Did you select the correct port, controller board type and programmer? Also make sure with the newer versions of arduino ide that you select the correct sub type of the board once you've selected the main type.
Did you try a different cable?
Did you try a different USB port?
Did you try a different computer?
Is the driver installed correctly?
Is it a FTDI clone? Use an old driver like v2.0.0 instead of the latest as those disable the com port.
If all the above fails, it's possible that either the bootloader is not there or the AVR microcontroller is bad. If the former you can try programming it using another arduino if you have one. If the latter, replace the board. Google for tutorials.