Start here: check the safety sensors
The single most common reason a garage door won't close is a safety sensor issue. The two small sensor units at the bottom of each door track project an infrared beam across the opening. If anything interrupts that beam, the door won't close — it's a safety feature designed to prevent the door from closing on a person, pet, or object.
To check your sensors: look at both sensor units. One (typically green) is the receiver; one (typically amber) is the sender. Both lights should be solid. If either light is blinking or off, the sensors are misaligned or blocked.
- Check for physical obstructions in the sensor beam path — even a leaf, cobweb, or piece of dirt on the lens can block the signal
- Check that both sensor brackets are pointing directly at each other — they can get bumped out of alignment
- Wipe both sensor lenses with a clean dry cloth
- If one light is still blinking after clearing obstructions and wiping lenses, the sensors need professional realignment
Other common reasons a door won't close
Door goes down and immediately reverses
Almost always a sensor issue — see above. The opener is detecting a beam interruption and reversing as a safety measure. If sensor alignment doesn't fix it, the wiring to the sensors may be damaged or the sensor receiver board in the opener has failed.
Opener limit switch is out of adjustment
The opener has a "down limit" setting that tells it how far to travel before stopping. If this limit is set too high, the opener thinks the door has hit an obstruction before it reaches the floor and reverses. This is adjustable — there's usually a limit screw on the side of the opener unit.
Broken spring or cable
A door with a broken spring or cable may be able to go down but then get stuck or reverse because the opener's force settings detect excessive resistance. Check whether the door feels unusually heavy or unbalanced when you try to operate it manually.
Track obstruction or bent track
Something caught in the track, or a track that's been bent out of alignment, can prevent the door from reaching the floor. Run the door manually and see if you can feel or hear it catching at a specific point in its travel.
"We get calls where a homeowner has been fighting with a door that won't close for a week, trying everything — new batteries in the remote, resetting the opener, even bending the sensors back into position. When we arrive, we find a wasp nest built directly over one of the sensor units. That's not uncommon in Ohio summers. A nest that's even partially blocking the sensor lens will make the light blink and the door refuse to close. Two minutes with a can of wasp spray and the door works perfectly."
Door won't close FAQs
Both sensor lights are solid but the door still won't close
If sensors look good but the door won't close, check the opener's down limit setting. If that's also correct, the issue may be the force settings, a bad control board, or a mechanical problem with the door itself.
The remote doesn't work but the wall button does
Remote signal issue — either dead batteries, a remote that needs reprogramming, or interference from another source. The remote and the wall button use different signal paths.
The door closes fine from outside but not from inside
The exterior keypad may have a dead battery or need reprogramming. If the issue is with the wall button, there may be a wiring fault between the button and the opener.
When should I just call you?
If you've checked sensor alignment, cleared obstructions, and the door still won't close — call us. Most of these situations are diagnosable and fixable in a single visit.