My refrigerator freezer door was left open overnight. My child must have left it open my mistake or accident. The refrigerator and freezer are both warm and not cooling. The icemaker is leaking water and the food is not frozen. The temperature was set to the coldest setting on the refrigerator and freezer 12 to 16 hours ago. The fridge and freezer are still not cooling. Any suggestions?
Freezer door left open – Now refrigerator will not cool
When a freezer door has been left open, usually the evaporator coils will have excessive frost build up on them. Therefore the fridge and freezer cannot cool. The evaporator coils need to have the frost or ice build up removed or defrosted for the fridge to work properly again.
Fastest way to get the freezer/refrigerator working again:
- Unplug the refrigerator from the wall outlet.
- Take out all the food items in the freezer and fridge.
- Remove the shelving.
- Remove the back panel and check the evaporator coils for frost build up.
- If frost or ice is on evaporator coils, use hair dryer to defrost.
- Put panel back on.
- Put shelving back in place.
- Plug refrigerator back in.
- Let the freezer/refrigerator run for 3 hours.
- The freezer/refrigerator should be back to normal and problem solved.
Refrigerator evaporator coils covered with ice
How to Manually defrost your freezer/fridge:
- Unplug the refrigerator from the wall outlet.
- Take out all the food items in the freezer and fridge.
- Open the freezer and refrigerator doors.
- Wait 24 hours to let the freezer and refrigerator completely defrost.
- After 24 hours, close ALL doors on the refrigerator.
- Plug the refrigerator back into power.
- Let the refrigerator run for 6 hours.
- The freezer/refrigerator should be back to normal and problem solved.
Refrigerator Parts
If your refrigerator and freezer are still not working after defrosting it, you may have a bad compressor, thermostat, main control board, refrigerator condenser fan, refrigerator evaporator fan, or other.
See this page for How to fix a refrigerator not cooling. If your refrigerator or freezer is now making a noise, check this page here for How to fix a refrigerator making noise.
NOTE: If the food in your refrigerator and freezer have defrosted or is warm, it may not be safe to eat. Use common sense to determine if the food needs to be thrown away or can be stored for later.
Written by Keith Schneerer
Certified Appliance Tech · Founder, RemoveAndReplace.com
Keith has spent 30+ years repairing machines, starting as a military mechanic and later maintaining food processing equipment before moving into appliance repair. He founded RemoveAndReplace.com to share field-tested repair advice.
More about Keith →
I ran around and found a used upright freezer and moved my goods then left for a trip. Returning a week later I read this then turned off the 2016 Frigidaire that I left open overnight for a solid 24 hours as directed. Now the freezer that would not cool is working perfectly.
Thank you
Everyone should try this before trashing your freezer.
Worked for me on 2005 Whirlpool side by side refrigerator/freezer. The freezer door had been left ajar as we were leaving town for a week. Both sections were still trying their best to cool when we returned, having presumably run constantly for 8 days. Once the doors were fully opened for a minute or two as we assessed the damage, the temperatures started rising, and a two hour rest with cooling turned off did not improve the situation. So we followed your recommended 24-hour shutdown procedure. Amazingly, this 16-year old workhorse came back to life the next day and has been humming along now for 48 hrs at perfect freezing and refrigerating temperatures. Thanks so much for your help!