How To Turn On a Samsung Refrigerator [Quick and Easy Guide]

Are you having trouble powering on your Samsung refrigerator? Are you looking for alternative ways to turn it on and get rid of the error codes that pop up after defrosting it?

This article has you covered. 

From rebooting your fridge after a power outage to deactivating a special setting that turns off the cooling system, we’ve detailed answers for any questions you might have regarding powering your appliance!

How to Turn On a Samsung Refrigerator

To turn a Samsung refrigerator on for the first time, wait for three hours before plugging it in and powering it on.

If you’re switching it on after an error, unplug it for five minutes then turn it back on. You can also select Factory Reset on the Family Hub screen.

Newly bought units will have their fluid components, such as refrigerants, shaken in transit to your home. To stabilize them and ensure that the unit will function normally, we advise letting it sit for three hours.

While waiting, we recommend giving the appliance a quick wiping down using a damp cloth and mild soap. Clean the compartments as well and dry them thoroughly before plugging the refrigerator in and turning it on.

If you have a Family Hub model, connect the appliance to your home network to access its features. We also recommend making or logging into your Samsung Account so you can link the refrigerator with other appliances or devices.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking to turn on your refrigerator after an error occurred, you need to follow a couple of extra steps in order to hard reset the control panel and clear out glitches.

There are two scenarios where you have to reset the control panel:

1. How to Turn On Your Refrigerator After Defrosting

Defrosting your refrigerator is also part of maintaining it in good condition. This process melts away the ice buildup that may be harmful to internal components of the unit, as well as to certain food items.

Defrosting your fridge can either be done using the Force Defrost setting — which removes frost formation by lowering the unit’s internal temperature while it’s still plugged in — or manually by unplugging it and leaving the doors open for the ice to melt.

The latter method is more traditional and takes more time, though it saves more energy than the first method.

Whichever method you use, however, you’ll still have to scoop the melted ice and wipe the appliance clean. After that, plug it back in and reset the control panel to clear any incorrect errors.

Some models have a dedicated reset button on the door’s top right corner. 

Otherwise, the standard way of performing a reset is to press and hold the Power Cool and Power Freeze buttons at the same time for at least 8 seconds or until you hear a chime.

In other models, the Power Cool and Power Freeze buttons are alternatively labeled as Fridge and Freezer respectively.

If your fridge has neither of these, refer to your user manual for the multifunctional buttons for resetting.

2. How to Turn On Your Refrigerator After a Power Outage

Power outages can be destructive to appliances. In the case of your Samsung fridge, a strong enough surge from this incident can harm the unit’s control board — the part responsible for processing commands that keep the fridge running.

The control board is built to endure wear and tear, so only a handful of (or even fewer) things can successfully harm this particular component — one of those being an excessive amount of electrical power.

An especially strong power surge can burn the control board and render it inoperative. When this happens, your only option is to replace the damaged part, since control boards cannot be repaired.

To protect this part from sustaining damages from a power surge, immediately unplug your refrigerator when there’s a power outage. 

The sudden spurt of energy is what can harm this part so make sure to disconnect the fridge before the electricity returns.

Once power is back, do the following steps:

• Step 1: Hard reset your fridge. Hard resetting means rebooting all settings of the fridge by cutting off the power source.

You might be thinking, “but the blackout just did that!” and while that’s true, it’s important to manually hard reset the appliance to let its internal components cool down.

When a power outage happens, the electrical transmission is cut off. This also means that you didn’t get the chance to turn off the refrigerator (how to turn off samsung refrigerator) before the power got interrupted.

Technically speaking, you didn’t give the refrigerator a command; it just shut off on its own. So when the electricity comes back, its system is going to try to resume processing the last command it was doing.

Having lost that connection to the power outage, however, it will only run into a communication error. Hard resetting the entire unit helps clear out this error as well as the previous commands that got interrupted.

To hard reset the fridge, simply power off the appliance again and unplug it from the outlet. Alternatively, you can shut off the power supply at its circuit breaker.

Leave it be for at least 10 minutes, and then plug it back in (or turn the circuit breaker back on) and power it on.

Let the fridge cool down for about 30 minutes or more, depending on how long the blackout lasted.

• Step 2: Reset the main control board. As we’ve already established, following this method can help safeguard the most important part of your fridge.

After you’ve hard reset the entire unit, it’s time to address the main part. Think of this extra resetting step as ‘waking up’ the main control board after letting the fridge rest and cool down for a while.

This is a step that should be familiar to you by now, too: hold down the Power Freeze and Power Cool buttons — or what your fridge’s multifunction buttons are — for at least 8 seconds or until you hear a chime.

In most cases, these first two steps are enough to power your appliance safely. But if these didn’t seem to work — or if you’re looking for a bonus safety net — you can proceed to do the last, extra step.

• Step 3: Check the compressor. If your fridge still doesn’t seem to be cooling even after you’ve rebooted it, there might be something wrong with its internal components.

The first thing on your checklist, then, should be the compressor. This is the part that’s responsible for compressing the refrigerants and letting them circulate through the cooling system.

Essentially, this is where dropping the temperature of your fridge begins. It also gives off one of the main indicators that the appliance is running as it should: that faint humming noise you sometimes hear from the appliance.

When you have the fridge plugged in and powered, that noise is constantly present, even if you can barely hear it at times. It will only stop when the power is cut off or if the compressor itself is broken.

To check if the compressor is in operation, listen for that humming noise. If it’s there, the cooling problem might be because of faulty wiring between one of the other parts and/or the control board.

In that case, you need to call for professional support.

