How to fix loose outlets

Last Updated on March 29, 2023 by Dave Farquhar

Loose electrical outlets are annoying. They make it hard to plug stuff in and unplug it again. They cause cover plates to break, and can even cause the outlets themselves to break. In some cases, they are even a safety issue. Here’s how to fix loose outlets.

Sometimes you get lucky and this is a five-minute fix with no supplies. Even when it isn’t, you can fix this in less than 30 minutes using less than $5 worth of supplies in most cases. Sometimes you can fix it with junk you have laying around. And it’s worth doing, as loose outlets can lead to broken cover plates or, worse yet, arcs and burns.

Safety first

how to fix loose outlets
If your wall plates crack a lot, that’s a telltale sign of a loose electrical outlet or an outlet set too far back in the wall, or both. Here’s how to fix loose outlets. Photo Credit: Ed Kohler

First things first: Turn off the power to the outlet at the electrical panel before you attempt to fix a loose electrical outlet. You’ll probably have to take the outlet out from the wall, which means bare screws and wires carrying 115 volts will be exposed. Turning off the power is a smart safety precaution.

Tool-wise, you’ll need a standard, flat bladed screwdriver at the very least. You can expect to need additional tools and supplies once you get into the box and see what’s going on. You might also consider insulating the outlets while you’re working on them.

How to fix loose outlets

Now that we have safety out of the way, let’s get on with how to fix loose outlets. You may not need much more than a screwdriver and an old gift card. MacGyver lives.

Tighten the electrical outlet first

Sometimes a loose electrical outlet happens just because someone didn’t tighten the screws enough. So once you remove the cover plate, see if you can fix the problem just by tightening the screws and adjusting the speed nut that holds the outlet in place.

Shim the electrical outlet

Sometimes the box is too far back in the wall, so the electrical outlet sits too far back. The quickest way to fix this is to shim the electrical outlet. If you ever wondered what those ears on an electrical outlet are, they’re for shimming outlets that are slightly too far back. Break off the ears with a pair of pliers, and now you have a couple of spacers to use on each screw.

If those aren’t enough, you can get special electrical outlet shims, but I just cut an old credit card or gift card into strips about 3/16 of an inch tall and drill holes about 1/8 inch in the middle. Stack up enough of these to close the gap, then put the stack on the screws and screw the outlet in. This will support the outlet against the box once you screw the outlet all the way in.

I always keep my expired gift cards after I spend them, because I end up using them to fix things like loose outlets.

If the outlet is really far back, you may need to replace the screws in the outlet with longer ones. 6-32 machine screws are the correct type to use. Standard ones are about 7/8 of an inch long, so look for screws that are around 1.25 inches long to give yourself some slack to work with. Here are some tips regarding common screw sizes for outlets.

A fix for an outlet box that’s loose or way too far back

Here’s how to fix loose outlets even when the outlet is too far back to shim with credit card pieces. It’s even National Electric Code-compliant. Get an electrical box extender. Remove the outlet, then thread the outlet and wires through the extender. Push the electrical box extender into the existing box until the whole assembly fits flush against the wall. I like to fasten it to the wall with a dab of construction adhesive just before pushing the extender all the way in. Let it set up, then screw the outlet in and replace the cover plate.

These boxes are really intended to extend outlets when you tile a wall or do something else that increases its thickness, but it will help when an outlet box comes loose, too. This is the quickest fix, by far, that doesn’t involve tearing into walls.

A trick if the outlet hole in your drywall is only slightly too big

When everything’s a bit too loose, there’s one more quick fix available if you’re willing to use a different outlet. The main selling point of the Leviton Decora Edge outlet, which costs around $3.50, is its push-in connectors with levers to secure the wires that make it possible to wire in about a minute. But the other feature it has is an oversized plastic strap with break-off fins that can grip more of the surrounding wall than a standard outlet. It also means you have to use a midway or jumbo size wallplate, because a standard wallplate won’t fit.

In combination with longer screws to lengthen the outlet’s reach, the oversized fins gripping into the surrounding wall and the oversized wallplate may be enough to tighten up the outlet even if the box is looser than you’d like.

If you found this post informative or helpful, please share it!