Remotes, keypad, app and car, set up while you watch

Reasons people call about remotes and codes

• A remote needs to be right at the door before it does anything.
• Back for the winter, and the remotes and keypad have stopped answering.
• The keypad accepts your code only on the second or third try.
• The garage button built into a new car can't be paired.
• You'd like to open the door, or see that it's shut, from your phone.
• A remote went missing, or someone who had one shouldn't anymore.
• No remote works and the wall button does: check the lock button, or see opener repair. For anything else, the symptom guide helps.

Pairing a remote

On the motor unit hanging from the ceiling, usually under the light lens or near the antenna wire, there's a learn button. Tap it once and, within about thirty seconds, press the remote button you want to use. You'll see the opener's light flash, or hear a click, once the code is stored.

A long press is a different command. On many models, keeping the learn button down for several seconds clears every stored remote and keypad code from the opener's memory. That's the right move when a remote is lost, and an unwelcome surprise if all you wanted was one more remote.

The keypad outside

The keypad lives outdoors in heat, rain and salt air, so its battery and contacts go first. If the code works only sometimes, a fresh battery usually settles it. We set a new code with you, show you how to change it later, and write it down only where you tell us to.

The app, and checking the door from far away

Many newer openers connect to Wi-Fi and work with an app; myQ is a common one on openers that support it. The app opens and closes the door and shows whether it's shut, which is handy when you spend part of the year away from Naples. In a concrete-block house the garage is often the room farthest from the router, so we check the signal at the opener before setting anything up. Then we install the app on your phone with you, not for you, and make sure you can use it before we leave.

The car's own garage button

The steps are in the owner's manual for most cars, and the technician can go through them with you in the driveway. Some models need a small bridge device before they'll work with a newer rolling-code system; we tell you that up front, before anything is bought.

Questions about remotes, keypads & apps