Trying to figure out how to make your garage door opener work with your garage door? Whether it’s a new unit you’re trying to add a remote to or an older one you’re trying to get to work properly with a replacement remote, the steps to programming a garage door opener are simple and largely consistent across most major manufacturers.
Learn how your garage door opener works, how to connect your remote to it and what to do when the usual solutions aren’t working for your situation.
How Your Garage Door Remote Works
While some niche garage door openers may operate on different principles, most units operate by having the garage door opener and the remote communicate over radio frequencies.
Of course, it’s not as simple as your remote saying “open” and the garage door opening — first, you need to pair them so that your garage can’t be opened by any stranger with a remote and your remote doesn’t open half the garages on your street.
How to Program Your Garage Door Opener
So, you have a new remote after losing or breaking your old one, or somehow your existing remote has lost its pairing. Assuming your garage door is up to date on maintenance, here is how you program your garage door opener:
- Make sure you have easy access to all components. Ensure you can easily access the garage door opener, likely on the ceiling of your garage. You’ll also need the remote you want to pair. Since you’ll probably need a ladder to reach your opener, make sure it’s secure and in good condition and that you do not have to stretch to reach the opener — you probably want someone to spot you, just to be safe.
- Find the “learn” button. Almost every modern garage door opener will have a “learn” button; on some units, this will be really obvious, but others like to hide it in an innocuous spot or put it behind a light cover or another bit of plastic. If worst comes to worst, note the model of your opener and look up where its “learn” button is located.
- Press and hold the “learn” button. Once you find the “learn” button, hold it down until it shows a sign that it’s trying to sync with your remote; this usually means a blinking light on or by the button itself. Once it starts flashing, grab the remote.
- Press the button on your garage door remote. You’ll want to push the button on your garage door remote just the same as you would if you were trying to open the garage door normally.
- Wait a minute. If everything went to plan, your garage door opener was looking for a signal and your garage door remote sent that signal — the sync should be quick but wait a minute just to be sure.
- Test your garage door opener. Make sure you’re not in the way of your garage door, then give it a test with a push of the remote’s open button.
What Next?
If everything works, you’re set! If not, you can try pressing the learn button and open button again, or hunt down instructions tailored to your specific model of garage door opener. If you’re certain you’re doing everything right and still aren’t getting results, you might have a problem on your hands.
If you think something might be wrong with your garage door opener, your garage door itself or your remote, give the team at Overhead Door Company of Greater Cincinnati a call at 513-394-6938 or reach out to us online.
