How to Change or Reset a Garage Door Keypad Code by Brand

A keypad code tends to spread. The dog walker has it, the contractor had it, and the last tenant wrote it on a sticky note. Changing it takes about a minute when you know the current PIN, and a few minutes more when you do not.

The steps below are grouped by brand family and come from each maker’s published instructions, listed in the sources. Our remote, keypad and HomeLink programming guide covers remotes and cars. This page is only about the keypad code.

Before you start

A safety note first. Test every new code from where you can see the whole door, and keep people, pets and cars out of its path while it moves. If you need the learn button, you will be on a stepladder under the opener: keep your hands clear of the rail, the chain or belt and the trolley. Never unwind, adjust or remove a torsion or extension spring, a lift cable, a cable drum or a bottom bracket, and never run the opener with a broken spring or a snapped cable.

Then find two things:

• The keypad brand and model. It is usually on the front or inside the battery cover.
• The opener’s learn button. On Chamberlain-made openers, note its color. The opener brand identification guide shows where to look.

Which situation are you in?

Chamberlain, LiftMaster and Craftsman

These keypads come from the same maker, since Chamberlain made Craftsman openers for Sears, and they work the same way. Craftsman’s current keypad sheet uses the same steps as Chamberlain’s.

Change a PIN you know

1. Enter the current four-digit PIN.
2. Press and hold # until the opener light blinks twice.
3. Enter the new four-digit PIN and press Enter.
4. Test it: enter the new PIN and press Enter. The door should move.

If your opener has a green learn button or uses an external receiver, this shortcut does not work. Program a new PIN from scratch instead, as below.

Forgot the PIN

You cannot read the old PIN back out of the keypad, so you program a new one through the opener:

1. Press and release the learn button on the motor head. Its light comes on for about 30 seconds.
2. Within that window, enter a new four-digit PIN, then press and hold Enter until the opener lights blink or you hear two clicks.
3. Test the new PIN with the door path clear.

Universal keypads with a model number ending in EV or MAX need a setup step first. Hold * and # until the keypad lights stop blinking, enter your new PIN and press #. Then press Enter once for a yellow learn button, twice for purple, three times for red or orange, or four times for green, and press 0. Now do the learn button steps above.

To be certain an old code no longer works, erase the opener’s memory first, as described further down.

Give a visitor a temporary PIN

1. Enter your own PIN, then press and hold * until the opener light blinks three times.
2. Enter a temporary four-digit PIN, then press and hold Enter until the light blinks four times.
3. Enter a number of hours, up to 255, and hold *. Or enter a number of openings, up to 255, and hold #. Release when the light blinks once.

The temporary PIN stops opening the door when it runs out, though Chamberlain notes it can still close it. To cancel it early, repeat the steps and set the hours or openings to 0. The feature is not available on openers with a green learn button.

Openers built from 2025

Chamberlain-made openers built from 2025 use Security+ 3.0 and have a white learn button. They take only Security+ 3.0 remotes and keypads, so an older keypad will not pair with one. Follow the instruction sheet that comes with the 3.0 keypad.

Genie

Genie keypads accept PINs of 3 to 8 digits.

Current Genie keypad (GK2-R)

To change a PIN you know:

1. Enter the current PIN.
2. Press and hold * until the green light flashes, about 5 seconds.
3. Enter the new PIN.
4. Press and release * once. The old PIN stops working.

Forgot it? Hold * until the red light turns solid, about 20 seconds. That clears every PIN on the keypad. Then program a new PIN with the opener in program mode, as the programming guide describes. To delete one PIN you know, hold * until the red light flashes, about 10 seconds, enter that PIN and press * once.

Older Genie keypads and the Genie universal keypad

To change a PIN you know, enter the current PIN and press PROGRAM once, and the light turns solid. Enter the new PIN and press PROGRAM once more. The light blinks twice and goes out.

Forgot it? Press and hold PROGRAM and UP/DOWN together for about 5 seconds to reset the keypad to its factory settings, then program it to the opener again.

Overhead Door

Overhead Door is Genie’s sister brand, and its openers take Genie-type remotes and keypads. Genie lists Overhead Door among the openers its universal keypad works with, so on that keypad use the Genie steps above. On a keypad with the Overhead Door name on it, the sheet uses a similar PROGRAM key sequence: enter the current PIN, press PROGRAM, enter the new PIN and press PROGRAM again [verify].

How do you erase everything after a move or a tenant change?

A new keypad PIN does not stop the old remotes, car buttons or app users. After a move, or between tenants, start from zero:

1. Erase the opener’s memory. On Chamberlain, LiftMaster and Craftsman openers, hold the learn button until its light goes out, about 6 seconds. That clears every remote and keypad code, including car HomeLink buttons. Genie’s sequence depends on the model, and the programming guide has both versions.
2. Set a fresh keypad PIN with the forgot-the-PIN steps above.
3. Reprogram the remotes you are keeping, and your car.
4. Remove old users from the opener app. A memory erase does not touch app access.

Landlords can hand this to our property manager service at every turnover. It matters most where tenants change often, like San Marcos, with its student rentals, and Oceanside, where military families move in and out on orders.

How do you pick a code that is hard to guess?

Skip the house number, birthdays, 1234 and the last four digits of a phone number. On Genie keypads you can use up to 8 digits, while Chamberlain-made keypads use four. Wipe the keypad face now and then too, because shiny, worn buttons can give away which digits are in the code.

What if the keypad still will not work?

Start with the keypad battery. Many Chamberlain-made keypads run on a 9-volt battery, and the Genie universal keypad takes AAA cells. Then press the wall button inside: if the door moves from there, the opener is fine and the keypad or its code is the problem.

If the opener light flashes but the door does not move, the problem is the door or the opener’s drive, not the code. The remote or keypad not working page walks through the symptoms.

Next step

If the keypad is dead, missing or too old to pair with your opener, book remote and keypad service. We clear the old codes, fit a keypad that matches the opener and program every remote you keep.