MicrowaveRepair.center (844) 393-5858Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm Book a visit
A stainless microwave drawer built into a light oak kitchen island under a marble counter in a US home, the microwave drawer slid fully open toward the camera to show its flat interior with a plain covered glass casserole dish inside, the control strip along the top edge of the microwave blank or showing plain digits only.

Microwave Drawer Repair

A microwave built under a counter or into a kitchen island that opens like a drawer at the touch of a key, with a motor and gears sliding its cavity out toward you.

(844) 393-5858

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • 4 things that fail on it
  • 15 makes build it
  • 6 problems it shows

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or call (844) 393-5858

Is yours
a drawer?

A microwave drawer lives below the counter, in a base cabinet or the side of an island, and it is the one microwave whose door moves on its own. Touching the open key starts a small motor that drives a gear along a toothed track and pulls the whole cavity forward; touching it again, or giving the front a light push on most models, sends it back until a switch tells the board it is shut. Food goes in from above, which suits children and anyone who would rather not lift a hot bowl down from eye level, and there is no turntable: the energy is stirred inside instead. That motorized door is also what sets these units apart when something goes wrong. A dropped spoon in the track, a spill that has dried on the gear rack, a child lock left on or a switch that no longer sees the drawer closed can each leave it stuck half open or refusing to open at all. The heating side is an ordinary microwave with a magnetron, a high-voltage section and interlock switches, packed into a low, wide cabinet that has to be drawn out of its opening for most deeper repairs.

A close view of a stainless microwave drawer drawn partway out of a gray kitchen island base cabinet in a US home, the side of the microwave drawer showing a black plastic toothed rack and a metal slide, a technician's hand holding a flashlight into the gap beside the microwave. What fails on a microwave drawer

How to tell

01

It sits below the countertop, in a base cabinet or an island, with a wide front panel and a control strip across the top edge or on an angled face.
02

Pressing an open key makes it slide toward you slowly with a quiet motor sound, instead of swinging on a hinge.
03

Looking down into the open drawer you see a flat floor with no glass turntable, and the whole cavity moves out with the front.
04

Its front panel is wide and low, usually 24 or 30 inches across, and some are finished to match the base cabinets around it.

Not yours?Microwave hood combinationBuilt-in microwaveCountertop microwave

What fails
on this design.

On a microwave drawer: the drive motor and its gears, debris in the track, switches that no longer see the drawer, the heating side underneath.

The problems it shows

The drive motor and its gears

A small motor turns a gear against a toothed rack on the drawer's side. Stripped teeth, a motor that hums without turning, or a clutch that slips leaves the drawer creeping partway and stopping, often with a grinding sound.

Debris in the track

Crumbs, a spilled sauce or a lost utensil falls past the front into the slides and the rack. The drawer meets that resistance, the board senses it and stops the motor, and the unit may show an error or refuse to move at all.

Switches that no longer see the drawer

Separate switches tell the board when the drawer is fully open and fully shut, and the interlock switches confirm the door seal before heating. One that is bent or worn and the drawer will not heat, will not close fully, or keeps reversing.

The heating side underneath

Below the motorized front is a full microwave: magnetron, diode, capacitor and transformer. These fail the way they do in any microwave, but reaching them means drawing the whole unit out of its opening first.

Getting at it,
and whether to.

The track, the gear rack, the slides and the front panel can often be checked with the drawer open, from the front of the cabinet.

What repairs cost

On the visit

  1. Heating parts, the drive motor and the board need the unit drawn out of the base cabinet, so clear the floor in front of it and anything stored beside it.
  2. If the drawer is stuck, do not force it by hand or pry the front: that strips the gears. Turn the power off at the breaker and leave it where it stopped.
  3. The cabinet of the drawer stays closed until the technician arrives; the capacitor inside is charged even with the breaker off.

Repair or replace

A microwave drawer is fitted to a cutout in a base cabinet or an island and often sits beside matching appliances, so replacing it means finding one that fits the same opening and finish. Most failures are mechanical, a motor, a gear set, a slide, a switch, and those are well worth doing. Many drawer models across makers share a similar mechanism, which keeps parts available. A failed main board on an older unit, or a heating failure paired with a worn drive, is where you weigh the full cost against a new drawer with both figures written out.

