--- title: "The display is showing PO" description: "KitchenAid the display is showing PO: the message South Florida sees in waves, always a day or two after a storm." url: "https://kitchenaidmiami.support/symptoms/refrigerator-showing-po/" date_modified: "2026-08-23" Appliance type: "Freezers, Refrigerators" --- # KitchenAid the display is showing PO ### The fastest diagnosis is the code Press and hold the button the panel shows for the alarm — on most of these it is a press of a few seconds and the message clears, and the manual for your model names the exact button. Before you clear it, though, treat it as the food-safety message it is: it means the inside of the cabinet was warm, and how long is what matters. ### Why this message exists A refrigerator cannot tell you what happened while you were out, so it keeps a note. PO is that note: the supply went away for long enough that the inside of the cabinet got warm, and the display holds the message until a person acknowledges it. It is a food-safety device rather than an error, and in a market with our storm season it earns its place. ### What we see after a storm Calls arrive in waves here, and most of them are this message on a cabinet that is working perfectly. Some are not: a cabinet that came back and never returned to temperature, or a control that will not clear the message even after a full breaker cycle. If yours is in the second group, say the outage came first when you book — the timing changes what we look at. The power was off long enough to matter That is the whole message. The cabinet noticed, recorded it, and is waiting for somebody to acknowledge it before it goes back to a normal display. A brownout rather than a full outage Storm season here produces plenty of them, and a cabinet can log one even when nothing in the house appeared to go off. The message will not clear When the documented press does nothing, try a full power cycle at the breaker. A control that still shows PO after that is a control question. It came back warm and stayed warm PO plus a cabinet that is not recovering is two different things at once, and the second one is the one that matters. Say so when you book. Check the temperature before you clear it A thermometer in a glass of water in the fresh food section, and a look at whether anything in the freezer has softened and refrozen. That refrozen texture is the real answer about the food. Hold the button the panel names Usually a few seconds on the alarm or reset position. The manual for your model has the exact one, and it clears the message without changing any other setting. Give it a few hours and check again A cabinet that lost power has to pull the whole contents back down to temperature, and that takes longer than people expect. Judge it by thermometer, not by feel. Book it if the temperature does not come back Tell us how long the power was off, what the display is showing now, and which compartment is still wrong. That combination narrows it faster than anything else. A power outage message What it usually means PO flashing on the display after an outage An alarm tone you cannot silence Everything else looks and sounds normal The fastest diagnosis is the code Press and hold the button the panel shows for the alarm — on most of these it is a press of a few seconds and the message clears, and the manual for your model names the exact button. Before you clear it, though, treat it as the food-safety message it is: it means the inside of the cabinet was warm, and how long is what matters. Why this message exists A refrigerator cannot tell you what happened while you were out, so it keeps a note. PO is that note: the supply went away for long enough that the inside of the cabinet got warm, and the display holds the message until a person acknowledges it. It is a food-safety device rather than an error, and in a market with our storm season it earns its place. What we see after a storm Calls arrive in waves here, and most of them are this message on a cabinet that is working perfectly. Some are not: a cabinet that came back and never returned to temperature, or a control that will not clear the message even after a full breaker cycle. If yours is in the second group, say the outage came first when you book — the timing changes what we look at. ### Is PO a broken part? No. It is a notice, and the manufacturer documents it as one. The cabinet is reporting that it lost power and got warm, which is genuinely useful information if you were not home — and it is why we would rather you read it than dismiss it. ### Is the food still good? Decide with a thermometer rather than by smell. A full freezer that stayed shut holds for roughly two days and a half-full one for about a day. Anything in the freezer that softened and refroze has changed texture, and that is your clue about how long it really was. ### It says PO and it is also not cooling. Then you have two things, and the second is the one to call about. Tell us when you book that the outage came first — a cabinet that has not recovered after an outage is a different diagnosis from one that drifted on its own. --- **[Read full article: The display is showing PO](https://kitchenaidmiami.support/symptoms/refrigerator-showing-po/)**