But if the compressor is completely silent, even after minutes, this might mean that the main control board has already failed. In this case, you’ll need to replace the part as soon as possible.

How to Replace the Control Board in Your Samsung Refrigerator

If, after following all three steps above, you conclude that the control board is malfunctioning, the only way you can repair this is by installing a new part.

To begin with that, you’ll need to find a board that’s compatible with your fridge model.

You can refer to your user manual for the model number of your unit as well as the control board that can go with it. 

When you have the replacement part in hand, follow these steps to install it:

• Step 1: Turn off the fridge and unplug it.
• Step 2: The control board can be accessed in the back panel of the unit. Unscrew its cover.
• Step 3: Take a photo of the wire connections on the old control board for reference.
• Step 4: Carefully disconnect the wires. Then, lift the control board slowly off its housing to remove it from the fridge.
• Step 5: Install the new board the same way.
• Step 6: Reconnect the wires over the board according to the reference photo you took earlier.
• Step 7: Put the cover back and reset your fridge.

Tip: Aside from the compressor’s noise, another indicator of a running refrigerator are the lights inside the fridge whenever you open them. However, unlike the compressor, this aspect can be turned off with special settings on some models. If the compressor is humming but the interior lights aren’t turning on, check if your fridge is on Sabbath mode. This setting accommodates certain religious laws regarding holidays and days of rest.  When it’s activated, the appliance’s lights won’t be responding to any input while the rest of the unit runs normally. If you wish to turn off Sabbath mode, press and hold the Door Alarm and Water/Ice buttons at the same time for at least 5 seconds or until the lights come back on. If your model doesn’t carry these labels, refer to your user manual on how to toggle this setting.

Can you turn the Samsung freezer on separately?

Your Samsung refrigerator uses a twin cooling system that allows you to set different temperatures in each compartment. But while they use separate systems, the entire unit is connected to a single power source.

This means that when you turn the fridge off, you turn the freezer off as well. This is the same for when you power it on.

Cooling Off Mode: What It Is and How To Turn It Off

Is your Samsung fridge not cooling properly despite confirming that you’ve powered it on correctly — lights on, compressor running, and all?

You might have set it on Cooling Off Mode by accident.

This is a setting that turns off the cooling system while the fridge is still running. 

This is usually activated when the model is on display at a showroom so that the features of the fridge can be exhibited without the risk of frost buildup.

This is why it’s also called Demo Mode or Shop Mode in other user manuals.

An indicator that the unit is in this setting is if the display reads OF OF, O FF, or OFF OFF. In other models, this could also appear as temperature bars scrolling back and forth.

To deactivate this, here’s what you need to do:

• Step 1: Locate the Cooling Off Mode buttons. They usually are a combination of two or more buttons on the control panel.

While labels may vary for each model, the location of these buttons is almost always the same. They’re the first two ones on the left side of the panel.

For most models, these are the Freezer and Filter Reset buttons. If your fridge doesn’t carry these labels, refer to your user manual for more information.

• Step 2: Press and hold the buttons until the reading on the display panel disappears. You will feel cold air blowing into your fridge slowly.

If this doesn’t activate the mode, you might have to press an extra button. If your fridge carries the Freezer, Fridge, and Filter Reset labels, press them all at the same until a chime sounds.

Tip: Cooling Off Mode isn’t an alternative to defrosting your fridge. While this temporarily shuts off your fridge’s cooling capabilities, it doesn’t melt the ice right away. You have to remove perishable foods from the compartments to avoid spoiling and accumulation of bad smells.

Why Your Samsung Refrigerator Isn’t Turning On

A Samsung fridge that won’t turn on means that it’s not receiving any power. This might be because the outlet isn’t supplying enough voltage or because of a recent power outage.

To solve this, verify if the outlet has enough power by plugging a different appliance into it.

If it doesn’t turn on, call for an electrician to check the outlet and power lines in your household.

If only your Samsung fridge isn’t getting enough power, transfer the unit to a different outlet that meets the electrical requirement of 120 V, 60 Hz. We advise not plugging the unit into an extension cord to avoid energy fluctuation.

We also recommend that you check the doors for any gaps or obstructions that might be preventing them from closing. Open doors may signal the unit’s cooling system to pause operation as a safety measure.

Moreover, if you’ve just experienced a blackout — as stated above — you need to let the appliance sit for at least 10 minutes before powering it on to hard reset it. 

If not of the above seem to do the trick, the problem might lie in one of the following:

1. Loose or Damaged Power Cord. Before trying out a different power outlet, inspect the refrigerator’s power cord for any damages.

If there are any, call for service.

Moreover, when you’re plugging the fridge into another outlet, make sure that it’s connected securely.

2. Tripped Circuit Breaker. If no other appliance seems to be working, this might mean that your circuit breaker has tripped and cut off the power.

In this case, you need to reset the breaker.

If your refrigerator is connected to a separate circuit from the main one, this particular circuit might be the only one that has tripped. You can reset only that circuit.

If the refrigerator keeps tripping the circuit, however, unplug the refrigerator and transfer it to a different outlet that uses a different circuit.

If the appliance works normally and doesn’t trip the circuit it transferred into, you only need to call an electrician to help with your circuit breakers.

But if the issue persists on another circuit, you need to call for service on the fridge.

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Samsung fridges are one of the most reliable appliances you can install in your household, but as with any other technological device, they might run into errors once in a while.

When it comes to troubleshooting them, however, Samsung doesn’t give its user a hard time. The solutions are pretty straightforward; sometimes all you have to do is perform a good, ol’ double reset and your fridge will be back on track in no time!