The rear wall of an open refrigerator compartment with its air vents, shelves half loaded in front of it.

Why it is doing that

Common problems
guides.

What a refrigerator is actually telling you when it drifts warm, frosts up, runs without stopping or goes quiet.

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Three guides
Read before you book
Says where to stop

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Common problems,
guide by guide.

This section is for the moment something about the refrigerator has changed and you are trying to work out what it means. A compartment that has drifted warm, a compressor that no longer rests, a freezer that is fine while the shelves above it are not: each of these is a pattern, and a pattern says more about the cause than any single part name does.

All 19 guides

An open French door refrigerator with its interior light on, a hand holding an appliance thermometer on the middle shelf.

5-minute read

Why refrigerators stop cooling, in order of likelihood

The order matters more than the list: airflow accounts for most of it, and the sealed system for far less than people expect.

A refrigerator with both the fresh-food and freezer doors open, frost visible on the freezer's rear panel, the fresh-food side lit and sparsely stocked.

5-minute read

Fridge warm, freezer cold — the most diagnostic pattern there is

The appliance is still making cold and has stopped delivering it, which rules out the expensive answer almost entirely.

A tall stainless refrigerator standing in a quiet kitchen in the evening, the rest of the room dim.

5-minute read

A refrigerator that never stops running

The food can still be perfectly cold while this is happening, which is why it gets ignored until it becomes a cooling call.

Why it is doing that.

The guides here rank causes by how often they turn out to be the answer, and they explain how the answer shifts between a built-in, a column pair, a French door, a side-by-side and an undercounter unit. They are meant to be read before booking anything, so that the first conversation with a technician starts from what you have already seen.

Where a pattern points toward the sealed system, the wiring or a unit that has to come out of its cabinetry, the guide says so plainly and stops there.

Not sure where to start?

The short answerWhy refrigerators stop cooling, in order of likelihood

When a refrigerator stops cooling, the most likely cause is air that cannot move: a dusty or blocked condenser, or a stopped evaporator fan.

The short answerFridge warm, freezer cold — the most diagnostic pattern there is

Fridge warm, freezer cold means the compressor and refrigerant are working, but cold air is not reaching the fresh-food side.

The short answerA refrigerator that never stops running

A refrigerator never stops running either because it loses heat as fast as it removes it or because a sensor tells it to keep going.

When reading
is not enough.

If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop.

What repairs cost

01Diagnose
02Quote before any work
03Parts
04Repair and check

The problems
these answer.

Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking.

All 18 problems

A gloved hand holding a thermometer probe on the middle shelf of an open refrigerator compartment.

Food safety applies

Refrigerator Not Cooling

7 causes, cheapest first

A bare hand held flat in front of the cold-air vent at the back of an open refrigerator's fresh-food compartment.

Food safety applies

Fresh Food Section Warm, Freezer Cold

5 causes, cheapest first

Thick white frost covering the rear panel and the shelf edges inside an open freezer compartment.

Problem

Frost Building Up in the Refrigerator

4 causes, cheapest first

Softening frozen food and wet slushy frost on the shelf of an open freezer compartment.

Food safety applies

Freezer Not Freezing

6 causes, cheapest first

A family preparing a meal together in their kitchen — For the heart of your home.

Questions about
common problems.

Which of these guides should I read first?

Start with the one that matches what you can observe right now. If both compartments are warm, read the guide on why cooling stops; if only the fresh-food side is warm, the fridge-and-freezer pattern guide is the faster route.

Do these apply to every brand?

Yes. They are organized by what the appliance is doing and by its layout, not by manufacturer, because the same airflow and defrost principles apply across brands.

Will reading these replace a diagnostic visit?

Sometimes, when the answer is a blocked grille, a setting or a packed shelf. When it is not, the notes you take while reading make the visit shorter and more focused.

The other
sections.

Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns.

All guides

A bare hand running along the door gasket of a refrigerator, testing where it has stopped sealing.

What you can check yourself

Back to your everyday

Let’s get your refrigerator working again.

Three short steps online, or one call. Tell us what you are seeing and pick a window that works.

Schedule a repair Call (844) 681-4650

Common problems
guides.

Common problems,
guide by guide.

Why refrigerators stop cooling, in order of likelihood

Fridge warm, freezer cold — the most diagnostic pattern there is

A refrigerator that never stops running

Why it is doing that.

The short answerWhy refrigerators stop cooling, in order of likelihood

The short answerFridge warm, freezer cold — the most diagnostic pattern there is

The short answerA refrigerator that never stops running

When reading
is not enough.