To open a garage door by hand, pull the red release cord on the opener’s trolley with the door fully closed, which disconnects the door from the opener, then lift from the bottom section. Every automatic door has this release, the handle you pull to open a garage door manually, and it works the same whether the power is out or the opener itself has failed.
The step people skip is the check that comes before the lift. The springs, not your arms, are meant to carry the weight of the door. When they are intact, a single-car door rises with one hand on the handle. When a spring has broken, the whole weight of the door lands on whoever lifts it, and lifting it alone is how people get hurt.
If the power is on and the door still sits shut, our page on a garage door that will not open walks through the other causes.
Where the release cord is and how it works
The release is the red handle hanging from the trolley, the part that slides along the rail between the opener motor and the top of the door. With the door closed, it usually hangs just inside the door.
On a wall-mount opener, which sits beside the door at the end of the spring shaft, the release is a handle on the unit itself rather than a cord on a rail.
The federal safety standard for home openers requires that red handle to be adjustable to six feet above the floor, so an adult can reach it without a ladder, and to let go with no more than 50 pounds of pull even when the door is obstructed. If yours dangles out of reach or has been tied up out of the way, lower it before you need it.
Three checks before you pull the cord
Before pulling the cord, confirm from the floor that the door is fully closed, the springs are whole and both lift cables are tight, without touching anything that holds tension.
- Make sure the door is fully closed. Releasing an open or half-open door can let it drop if a spring or cable has failed. If yours is stuck open, skip to the section on stuck doors below.
- Look at the springs. On the shaft above the door, a torsion spring with a gap of about two inches in its coil is broken. On older doors with long springs beside the horizontal tracks, look for one hanging loose or lying on the floor.
- Look at the cables at both bottom corners. A slack, frayed or unwound lift cable means the door can tip or fall on one side.
If any of the three looks wrong, leave the door closed and call a technician. Nothing in the rest of this guide is worth an injury.
How to open the door by hand, step by step
Unplug the opener, unlock any manual lock, pull the red handle until it clicks, then lift steadily from the bottom; once the three checks pass, it takes a couple of minutes on chain, belt and screw drive openers.
- Unplug the opener or switch off its circuit. That keeps it from starting when the power returns or when someone presses a remote by habit.
- Unlock any manual lock. If the door has a slide bar or a T-handle lock, open it. A locked door can bend when you lift it.
- Pull the red handle straight down until it clicks. The trolley lets go of the carriage that connects to the door. On some models, pulling down and then back toward the motor also keeps the trolley from relatching on its own.
- Find a good grip. Use the lift handle on the inside of the bottom section, or flat palms under a section edge. Keep fingers out of the joints between sections, which pinch as the door bends over the curve of the track.
- Lift steadily, using your legs. A balanced door gets lighter as it rises, because the springs are doing the work.
- Raise it fully and let go carefully. It should stay open. If it drifts down, hold it, lower it and treat the door as out of balance.
- Hold it open if you need to. For extra security while a car comes in or out, clamp a pair of locking pliers onto the track just below a roller so the door cannot roll down.
- Close it by hand. Lower it from the handle with your feet clear, then slide the lock bar if the opener is going to stay off for a while.
What the door is telling you as you lift it
A door that lifts with one hand and stays put halfway has healthy springs, while one that is heavy from the first inch or tilts has a spring or cable problem.
| What you feel | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Lifts with one hand and stays put halfway | The springs are healthy and balanced | Use it by hand until the power returns |
| Lifts, but drifts up or down from halfway | The springs are out of adjustment or wearing out | Fine for now; book a tune-up soon |
| Heavy from the first inch, drops when released | A broken or badly weakened spring | Let it down gently, keep clear and stop using it |
| One side rises faster, or the door tilts | A cable or drum problem on one side | Set it down, keep clear and call |
| Will not move at all after the release | A lock still engaged, ice at the bottom, or a jam in the track | Check the lock and the seal; never force it |
Opening the door during a Portland power outage
During a Portland outage, make sure ice has not glued the bottom seal to the slab, open the door with the release cord, and leave the opener unplugged until the power is steady.
Some of the region’s widest outages have come with ice. In February 2021, freezing rain left more than 270,000 people in the Portland region without power.
In January 2024, a storm with Gorge gusts over 80 miles per hour cut electricity to more than 135,000 homes and businesses across Oregon. An outage like that is the wrong moment to learn where the release cord is.
In an ice storm, look at the bottom of the door before you lift. Freezing rain can glue the bottom seal to the slab, and yanking on a frozen door can tear the seal or bend the bottom section. Work a plastic putty knife along the seal to break it free, and clear slush away from the edge so it does not refreeze overnight.
Keep a flashlight in the garage, not just in the kitchen drawer. The release handle is easy to find in daylight and surprisingly hard to spot by phone light, especially on a dark-colored opener rail.
California requires battery backup on new openers, but no federal rule does, so check whether yours has it before the next storm. If it does, the opener will run for a limited number of cycles on battery. Either way, leave the opener unplugged until the power is steady, then follow the reconnect steps below.
Reconnecting the opener afterward
To reconnect, close and unlock the door, restore power and press the wall button so the trolley latches, then finish with the reverse test, which matters more than the rest.
- Close the door by hand and unlock any slide lock or T-handle.
- Plug the opener back in or switch the circuit back on.
- Press the wall button. On most chain and belt openers, the trolley travels along the rail and latches onto the carriage by itself with a click. Some models need the release cord pulled toward the door or toward the opener first to reset the latch; your opener manual shows which.
- Run the door through one full open and close cycle to confirm it reconnected.
- Test the safety reverse. Lay a two-by-four flat on the floor in the path of the door and close it. The door should reverse when it touches the board. Opener instructions call for this test every month, and a power outage is a good reminder to do it.
If the opener runs but the door does not move after reconnecting, the trolley did not latch. Run one more full cycle, and if it still will not pick up the door, book an opener repair visit.
If the door is stuck open or halfway
A door stuck partway needs the most caution, because the opener may be the only thing keeping it up, so pull the release only when the springs and cables are intact.
When a spring or cable is broken, pulling the release can let the door fall. Keep people and cars out from under it and call.
If the springs and cables look intact and the door stopped only because the power went out, two adults can hold the door, pull the release, and lower it slowly together. Once it is down, follow the steps above to open it properly.
When to stop and call a technician
Leave the door where it is and call a technician when it is heavy from the first inch, a cable or spring looks wrong, the door tilts or binds, or the release will not let go.
- The door feels heavy from the first inch of lift.
- A lift cable is slack, frayed or off its drum.
- A spring shows a gap or hangs loose.
- The door tilts, binds or a roller comes out of the track.
- The release cord is missing, or the trolley will not let go.
Springs, cables and bottom brackets hold the weight of the door under tension, and they are the parts that injure people. Leave those to a technician, and keep the rest of this routine for the days the power goes out.