Missing Knowledge

VI. Repairs

When the power goes out in part of your home

Lights out in one room but not the others? It’s usually a tripped breaker or a GFCI outlet, and you can safely reset either in a couple of minutes.

5 minute read · General, based on typical North American home wiring · Last reviewed November 11, 2026

First, check it’s just you

If the whole home is dark, look outside. If the neighbors are dark too, it’s a power outage, so contact your utility. If only some rooms or outlets are out, keep reading.

Stop and call an electrician if…

  • You smell burning, or see scorch marks, melting or smoke
  • An outlet or switch is hot to the touch
  • There’s water near the panel or the outlet
  • The breaker trips again immediately after you reset it

Never touch the panel with wet hands or while standing in water.

Resetting a tripped breaker

  1. Unplug or switch off things in the room that lost power, especially heaters, hair dryers and other high-power devices. A circuit trips when too much is running on it at once.
  2. Find the breaker panel. Look in a garage, basement, utility room, hallway closet or outside wall.
  3. Find the tripped breaker. It will usually be in the middle position, or pointing the opposite way to the others. Some show a red or orange marker.
  4. Push it fully to OFF first, then firmly back to ON. Just pushing it toward ON often doesn’t work, because it has to be reset from OFF.
  5. Plug things back in one at a time. If it trips again straight away when a particular device is plugged in, that device may be faulty.

Resetting a GFCI outlet

A GFCI outlet has two buttons, “Test” and “Reset,” between the sockets. You’ll find them near water: kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, garages and outdoors. They cut the power very quickly if electricity leaks where it shouldn’t, to prevent shocks.

One GFCI outlet can protect several other ordinary outlets further along the same circuit. That’s why a bathroom outlet that looks normal can be dead because of a GFCI in another bathroom or in the garage.

  1. Unplug things from the dead outlets.
  2. Find the GFCI outlet(s) nearby, and check other rooms on the same floor.
  3. Press Reset firmly until it clicks.

If it won’t reset, or keeps tripping, there may be moisture or a fault on that circuit. Call an electrician.

Do this today

  • Find your breaker panel now, before you need it in the dark.
  • Check whether the breakers are labeled, and label them if they aren’t.
  • Find the GFCI outlets in your kitchen, bathrooms, garage and outside.
  • Press “Test” then “Reset” on each GFCI outlet to make sure it works.

Sources

This guide covers resetting breakers and outlets only, not electrical repairs. If anything looks or smells burnt, sparks, or keeps tripping, stop and call a licensed electrician.