--- title: "Garage Door Won’t Close or Goes Back Up? Fixes | Armored" description: "Garage door won’t close, or goes back up? Usually the safety sensors. Step-by-step checks, how to close it safely tonight, and when a spring or cable means call." url: https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/guides/garage-door-wont-close language: en business: "Armored Garage Door Solutions" phone: "(910) 760-1466" --- [Home](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/) / [Guides](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/guides) / Door won’t close Troubleshooting # Garage door won’t close? Start with the sensors. **Short answer** If your garage door won’t close, or closes and then goes back up, the cause is usually the safety sensors near the floor: wipe both lenses, make sure nothing is in the beam, and line them up until both lights are steady. If the door is crooked, a cable is loose or you heard a bang, don’t force it down. Call a technician, and lock the house door into the garage until it is fixed. Armored Garage Door Solutions · Updated __LASTMOD__ A door that won’t close leaves the house open, so this is the call we get most at night. The good news: most of the time it is the safety sensors, and you can fix that yourself in a few minutes. ## 1. Check the safety sensors (the usual cause) Two small “eyes” sit on the track a few inches above the floor and shine a beam across the opening. If the beam is broken, the opener won’t close the door, or reverses it. - Look at the lights. Both should be lit and steady. A dark or blinking light means the sensors can’t see each other. - Clear the beam. Move bins, bikes, leaves, spider webs, even a hose. Anything in the path stops the door. - Wipe both lenses with a soft dry cloth. - Line them up. Loosen the wing nut, aim the sensor straight at the other one until its light goes steady, then tighten. - Low sun? Late-afternoon sun shining into a sensor can blind it. If the problem only happens at one time of day, that’s the likely cause; a sensor shade or swapping the two sides fixes it. - Wires. Check for a chewed, stapled-through or unplugged wire running up to the opener. ## 2. Other causes, from easy to serious - What you see — Likely cause — Who fixes it - Closes, then goes back up just as it touches the floor — Close limit or force setting, or a high spot in the floor — A quick adjustment; part of an opener visit ($120 – $250 if parts are needed) - Remote doesn’t close it, wall button does — Remote battery or the wall button’s lock mode — You: new battery, turn off lock - Opener runs but the door doesn’t move — Trolley disengaged (red cord pulled) or a stripped gear — Re-engage the trolley; a stripped gear is a repair ($120 – $250) - Door stops partway, crooked or scraping — Bent track or a roller out of the track — Technician ($150 – $300). Don’t force it - Loose cable, one side lower than the other — Frayed or snapped lift cable — Technician ($150 – $250). Leave it where it is - Heard a bang, door very heavy or won’t move — Broken spring — Technician. See [spring replacement cost](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/guides/garage-door-spring-replacement-cost) - Bottom freezes to the floor in winter — Ice under the weather seal — You: chip the ice, keep the floor dry ## 3. How to close it safely tonight - If the sensors are the problem: press and hold the wall button until the door is fully down. Most openers allow this override while the button is held. Watch the door the whole way. - If the opener won’t run: with the door straight and both cables tight, pull the red emergency release and lower the door slowly by hand. Use the inside slide lock if it has one. - If the door is crooked, a cable is loose or a spring is broken: don’t try to close it. Keep everyone clear, lock the door between the garage and the house, and call. We can make the door secure tonight even when a part has to wait for morning. ## When to stop and call Call or text [(910) 760-1466](tel:+19107601466) any time if the door is off its track, hanging crooked, has a loose cable, or still won’t close after the sensor checks. Send a photo or a short video and we can often tell you on the phone whether it is safe to use. We cover [Wake Forest](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/garage-door-repair-wake-forest-nc) , [Franklinton and Youngsville](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/garage-door-repair-franklinton-youngsville-nc) , [Raleigh](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/garage-door-repair-raleigh-nc) , [Durham](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/garage-door-repair-durham-nc) and [the rest of the Triangle](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/service-areas) , 24/7 through our [emergency line](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/emergency-garage-door-repair) . Door won’t open instead? See [garage door won’t open](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/guides/garage-door-wont-open) . **About the owner** JC Antunez is a veteran and the owner of Armored Garage Door Solutions in Franklinton, NC. He answers the 24/7 line himself, in English or Spanish. [Meet JC](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/about) . Answered 24 hours a day ## Door still won’t close? We answer 24/7. Call or text JC’s line. You’ll get a real person, honest advice on what to do right now, and a truck on the way. [(910) 760-1466](tel:+19107601466) [Call now](tel:+19107601466) [Book online](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/book) --- **Armored Garage Door Solutions** · Call or text 24/7: [(910) 760-1466](tel:+19107601466) · [Book online](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/book) · Se habla español · [All pages](https://armoredgaragedoorraleigh.com/llms.txt)