Here are some helpful tips:

CONTROL THE REMOTE

There is something oddly satisfying about moving a large garage door with the push of a button. Whether you’re in your car or working out in the yard, being able to click your garage door open is one of the heights of home convenience.

GET FAMILIAR WITH SAFETY FEATURES

Garage doors come installed with a number of safety features designed to make sure that neither kids nor adults are hurt by a garage door. However, many of these safety features may not be self-evident.

That’s why you want to make sure to spend some time getting yourself familiar with the safety features by studying the manual provided at the time of installation.

NEVER WALK UNDER A DOOR IN MOTION

Let’s say you have pulled your car out of the garage and you realize that you have left something inside. You run in, get what you need, and as you run back out, you press the door switch on the wall, planning to quickly duck under the door as it closes.

GIVE YOUR DOOR A MONTHLY VISUAL INSPECTION

You also want to make sure to give your entire garage door and lift mechanism a monthly inspection.

Depends whether this is a door that is controlled by an electric garage door opener or not. And we have to guess at the reason why it might be stuck. That means a longer answer …

Let's start with what you need to do to prevent this for the future. If the garage is attached to your residence, then you really need to carry a key to the entry door to your residence, so that you can get in just in case you experience this same situation again. If the garage is not attached to your residence, then you really need to have a regular entry door for people installed on the side of the garage, that requires a key to enter and you need to carry the key to that entry door, so that you can get in just in case you experience this same situation again.

If the garage door is not controlled by an electric garage door opener, then it probably has a lock that needs a key. If it is locked and that is why it is stuck, then a locksmith would be able to open that lock.

If the garage door is not controlled by an electric garage door opener and it is unlocked but still seems stuck, then it probably is due to the garage door springs having failed. The door could be raised with failed springs, but the weight of the door could be too much for one person to lift alone - so having the assistance of someone else might be what you need to lift it.

If the garage door is controlled by an electric garage door opener, then it probably has a rope attached to the opener trolley that must be released to allow for the garage door to be opened manually. You might need to open the garage door manually if there is an electric power failure or if the opener itself has failed with electric power still operational. I recently repaired two openers at my residence where gears inside the opener had worn out, so that you can hear the motor spinning but the door does not move.

But if you can't get inside the garage, you can't access that rope that is used to release the garage opener trolley. A catch 22 problem that you need to somehow solve.