Outlets Not Working

One dead outlet, several dead outlets, or a whole room gone dark — dead outlets are common and usually traceable. Work the safe checks below before you call; they resolve a good share of them.

Never open the outlet box yourself. Everything past the checks below is diagnostic work with meters.

Check These First

GFCI reset: kitchens, bathrooms, laundry, garage, and outdoor outlets are GFCI-protected — and one tripped GFCI upstream kills every outlet downstream of it. Walk those rooms and press reset on every GFCI you find. This single check resolves an enormous number of dead-outlet calls.

Breaker: check whether the circuit breaker tripped — reset once. Switched outlets: some living-room and bedroom outlets are controlled by a wall switch; flip the room's switches before assuming the outlet died.

What We Find When the Checks Fail

A failed outlet itself — devices wear out, especially the ones that get plugged and unplugged daily. A loose backstab connection upstream — wires pushed into spring-clip terminals instead of screwed down work loose over years, and the outlet downstream goes dead. A failed GFCI that will not reset. Or a broken wire in the wall, rarer but real.

We trace the circuit with meters from the panel outward until the fault shows itself, then fix it — device, connection, or wire — and verify everything downstream.

When Several Outlets Die Together

Multiple dead outlets on the same circuit point upstream: a tripped GFCI feeding them all, a failed connection at the first outlet in the chain, or a breaker that looks on but has failed internally. If half the house went dark, check the main breaker and ask whether the neighbors have power — a utility issue or a lost service leg looks like a house problem until you check.

Burning smells or scorch marks around any dead outlet: stop using the circuit and call immediately.

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