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A call for help about not having any power in a bathroom is one of the most common calls I get. In most cases, you won’t even need any tools to fix this one.
The very first thing to do is to look for a GFI outlet (aka GFCI Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). This is an outlet with two buttons on it. One of the buttons says “test” and the other says “reset”. This outlet may have tripped after sensing a ground fault. For example, if you plug in a hair dryer or a cell phone charger that has a bad cord, the outlet will sense this and shut off the power. Try pressing the “reset” button and see if the power comes back on. If you don’t have this type of outlet in your bathroom, look throughout the house for one. Just because you don’t have a GFI outlet in that bathroom doesn’t mean the outlet is not GFI protected. You may find the outlet in another bathroom, in the kitchen, in the garage, or even outside. I have seen them in closets. I tell people to start in one room and walk the house looking for a GFI outlet that has tripped off. It’s probably a good troubleshooting idea to unplug items from that particular circuit so that it will reset.
If all the GFI outlets are reset (not tripped), head to the main electrical panel. Look for a circuit breaker that has tripped off. Note that the breaker switch will not be in the off position, but rather somewhere between the “on” and “off” positions. You might have to look closely as when many breakers trip, the switch will trip just slightly. I should be pretty obvious, but you might have to look closely.
To reset the breaker, turn it all the way to “off” and then back to “on”.
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