Garage doors talk. Each sound points at a part, and most of them are cheap to fix early and expensive to ignore. Here's the translation.
Squealing or screeching
Dry metal on metal. Usually rollers, hinges or the springs need lubrication. Spray a silicone-based garage door lubricant on the hinges, roller bearings and springs. If it comes back in a week, the rollers are worn — steel rollers with failed bearings are the usual culprit and nylon replacements make the door dramatically quieter.
Grinding
If it's coming from the opener, the plastic drive gear is stripping — common on older chain-drive units, and a quick repair if caught early. If it's coming from the door, a roller has seized or the track is bent and the roller is dragging.
Popping or clicking as the door moves
A section of the door is binding at a hinge, or a roller is jumping over a flat spot or a dent in the track. Watch the door; the pop will happen at the same spot each time. Hinges with hairline cracks pop too, and they fail suddenly.
Rattling
Loose hardware. Nuts on the roller brackets and track brackets back off over thousands of cycles. Ten minutes with a socket wrench. If the whole door rattles in the wind, the weather seals are worn or the door is light and uninsulated.
Banging or slamming when it closes
The springs are losing tension and no longer holding the door's weight at the bottom of travel, so the opener is braking a door that wants to fall. This is a spring problem, and it's the stage right before a spring breaks. Book an adjustment.
A single loud bang from the garage
That was a spring breaking. The door is now too heavy to lift. Don't use the opener; call for spring replacement.
Humming with no movement
The opener motor is trying and failing — either the capacitor or motor is going, or the door is too heavy because of a broken spring. Stop pressing the button; each attempt heats the motor.
Not sure which you're hearing? Describe it when you call. Dispatchers in Denver hear these every day and can usually tell you what to expect before the technician arrives.