Here are the top reasons why your Instant Pot is not sealing. This guide helps you troubleshoot the main problem most Instant Pot users encounter: that the Instant Pot is not being pressurized.
Update August 2018: This article has been updated with additional reasons your Instant Pot is not sealing, based on reader comments and feedback.
Update February 2018: Recent Instant Pot users seem to be getting the ‘Burn’ message more frequently. If you’re using an online recipe, it may have been made in an older 6 quart Instant Pot. Because of design changes, your Instant Pot may not work exactly the same way. Here are two steps you can take:
- Add any tomato product and/or starchy ingredients (rice, pasta, etc) at the end and DON’T stir. Just push down with a large spoon or spatula to submerge in liquid.
- Increase the quantity of liquid called for in the recipe.
[And you really should read this: Instant Pot Burn Message]
One of the most common problems Instant Pot users encounter is that their Instant Pot won’t pressurize (or seal). This happens to me and I’m pretty sure it happens to most Instant Pot and pressure cooker users. New Instant Pot users especially have a hard time troubleshooting what’s wrong when their Instant Pot is not sealing.
When you first turn on the Instant Pot, the display reads ‘On’ and after a few minutes (anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes, depending on the quantity and temperature of the food) you’ll see and hear steam coming out of the pressure release (steam release) handle and/or float valve. After some hissing and steaming and hesitation, the float valve usually rises all the way up and the Instant Pot is sealed.
If you’ve waited for longer than usual and the float valve isn’t popping up, there’s a possibility that your Instant Pot is not going to pressurize. And if the timer begins and the float valve is still down, it’s definitely not going to seal. I’ve put together a list of possible reasons why your Instant Pot is not sealing and won’t pressurize.
If your Instant Pot is showing the ‘noPr’ error message, it could be that your Instant Pot couldn’t reach a high enough temperature during the pre-heating stage. This could be due to the quantity of food or liquid, or the presence of frozen ingredients. If not making any of the following mistakes, press ‘Cancel’ and try restarting the pressure cooking program again.
Note: Once you diagnose the reason your Instant Pot isn’t coming to pressure and before you continue with your pressure cooking, make sure you have enough liquid in the Instant Pot. Often times, the liquid has evaporated over a period of time, because either the sealing ring wasn’t in place or the pressure release handle was in the venting position.
1. Pressure release (steam release) handle is in the venting position.
The pressure release handle needs to be in the sealing position when cooking on any mode other than slow cook or yogurt.
Solution: Open the Instant Pot and make sure there’s enough liquid. If too much liquid has evaporated, the Instant Pot won’t pressurize. Close the Instant Pot with the steam release handle in the VENTING position. Since the contents are warm, this will allow you to close the pot properly. Once it’s closed, move the steam release handle to the SEALING position.
2. Sealing ring (also referred to as the gasket) is not properly seated.
If your ring cannot be rotated around the sealing ring rack, it’s not properly seated. You should be able to turn it in place, with a bit of effort. If your sealing ring hasn’t been installed correctly, you may find that steam is leaking out of the sides of the lid.
Solution: Open the Instant Pot and push down the sealing ring all around the ring rack to make sure it’s properly seated. Try and turn it in the ring rack. It should move/rotate around the ring rack.
3. Sealing ring is missing/misplaced.
Often times, the sealing ring has been removed for cleaning and isn’t placed back in the Instant Pot lid’s ring rack. If your sealing ring is missing, you will see steam leaking from the sides of the lid.
Solution: Replace the sealing ring.
4. Not enough liquid in Instant Pot.
According to the Instant Pot manual, the Instant Pot requires at least 1 cup of liquid. I’ve used as little as 1/2 cup and done fine with many recipes. Some liquids like canned tomato sauce are too dense and require thinning out with broth or water.
Solution: Add more water or broth. If the final result is a dish that’s too thin/liquidy, you can use the ‘Saute’ function and let the liquid reduce and thicken, or you can use a thickener like cornstarch, flour, potato flakes, etc.
