What should I do if only half of my outlets are working?

When exactly half of the electrical outlets in a room, hallway, or home stop working simultaneously while the other half continue to function normally, you should follow a systematic troubleshooting procedure. First, check your main electrical service panel to see if a double-pole circuit breaker has tripped halfway or if a main utility feed has dropped a leg. Second, inspect nearby Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) safety receptacles to ensure a tripped upstream device isn't cutting power to downstream split circuits. Third, remove wall plates to check for loose terminal wire connections. You can troubleshoot power loss safely using a digital multimeter. You can verify that your corrective action is successful when resetting a half-tripped breaker or securing loose terminal wiring restores full 120-volt electrical voltage across all affected dead outlets.