Your garage door won’t open when you use your remote control from your car in the driveway? If your garage door opener is working properly in every other way but NOT receiving the signal from your remote when the garage door is closed, there are a few things you can do. (If your garage door button on the wall of your garage opens your garage door, then we know the door is working and must consider this as a communication issue.)
We are going to assume there is a communication problem from using your remote from outside with the garage door shut. There may be something interfering with the signal or possibly something else.
First make sure the batteries are in working order in your remote control. If so, go inside your garage with the remote you had in your car, and with the garage closed, test the remote to see if the door opens. If not then your remote is most likely broken and you need to replace it. We will assume this since the button on the garage door wall opened the door. Try another remote you know that works. Test it from inside the garage and then test it from outside the garage.
How to fix a Garage Door Opener – Remote not working
If the remote works from inside the garage but not from the outside, then most likely the antenna wire on the garage door opener itself may be damaged, broken, or not in visible range. Check to be sure the antenna is attached and if it is not hanging down from the unit, move the antenna so it can catch the beam being sent by the remote. Please note that the antenna on some garage door openers is encased inside the unit itself.
Garage Door Opener Antenna Extension
Another issue could be that there is some sort of interference from different wireless devices in use near your area. If this is the case then find the antenna mount point and add a wire to it to make it longer. If this does not work there are other solutions. There are extenders that allow you to send the signal from outside the house and it runs by a wire to the garage opener unit.
There are reliable units called universal garage door opener receivers. These are an optional add on unit if you have issues opening your garage door from the outside. These units are used because they improve the range of your remote. As most garage door remotes work only about 20 feet from the opener, this unit will make it so you can open your garage from up to 100 yards away. This unit is called the Liftmaster 850LM Universal Gate and Garage Door Opener Receiver and is available for right around $40 dollars and WILL solve your garage door opening issues.
There are now systems that link into your home WIFI wireless that let you open your garage door with your smartphone.
How To Open Your Garage Door With Your iPhone or Android Phone
Do you know of an easier method to allow a remote control to open a garage door with interference problems? Please let us know by leaving a comment below.
Written by Keith Schneerer
Certified Appliance Tech · Founder, RemoveAndReplace.com
Keith has spent 30+ years repairing machines, starting as a military mechanic and later maintaining food processing equipment before moving into appliance repair. He founded RemoveAndReplace.com to share field-tested repair advice.
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My garage door worked one day then my son played around in there and it stopped working so the door was open and wouldn’t close and so the movers manually closed it and now I can’t open it. I changed the batteries and it still didn’t work. It is a detached garage and there is no other way in. Is there a way I can fix this or do I need to just call someone?
Lyn,
Be sure antenna is connected and secure. Many times an antenna will become loose and this issue can happen. If the antenna is secure, there may be an issue with the garage door opener itself. How many garage door remotes are you using? Are you having an issue with one remote or multiple remotes? What brand are the remotes and garage door opener?
-RR
My garage door openers work when I am close to the unit in the garage and when I stand right on the other side of the garage door outside the garage. But they no longer work from any distance beyond 6 inches on the other side of the garage door. I replaced batteries. Issue is the same. Antenna is hanging down about 5-6 inches below the unit but still not working from driveway.
Greg,
It sounds as if the code for the remote was somehow reset. Refer to your garage door opener manual and see how to reset the codes for the remotes. There may be switches on the side of your garage door opener that allow you to change things.
-RR
Door will not open with remotes. It first would not work with one then not the other. I replaced the batteries and still nothing. I went inside the garage and hit the button to the remote and the red light on the receiver blinked. the door will go up with the wall mount button.
Thank you. We don’t have a manual and we don’t even have the cover of the opener !!!!! As a matter of fact we aren’t even sure how old it is!!! It came with the house “as is’ when we bought it. We tried everything we could think of (TG for you tube) and tried your suggestions. I think we will just suck it up and get a new one, its at least 8 years old and I really think closer to over 15! I do appreciate your suggestions! Thank you
Diane,
There is an issue with the garage door opener on the garage ceiling. May have a safety timer or timing issue. Troubleshoot using your manual or a YouTube video. May need a part replaced or possibly new garage door opener.
-RR