5. Food is scorched on the bottom of the Instant Pot.
If food is scorched on the bottom of the Instant Pot, the liquid won’t make contact with the bottom of the inner pot and the Instant Pot won’t build steam. Here are a few of the reasons food gets scorched on the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- After browning or sauteing, if there are browned bits sticking to the bottom of the pot, you need to deglaze the pot. Deglazing involves adding liquid (e.g. water, broth) to the heated pot and stirring, to allow the browned bits to come free.
- The liquid is too thick. This can happen with tomato sauce, thick sauces like mole sauce, or thick marinades. Thick sauces should be placed at the top AND you should thin them out with water or broth.
- The Instant Pot is overfilled with food and there isn’t enough room for the liquid to circulate.
Solution: Open the Instant Pot, remove contents to a large bowl, clean the inner pot by scraping with a plastic or wooden scraper (You might even need to soak it with warm water and dish detergent for a bit.) I have several of these pan scrapers
that work really well.
Once the inner pot is clean, resume cooking, but be sure to add more liquid.
6. Sealing ring has expanded too much and won’t seal properly.
The sealing ring naturally expands when it’s heated. Once cool, it should return to its natural state. If you’ve just completed cooking something, the sealing ring may still be in its expanded state and your instant pot will not seal.
Solution: Try placing the sealing ring in the freezer or run it under cold water to contract it. You can also try and turn the sealing ring over and replace it.
7. Sealing ring has debris/food.
The Instant Pot sealing ring needs to be clean in order to create a proper seal.
Solution: Make sure there’s no food stuck to the sealing ring. Clean the sealing ring with soap and water.
8. Too Much Water has Evaporated Before Problem Was Fixed.
If the pot was not initially sealed and you corrected the problem, you may have allowed liquid to evaporate and so there isn’t enough liquid to create the required pressure. This can cause the Instant Pot to not pressurize.
Solution: Open the Instant Pot, and check the quantity of liquid. You need 1/2 cup to 1 cup of liquid. Add more liquid if necessary.
9. Sealing ring is damaged or torn.
If your Instant Pot sealing ring is heavily used or pulled on too hard it can get worn out or tear.
Solution: Purchase a new sealing ring.
10. ‘Timer’ function was used instead of ‘Manual’ (or ‘Pressure’) or one of the other cooking options.
The ‘Timer’ button allows you to set a delayed time to start cooking. When you press the timer button, the time that shows up is the number of hours till cooking starts.
Solution: Press ‘Cancel’ to cancel timer. Press ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure’ (or other cooking option e.g. ‘Poultry’, ‘Meat’) and wait a few seconds for the Instant Pot display to change to ‘On’. If you wish to use the timer functionality, select the cooking function (e.g. ‘Manual’, ‘Pressure’, ‘Poultry’) first, then press ‘Timer’.
11. The Instant Pot lid area is dirty.
The Instant Pot lid and the area it fits onto need to be clean and clear of food debris.
Solution: Open the Instant Pot lid and use a cloth or clean toothbrush to wipe around the rim of the Instant Pot lid and the where the lid would sit.
12. The float valve or the anti block shield has debris.
When you cook foods like pasta or other messy foods, the anti block shield and the float valve can get dirty and be obstructed.
Solution: Remove anti block shield and float valve and clean with a clean toothbrush and soapy water. Clean the hole that the float valve goes into with a brush or pipe cleaner. Clean all parts of the lid. Dry well and replace the parts.
See my Instant Pot Beginner’s Guide to find out how to remove these.
13. Food is frozen.
Frozen food takes longer to cook and it also takes longer for the Instant Pot to pressurize.
Solution: Wait a bit longer to see if the Instant Pot will seal.
14. Large quantity of liquid in Instant Pot.
If you’re making a soup or cooking a larger quantity of food in the Instant Pot, you may have a lot of liquid. The more liquid you have, the longer it takes for the Instant Pot to seal.
Solution: Wait a bit longer to see if the Instant Pot will seal.
