The invention relates to a device for automatically actuating a vehicle door (1), in particular a side door or a tailgate of the motor vehicle. Said device comprises a control device (12) and a drive (4;4') that consists of a motor (5) with a gearing (6) connected downstream and at least one transmission element (8;20) located between the gearing (6) and the vehicle door (1). The aim of the invention is to facilitate the manual actuation of an automatically actuated vehicle door (1) that is in an open position. To achieve this, a load sensor (10) is mounted on the drive (4). When a predetermined load on the open vehicle door (1) has been reached, said sensor generates a control signal, which is fed to the control device (12) for activating the motor (5), or for decoupling a coupling (18) that is located between the gearing (6) and the transmission element (8;20), the load on the open vehicle door (1) being produced e.g. by a corresponding manual pressure on said vehicle door (1).