your garage door opener doesn't work, it's very easy to disengage the trolley so you can open the door and get on your way.
To disengage the trolley, find the emergency release handle, located on a rope attached to the trolley. Grasp the handle and pull down, snapping the trolley release arm into a vertical position. The door is now ready to manually open or close.
When the power is restored, re-engage the trolley by pulling the emergency release handle toward the garage door opener until the trolley release arm snaps into place in a horizontal position. The trolley will reconnect the next time the door is raised or lowered.
For personal safety, try to make sure the garage door is completely closed before disengaging the trolley. If the door is partially open and the trolley must be disengaged, make sure the doorway is clear of people or obstacles.
An unbalanced door or weak door springs could cause an open door to fall when the trolley is disengaged. Never use the release handle to manually pull the door open or closed.
Most common symptoms to help you fix your garage door openers
Choose a symptom to see related garage door opener repairs.
Main causes: garage door opener misaligned, travel limits need adjustment, bad travel limit switches, faulty logic contr…
Main causes: garage door locked, damaged garage door tracks, up-force setting needs adjustment, RPM sensor failure, bad …
Main causes: safety sensor beams blocked, safety sensors not aligned, downforce setting needs adjustment, damaged garage…
Things to do: check garage door travel, tighten brackets and fasteners, test safety sensors, check travel limits and for…
Main causes: radio interference, weak remote batteries, sunlight interference with safety sensor beams, safety sensors n…
Main causes: faulty logic control board, bad RPM sensor, broken gears in the drive system, bad drive motor…
Main causes: neighbor's remote programmed at the same time as yours, faulty wall control wiring, bad wall control unit…
Main causes: loose fasteners, broken brackets, need preventive maintenance, worn drive gears, loose or worn belt, loose …
Most common repair guides to help fix your garage door openers
These step-by-step repair guides will help you safely fix what’s broken on your garage door opener.
How to replace a chain-drive garage door opener gear and sprocket assembly
Learn how to replace the gear and sprocket assembly on your garage door opener if the drive motor runs but the door won'…
How to replace a garage door opener logic board
The logic board is the brains of the garage door opener. If the remote doesn't work or the door doesn't open and close p…
How to replace a garage door opener drive chain and cable assembly
If your garage door won’t move, the chain and cable assembly on your garage door opener could be broken. Follow these st…
Effective articles & videos to help repair your garage door openers
Use the advice and tips in these articles and videos to get the most out of your garage door opener.
Learn how to repair broken, frayed or damaged wires in your appliances.…
If your remotes don't work, you might need to disable the lock feature, eliminate RF interference or check the batteries…
Learn how to use a multimeter to check for wiring problems in an appliance that's not working…