Book a visit for a microwave drawer

The problems
it shows.

On a microwave drawer, most often microwave drawer won't open or close.

All problems
A stainless microwave drawer built into a kitchen island below the counter, its drawer front closed with a slim glass lid panel at the top, a wooden stool and a thick woven mat pushed up against the drawer front on the floor.

Microwave Drawer Won't Open or Close

6 causes, cheapest first

 A built-in stainless microwave in a trim kit set into a kitchen cabinet, its side-hinged door with a mesh window open and a plain glass measuring cup of water standing on the glass turntable inside the microwave cavity, the cavity lamp lit, a quiet kitchen around it.

Microwave Runs but Food Stays Cold

7 causes, cheapest first

 Close view of the membrane touchpad beside the side-hinged door with a mesh window of a stainless microwave hood combination, the keypad surface slightly bubbled and worn at a few keys with no characters printed on them, a faint film of steam on the edge of the microwave front.

Microwave Touchpad Ignores Key Presses

6 causes, cheapest first

 Close view of the control panel beside the side-hinged door with a mesh window of a built-in stainless microwave in a tall kitchen cabinet, a few abstract lit segments on its small display, the microwave cavity dark behind the closed mesh window.

What a Microwave Error Code Is Telling You

7 causes, cheapest first

 A countertop stainless microwave on a kitchen counter with its side-hinged door with a mesh window closed, a half-heated plain glass bowl of soup visible on the glass turntable inside the microwave cavity, the unit pushed tight against a tiled backsplash with no gap at the back.

Microwave Shuts Off Before the Timer Ends

6 causes, cheapest first

 Close view of the control strip of a built-in stainless microwave in a tall kitchen cabinet, its small display showing faint broken segments of plain digits, the side-hinged door with a mesh window of the microwave closed beside it.

Microwave Display Dark, Dim or Scrambled

6 causes, cheapest first

Who builds
a drawer.

15 of the makes on this site build a microwave drawer. Each mark opens that make's own page.

All 18 brands

Microwave drawer repair,
where we come out.

9 metros, each with its own page.

All service areas

Tampa BayFL · 31 areas

OrlandoFL · 30 areas

Miami / South FloridaFL · 47 areas

New York MetroNY · 75 areas

HoustonTX · 36 areas

ChicagoIL · 50 areas

Los AngelesCA · 95 areas

San DiegoCA · 31 areas

San Francisco Bay AreaCA · 74 areas

A family warming plates of food at a built-in microwave in a bright kitchen
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
microwave drawers.

My microwave drawer will not open when I press the key. Where do I start looking?
Look for a lock symbol on the display: many drawers ship with a child or control lock that blocks the open key, released by holding a key for a few seconds. Then check that the circuit breaker is on and the display is lit. If it hums or clicks but does not move, something is in the track or the drive has failed, and forcing it by hand makes the repair bigger.
Can I pull a microwave drawer open by hand?
Not while the drive is engaged. The front is geared to a motor, and pulling it strips the teeth on the rack or the gear. Some models have a manual release reached from inside the cabinet, described in the owner's manual; if yours has none, switch it off at the breaker and wait for the visit.
Why does my microwave drawer close and then open again by itself?
The board reverses the motor when it senses resistance, the way a garage door backs up. A crumb or a utensil in the track, a drawer front knocked out of line, or a closed-position switch that no longer clicks will all trigger it. A look in the track with a flashlight is safe; anything past that is for the visit.
Why is there no turntable in my microwave drawer?
Drawers use a flat floor and stir the microwave energy inside the cavity, because a spinning plate would sit badly in a box that moves on slides. Food still heats evenly as long as dishes sit near the center, so a missing turntable is normal and not a part to replace.

Back to your everyday

Is it a microwave drawer?

Say so when you book — it changes what the technician brings and how the visit is planned.

Schedule a repair Call (844) 393-5858
(844) 393-5858 Schedule a repair