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How to Program a Garage Door Remote in Under 5 Minutes
Set up your garage door remote in just three easy steps
Photo: SBDIGIT / E+ / Getty Images
Photo: SBDIGIT / E+ / Getty Images
SKILL LEVEL
Easy
COMPLETION TIME
5 minutes
COST
Up to $25
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Long gone are the days of getting in and out of the car to manually lift and lower your garage door. Now, you can press a button on the wall of your garage or program a remote to open and close it with the click of a button, from inside your car.
But how do you program a garage door opener, and does the process vary by brand? We’ll dive into these steps below.
How to Program a Garage Door Remote
Photo: mirsad / Adobe Stock
Programming a garage door opener to a remote is easy. Make sure you purchase a remote of the same brand as your opener—or purchase a universal remote.
The steps are pretty standard regardless of brand and model, but you can always reference the user’s manual if the garage door remote setup steps below don’t work for you.
Access and Press the Opener’s “Learn” Button
To get up to your garage door opener, you’ll probably need a ladder. Most garage door openers hang from the middle of the ceiling in a garage.
Once atop the ladder, look for your garage door opener’s “Learn” button. If you don’t see it, remove the light cover (the piece of plastic covering the light bulb).
Press and hold this button until it starts blinking.
Press the Button on the Remote
Either from the ladder or once you’ve climbed down and off it, press a button on the remote. There may be multiple button options, that can accommodate multiple garage doors, so make sure you select the button you’ll want to use to operate this specific garage door.
You have roughly 30 seconds to press this button. If you’re worried about safely descending the ladder in that timeframe, or pressing the button while standing on the ladder, have a helper hold the remote below and press the button for you.
Wait for the garage door opener to either flash or make a clicking noise. This should indicate that the remote and mounted opener are now connected.
Test the Remote
After a few moments, test your work by pressing the button. If the garage door responds to the button presses, your work is done. Put the ladder away, and place the remote in your car (or wherever you would like to keep it).
If you have multiple openers for a larger garage, you will repeat this process, but use a different button on the remote, to program any remaining openers.
If you run into issues with pairing the remote and suspect something might be wrong with the garage door or the opener itself, contact a local garage door company for further assistance.
Frequently Asked Questions
To pair your garage door opener remote, first click the “Learn” button on your opener and hold it until it begins to blink. Then, press the button on your garage door remote. Watch to ensure the garage door opener flashes or makes a sound. Wait a few seconds, and then you can test the connection by pressing the button on the remote. If successful, the garage door should open.
Typically, the garage door remote must match the same brand as the garage door opener. That said, you can purchase universal remotes that should work with all brands. Nowadays, you may also be able to use a car-installed device or even your smartphone to open the garage door, depending on the model you have installed.
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