Outlet Not Working? A Troubleshooting Order That Actually Works

A dead outlet is usually one of two simple things. Working through the checks in this order solves most cases in under five minutes and tells you when the remainder needs an electrician.

Why is my outlet not working?

Steps 1 and 3 solve most cases in under a minute, and neither requires tools. Step 5 is where it becomes an electrician's job — see backstabbed receptacles.

Could a tripped GFCI be killing the outlet?

This is the single most common cause, and the reason it's confusing is that a GFCI receptacle protects everything downstream of it. The dead outlet in your bedroom may be controlled by a reset button in the garage.

Check, in this order:

• Bathrooms — the most common location
• Garage
• Outdoor receptacles — under the in-use cover
• Basement or crawl space
• Kitchen, along the counter
• The panel — a GFCI breaker has its own TEST/RESET

Press RESET firmly on any GFCI you find. If it won't reset, that's information — see why does my GFCI keep tripping.

How do you check whether a breaker tripped?

Go to the panel and find the circuit. A tripped handle sits between ON and OFF, and the offset can be slight — run a finger along the row and feel for the loose one.

Reset it properly: all the way to OFF first, then ON. Moving it straight from tripped to ON doesn't re-latch. See how to reset a tripped breaker.

If you don't know which breaker serves the outlet, that's what a directory is for — see how to find which breaker controls an outlet.

3. Check for a wall switch

Many rooms — particularly bedrooms and living rooms without ceiling fixtures — have switched receptacles. Sometimes the whole outlet, sometimes only the top or bottom half.

Flip every switch in the room, including ones that appear to do nothing. A switch that seems to control nothing is very often controlling exactly this outlet.

4. Test the rest of the circuit

Now find out whether it's one outlet or a group.

Plug something into nearby outlets. If several are dead in a chain, the failure is upstream of them — a loose connection in a box, or a failed receptacle that other outlets feed through.

If only one is dead and everything around it works, the problem is at that device.

How do you tell if a receptacle has failed?

Receptacles fail, and one wiring method fails far more than others.

Back-stabbed connections — where the conductor is pushed into a small hole in the back of the device rather than wrapped around the screw terminal — rely on a small spring clip. Over years of thermal cycling those clips loosen. The result is an intermittent or dead outlet, and sometimes heat at the connection.

Signs the device has failed: plugs fall out loosely, the outlet works intermittently or when a plug is wiggled, or there's discoloration or a faint burnt smell at the faceplate.

A warm or discolored receptacle is not a "replace it when convenient" item. That's a loose connection generating heat, and it's the same mechanism behind electrical fires. Turn the breaker off and get it addressed.

When should you call an electrician?

Stop and call a licensed electrician if:

• No GFCI or breaker explains it. The fault is in the wiring.
• Multiple outlets across rooms died at once with no breaker tripped.
• Anything is warm, discolored, or smells burnt.
• The outlet works intermittently. Intermittent means an arcing or loose connection, which is worse than simply dead.
• You've found the problem but it's inside a box. Branch-circuit work is permitted in many jurisdictions and is not where to learn.

Two things that look like faults but aren't

Half the outlet works. Switched receptacle. The tab between the two halves was intentionally broken. Not a fault.

The outlet works but nothing holds a plug. The contacts have worn. Common in old, heavily used receptacles. It's a real replacement item — loose contacts mean poor connection and heat — but it isn't a wiring fault.

Prevention

Test GFCIs monthly. Press TEST, confirm it cuts power, press RESET. A GFCI that fails its own test has failed silently.

Keep an accurate panel directory. Half the frustration in this process is not knowing which breaker to look at. See how to label an electrical panel.

Don't overload circuits. Repeated tripping wears breakers and connections. See how many outlets on a 20-amp circuit.

A faster version of steps 1, 2 and 4

Walking the house with a lamp works, but a plug-in receptacle tester does steps 1, 2 and 4 in a second per outlet and adds what a lamp cannot tell you — open ground, reversed polarity, open neutral — while you are already standing at every outlet. Its own test button also trips a GFCI from downstream, which is how you find the reset button that controls a dead outlet in another room. One unit that covers this:

More options in every size are in the electrical tester picks.

Where to go next

• Why does my GFCI keep tripping
• What is a bootleg ground?
• Best electrical testers
• How many amps does an appliance use

More in our electrical panel guides.