How to reverse into a garage or driveway
Updated October 2026
A garage door is a narrow target, and a few centimetres decide whether you scrape. Reversing in is easier than driving in: the front wheels steer the car’s tail where you want it, and both door posts show in your side mirrors.
These steps assume right-hand traffic, with the kerb on your right. If you drive on the left, swap every left and right.
Step by step
Drive past and stop
Drive past the garage with the door on your right and stop with the car straight and a little beyond the door. The further you are from the garage, the more room you have to swing in.
Check the surroundings
Look along the pavement and the road behind you. Drive slowly and signal.
Reverse and steer in
Turn the wheel towards the door and reverse slowly. When the car is square to the garage, straighten the wheel.
Use the mirrors
Look at the gaps between each side mirror and the door posts and make them equal. If one side is tighter, steer gently so the rear of the car moves away from that side.
Stop in the right place
Stop with a clear gap to the back wall or sensor warning, apply the parking brake and switch off.
Common mistakes
- Setting up at an angle. A car that is not square to the garage can never straighten up inside it. Take time with the first position.
- Ignoring the doors. You have to open your door once you are in. Leave enough room.
- Forgetting the pavement. Pedestrians and cyclists pass behind you. Look both ways before you start.
Tips that make it easier
- Mark the stop point on the floor with a piece of tape or a tennis ball on a string.
- Fold mirrors in only if the gap is very tight, and check by eye first.
- Look up as well as back: roof boxes, bikes and a half-open garage door all end up in the wrong place.
In the driving test
Garage and driveway reversing is not a formal test item in most countries, but it uses the same skills as bay parking: setting up square and steering in small moves.
Quick answers
Is it better to reverse into a garage?
Usually yes: you see more as you pull out, and the car is easier to line up when it moves backward.
How wide should the garage door be?
Leave about 30 cm (1 ft) on each side of your mirrors. If there is less, fold the mirrors in and go very slowly.
What if I am crooked?
Pull out straight, reposition and try again. Correcting inside the garage is hard.
Practise it in ParkingAim
ParkingAim’s garage lesson has you reverse in, then drive out across the pavement, with the instructor reminding you to look.
- Reversing into a GarageNarrow door, 25 cm for the mirrorsFull Version
Park it for real, without the risk
ParkingAim is a parking trainer for iPhone, iPad and Mac. A calm instructor’s voice talks you through each move in a 3D city, sized to your car. Three lessons are free.
