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What to do if…
your fridge or freezer stops cooling and food is thawing

Short answer

Keep the doors closed and note the time. If it’s a power outage, a closed refrigerator keeps food safe for about 4 hours; if the appliance has failed while power is on, move the most perishable foods into a cooler with ice immediately.

Do not do these things

Don’t keep opening the doors to “check”.
Don’t taste food to judge safety.
Don’t leave thawing foods on the counter.
Don’t refreeze foods that fully thawed if you can’t confirm they stayed cold (especially meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, leftovers).
Don’t rely on smell or appearance alone.

What to do now

Close the doors and start a timer. Write down when cooling stopped (or when the power went out).
Figure out whether it’s a power outage or appliance failure.
- Check other lights/outlets, your breaker panel, and whether neighbors have power.
If it’s a power outage and it’s been under ~4 hours:
Keep doors closed. Avoid moving lots of food around unless something is already warming fast.
If it’s a power outage and it will be ~4+ hours (or you’re unsure):
- If you have a cooler and ice/frozen gel packs, move refrigerated perishables (meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, leftovers, dairy, cut fruits/veg) into the cooler to keep them at 40°F or below.
If it’s an appliance failure (power is on): move the highest-risk foods first (one quick opening).
- Put perishables into a cooler with plenty of ice. Keep raw items sealed and separated from ready-to-eat foods.
Use temperatures if you have them (best option).
- Refrigerator target: 40°F (4°C) or below.
- Freezer target: 0°F (-18°C) or below.
Freezer triage (don’t unpack it).
- Keep the freezer door shut. As an estimate, a full freezer holds temperature about 48 hours, and a half-full freezer about 24 hours, if unopened.
- Frozen food can generally be refrozen if it still has ice crystals or is 40°F (4°C) or below (quality may suffer).
If the refrigerator has been without power for ~4+ hours and you did not keep food cold:
Discard refrigerated perishables such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers.
If you rent, report the failure right away.
- Use your landlord/property manager’s maintenance/emergency route and document your report (text/email if possible).
If you have medicines that require refrigeration:

Keep them in the closed fridge for now.
If you think they warmed, call your pharmacist before using them.

What can wait

You do not need to inventory every item right now — focus on high-risk foods and anything already thawing.
You do not need to clean up or defrost immediately.
You do not need to decide on repair/replacement or reimbursement right now.

Important reassurance

Most harm comes from repeated door opening or eating food that warmed too long. Keeping doors closed, using ice/coolers when needed, and making conservative discard decisions will prevent the main risks.

Scope note

These are first steps to reduce foodborne-illness risk and buy time. Later, you can decide what to salvage, handle cleanup, and arrange repairs/replacement.

Important note

This is general information, not medical or legal advice. Food safety depends on time and temperature. When you can’t confirm safety for high-risk foods, it’s safer to discard them. For medicine storage concerns, follow pharmacist advice.

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What to do if…your fridge or freezer stops cooling and food is thawing