Garage door remote or keypad stopped working

When the remote or keypad stops working, the cause is usually small: a weak battery, a lock setting, interference or a remote that lost its programming. This guide gives a safe order of checks. If the door itself looks damaged, do not operate it by any method.

Also make sure nothing and no one is in the path of the door, and that children and pets are clear. If the door looks normal and has been working until now, go on.

This is the most useful first question. Chamberlain's support site starts from the case where the wall button works but the remote does not. If the wall button works, the opener and the door are responding, and the problem is the remote, its signal, or an opener setting. If the wall button does not work either, the problem is not the remote. See garage door opener not working and opener hums but the door does not move.

These steps follow the causes listed on Chamberlain's remote troubleshooting page. Other brands differ, so check your model's manual for specifics such as battery type and programming steps.

1. Lock mode. Chamberlain says that when Lock Mode, also called Vacation Mode, is on, the opener ignores remote commands. Signs on its openers include the opener lights flashing twice when you press a remote button, or the wall control's command LED flashing continuously. How to turn it off depends on your wall control, so check your model's manual.
2. Battery. Chamberlain says a weak or dead battery can prevent a remote from transmitting. Open the battery cover, check the contacts for corrosion, and fit a new battery of the type your remote uses with the polarity matched. Chamberlain's page names a CR2032 3V battery for the remote it covers. Yours may differ. See remote and keypad batteries.
3. Range. Test from beneath the opener, then from farther away and from other spots. If it works only up close, interference may be shortening the range.
4. A second remote. If another programmed remote works, the first one is the problem. Replace its battery, then reprogram it. If it still fails, it may need replacing with a compatible remote.
5. Reprogram. A remote that never worked, or that lost its programming, may need to be programmed to the opener. Follow your model's manual.

• Interference. Chamberlain says radio frequency interference can shorten a remote's range so that it works only up close. If all remotes fail together or on and off, it points to interference, not to the remotes.
• Compatibility. A remote that never worked may not be compatible with your opener.
• Opener memory. If the memory was erased, remotes have to be reprogrammed.

A keypad is a separate device from the remote, with its own battery and its own programming. Check your model's manual for how yours is set up. The same pattern applies: if the wall button works and the keypad does not, look at its battery and its programming before anything else.

If the opener has a safety sensor fault, the door may refuse to close from every control, which is not a remote problem. See garage door safety sensors not working.

Stop and bring in a technician if:

• No remote, keypad or wall control works. The opener itself may have a fault.
• The opener hums, clicks or runs but the door does not move.
• The door is heavy, uneven or crooked, or you suspect a broken spring.
• The batteries and programming are fine but the remote still fails, and you cannot find interference.
• The door does not reverse properly or the sensors flash. See opener safety reverse test.

We repair and install openers. Our technicians inspect the opener, confirm the cause, and replace the parts at fault. See opener repair and opener installation. Springs, cables, brackets and bottom fixtures hold dangerous tension and are technician work.

• Garage Door Opener Repair
• Garage Door Opener Installation

• Chamberlain support: The button on the wall works, so why won't my remote control work?
• Chamberlain support: Why does my garage door opener hum but the door does not move?
• DASMA: Garage door safety