Do you have a right to repair your devices? In a growing number of states, yes: laws in California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Washington and Texas now require manufacturers to make parts, tools and repair documentation available on fair terms. There is no single national statute, though, and what you can demand depends on the state, the product and when it was first sold. This article covers US law as checked on October 10, 2026, using state and federal texts and the Repair Association’s state pages.

What “right to repair” actually means

The phrase covers three separate ideas that tend to get lumped together. The first is access: manufacturers must sell parts, supply diagnostic tools and publish repair manuals to owners and independent shops. The second is software locks: some devices refuse to work, or show warnings, when a part is swapped, a practice often called parts pairing. The third is warranty: whether using a non-manufacturer repair shop can cost you your coverage.

State laws mostly address the first idea, a few address the second, and federal law touches the third. Each is handled below.

State laws at a glance

The table summarizes what the Repair Association’s state pages and the New York statute say. Scope lists are condensed, and the pages themselves note exclusions and fine print, so check the statute before relying on a particular product.

State Key date Covers Notes
New York Products first sold or used in the state on or after July 1, 2023 Digital electronic equipment Excludes cars, medical devices, farm and other off-road equipment, e-bikes, gaming consoles and major home appliances
Colorado Farm equipment Jan. 1, 2023; consumer electronics Jan. 1, 2024; powered wheelchairs Jan. 1, 2026 Three separate laws Enforced by the Attorney General; independent shops must disclose they are not manufacturer-authorized
California (SB 244) July 1, 2024 Consumer electronics and home appliances sold on or after July 1, 2021 Parts for 3 years (items $50 to $99.99) or 7 years (items $100 and up) after the model is last made
Minnesota July 1, 2024 Digital electronics first sold or used in the state on or after July 1, 2021 Older products are not covered
Oregon Jan. 1, 2025 Consumer electronics and home appliances; wheelchairs from Jan. 1, 2026 Bans software parts pairing for items made after Jan. 1, 2025; civil penalties from July 1, 2027
Washington (ESHB 1483) Jan. 1, 2026 Many electronics sold on or after July 1, 2021 Parts pairing restriction for products made and sold after that date; Attorney General enforces, no private lawsuit
Texas (HB 2963) Sept. 1, 2026 Certain consumer electronics sold or used in Texas on or after that date The source notes significant exclusions it does not list

These are the states I verified. Other states have passed laws or have bills pending, and the Repair Association says a bill is “Active” until its legislature kills it, so a list like this one is a snapshot, not a census.

What manufacturers have to hand over

The duties are similar across states. New York’s law, the text of which is on the New York State Senate site, requires a manufacturer to make documentation, parts and tools needed for diagnosis, maintenance or repair available to owners and independent providers, directly or through authorized repair shops. Documentation and tools are to be free, aside from actual shipping or printing costs, while parts must be offered at reasonable cost and terms.

There are limits in every statute. New York says it does not force a manufacturer to reveal trade secrets or license intellectual property. It also does not stop manufacturers from running training programs, so long as an independent provider is not required to complete them. Colorado’s and Washington’s laws, per the Repair Association, add disclosure duties for independent shops: Colorado shops must say in writing before a repair if they are not manufacturer-authorized.

Does repairing it yourself void the warranty?

Federal law gives a partial answer. Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. 2302(c), a company cannot make its written or implied warranty conditional on your using a branded article or service with the product, unless that article or service is supplied free under the warranty. The FTC can waive that rule only if the company shows the product will function properly only with the branded item and the FTC finds a waiver in the public interest. You can read the provision at the Cornell Legal Information Institute.

What that does not mean: a repair that actually damages the product can still affect coverage for that damage. The law stops a manufacturer from treating an independent repair, by itself, as automatic grounds to void the warranty. If a company denies a claim, asking it to explain in writing how the repair caused the problem is a reasonable first move. I could not retrieve the FTC’s consumer page on this topic, so the description here rests on the statute alone.

The FTC’s role

In May 2021 the Federal Trade Commission delivered a report to Congress titled Nixing the Fix: An FTC Report to Congress on Repair Restrictions. The agency’s page confirms the report and its date (May 6, 2021), but the summary page did not describe findings, and I did not open the full PDF, so I cannot say what it recommended. The Repair Association’s page also lists FTC support letters for bills in New York, Oregon, Minnesota, California and Colorado. Those letters indicate the agency’s interest, not federal rules.

I also could not confirm details of any FTC enforcement actions against particular companies over repair-related warranty claims, so none are described here.

What this means for different devices

  • Phones, laptops, tablets: covered in most of the state laws above, subject to sale-date cut-offs (July 1, 2021 in several).
  • Appliances: covered in California, Colorado and Oregon; excluded in New York.
  • Game consoles: excluded in New York; other states’ exclusions should be checked.
  • Cars: excluded from New York’s law. Vehicle repair is governed by separate rules that this article does not cover.
  • Medical devices: excluded in New York.
  • Farm equipment: covered by Colorado’s separate law.
  • Wheelchairs: covered in Colorado and Oregon from January 1, 2026.

If you want a sense of what repairability looks like in practice, our review of the Framework Laptop 13 Pro covers a laptop designed to be opened and fixed.

How to use these laws in practice

Start by working out which law could apply. Note the state where the device was first sold or used, the product category and the date. If it predates the cut-off, which is July 1, 2021 in several states and July 1, 2023 in New York, the statute may not reach it, though manufacturers sometimes make parts available anyway.

  1. Look for the manufacturer’s repair page or parts store, which often exists because of these laws.
  2. If a company refuses to sell a part or manual that the law covers, write down the request and the response, with dates.
  3. Complaints generally go to the state attorney general. Colorado and Washington rely on that office, and Washington’s law gives no private right to sue, per the Repair Association.
  4. For a repair shop, find out whether it is manufacturer-authorized. In Colorado an independent shop must tell you in writing if it is not.
  5. Keep receipts and photos of any repair, since they matter if a warranty question arises later.

Expect gaps. Laws that take effect in 2026 are new, enforcement remedies such as Oregon’s civil penalties do not begin until July 1, 2027, and the case law on what counts as “fair and reasonable” terms for parts is still thin. I did not find court decisions interpreting these statutes, so how disputes will be resolved is open.

What varies by state

Nearly everything. Whether you are covered depends on where the product was first sold or used, the date, the category. Oregon’s parts pairing ban and California’s multi-year parts requirement go further than Minnesota’s law on the points listed above. Enforcement also differs: Colorado and Washington rely on the Attorney General, and Washington’s law, per the Repair Association, gives no private right of action. Check the law of the state where the device was first sold or used and the effective date for the device category.

Related questions

Can I bring my phone to any repair shop without losing the warranty?

Under federal law a warranty cannot generally be made conditional on using the manufacturer’s own service, but damage caused by a bad repair can still be excluded. Keep receipts and records of what was done.

Can a manufacturer make me use its parts?

Oregon bans software parts pairing for covered products made after January 1, 2025, and Washington restricts it for products made and sold after January 1, 2026. Elsewhere, the rules are weaker or absent.

Does the right to repair cover security-sensitive devices?

New York’s statute excludes anti-theft override tools and public safety communications equipment from its disclosure duties. Washington’s parts pairing rule has limited security exceptions, per the Repair Association.

This is general information about US law, not legal advice for your situation.

Sources