15. Float valve is up but the display shows ‘On’ and countdown timer hasn’t begun.
If the Instant Pot just says ‘On’, it’s because there can be a delay between the float valve rising up and the timer starting to countdown.
Solution: Wait a bit to let the timer begin. The float valve coming up locks the lid but the Instant Pot may need more time to pressurize in order for the timer to begin.
16. Power Cord is loose.
The power cord needs to be pushed in all the way. It can come loose if you move the Instant Pot or accidentally bump it.
Solution: Push the power cord in all the way.
But wait – there’s more!
I’ve gone through all the emails and comments I get and added these additional Reasons for Instant Pot Not Sealing.
17. Food is stuck on the rim of the 
Instant Pot inner pot.
If you have food stuck to the rim of the Instant Pot 
inner pot, the seal will not be tight when you close the Instant Pot lid and steam can escape.
Solution: Thoroughly clean the Instant Pot inner pot, particularly the rim, inside and out.
18. The wrong size inner pot was used.
If you have multiple Instant Pots of different sizes, you may have used the wrong stainless steel inner pot/liner. This is a common problem!
Solution: Make sure you use the correct inner pot.
19. The float valve is missing.
If you take the float valve out while cleaning the Instant Pot lid, you may forget to replace it.
Solution: Put the float valve back in and replace the silicone cover.
20. The steam release handle is missing
If you take the steam release handle out while cleaning the Instant Pot lid, you may forget to replace it.
Solution: Put the steam release handle back on to the lid and push down to make sure it’s properly seated.
21. The lid locking pin is stuck.
The spring-loaded pin (lid locking pin) on the rim at the back of the lid could be stuck in the retracted position.
Solution: Push on it from the inside and outside of the lid or gently jiggle it to get the spring mechanism to reset the pin.
22. The exhaust valve is loose.
In rare cases, the exhaust valve inside the anti-block shield can become loose; e.g. this can happen during shipping.
Solution: Carefully tighten the valve so it’s not loose anymore. Don’t overly tighten it.
23. The Steam Release Handle is not seated properly.
If you take the steam release handle out while cleaning the Instant Pot lid, it may not be put back in correctly. It needs to be pushed in all the way.
Solution: Push in the Steam Release Handle and move it from ‘Sealing’ to ‘Venting’ and back again a few times so it sits properly.
I hope this troubleshooting guide has helped you find out why your Instant Pot is not sealing. Over time and with experience, you should encounter this problem less frequently. If your problem continues, try and do a water test.
Also see my posts Instant Pot Burn Message, Instant Pot Quick Start Guide for Beginners and 17 Instant Pot Tips and FAQs. If you continue to have problems, you might have a defective unit and you’ll need to contact the Instant Pot company. Feel free to comment below if you have anything to add to this list that I may have missed!
You might also like to try:
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| Instant Pot Ultra Manual | 17 Instant Pot Tips and FAQs | Instant Pot Pot in Pot Cooking |
Suzanne
Has anyone had issue with liquid leaking? It doesn’t seem to be from the vent, but we can’t figure it out. Made soup today and there was broth on the counter after cooking 30 minutes.
Chris
THANK YOU! Solution #5 saved my beef stew! I literally gave up a whoop when I heard it seal! I am so proud of myself for troubleshooting the problem myself on the Internet and not having to call in my husband, lol! THANK YOU for being the resource I needed! I am going to share this on the IP FB page I am a member of 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red
You’re so welcome, Chris. It’s an easy mistake to make, especially starting out. All the best!
Colleen
Hi – I have both a 6 & 8 qrt instant pot – last night my 8 started having issues – it seals – goes to full pressure (button pops) all good then about 45 seconds later it starts spewing steam??
Cleaned everything real good ran it through starter test this morning with 2 cups of water did exact same thing…any ideas?
Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Colleen, although I’ve not experienced it, a pressure cooker can release some steam to maintain the appropriate level of pressure. Have you tried to wait it out and see what happens? Does the steam stop at some point and is the food being cooked properly? Try doing a thorough cleaning and it might even be worth getting a new sealing ring. Good luck.
Colleen
Hi
Thank you for the feedback-
This is all new for the 8 – normally it seals under pressure & doesn’t release until you flip the valve at the end
I’ve just ordered new parts & hope that it corrects this
Thank you again!
Barb
My instant pot lid won’t close. The sealing ring appears to be okay and no debris anywhere that I can see. The only problem I can detect is the release button is extended and won’t allow me to close the lid. Any suggestions please.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Barb, if either the float valve is stuck in the up position or the lid-locking pin on the side of the lid is pushed out, you will have trouble closing your lid. Try to gently wiggle it to get it unstuck. Good luck.
D
Here’s another one. You had to buy a new float valve and put the wrong little mini gasket on. You need to use the one that looks like a cap not the one that has a hole in the middle.
Stephanie Manley
I am assuming you will read this, you have a coding error right after what’s there is more
Paint the Kitchen Red
Oh no! Thank you so much – that’s so nice of you to take the time to let me know! I will fix it ASAP 🙂
Susan
My issue with my Instant Pot is the pop up valve is releasing so much steam before it actually pops up that I end up getting a burn notice. Should it be releasing steam? I usually have to nudge is several times with the end of a spoon before it pops up.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Susan, yes, it will release steam and that’s perfectly normal. And the amount of steam that’s released and time it takes to come to pressure is directly related to the amount of liquid in the Instant Pot. My best guess is that it’s something else that’s causing your burn message – i.e. it’s related to the recipe you’re making. Please try and read the burn message post.
Priscilla
My issue is that the lid does not seal correctly if I put it on while the unit is plugged in. I tried to make potatoes last weekend and three times steam is coming out of the front lip and not the top valve. Thankfully they were on the smaller side and they actually cooked enough by the third fail. I was about to have a nervous breakdown. Had a house full of people and this thing is not working. If I put the lid on and then plug it in, it usually works fine. So frustrating! It makes me feel crazy sometimes but I still love my instant pot.
Paint the Kitchen Red
That is very odd, Priscilla. I would try and troubleshoot with the company. Maybe they can help you figure out what’s happening. Sorry for your trouble 🙁
Molly Spradley
IP should be paying you…you are giving much better customer support than them and I thank you for it. After a search around for info on the NoPr screen luckily I landed here. I have a 6qt Ultra less than a year old and only have had a burn warning a few times and nothing else until today. This morning I’d made hard boiled eggs with no problem but then this afternoon trying to make bone broth had trouble. Thanks to your article I narrowed it down to possibly some of the frozen ingredients, perhaps splash-up that blocked the float valve or dirtied the ring or too much liquid after everything had thawed. I unplugged, let it cool, rewashed all the lid parts and around the container lid and tried again. It is cooking away just fine now. Thank you for all the great suggestions and information!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Molly – what a nice compliment 🙂 I’m happy to hear you figured it out!
Robert Birchenough
I have one more reason the instant pot won’t pressurize: The pressure release is on backwards. Ensure the pressure release is installed as shown in the picture. If you remove it to clean it, then put it on facing the opposite direction, it won’t seal properly and will not allow the instant pot to achieve the desired pressure.
Don’t ask me how I know this. I’m sure I would never make such a ridiculous mistake! 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red
Haha, I’m guessing that there are many others who’ve also learned the hard way. Thanks for taking the time to share that. Next time I update the post I’ll be sure to add that as a reason.
LStefani
Thank you for this info. I’ve been an IP user for years and never had a problem with IP not pressurizing until tonight. After reading your post, I checked for scorching and that was the problem (plus the sauce may have been too thick). I cleaned the bottom of the pot, thinned the sauce and it worked. You saved my dinner and the cost of another IP. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Paint the Kitchen Red
You’re very welcome – glad I could be of help 🙂
Janet
Saw this great video about the float valve. I hope this helps!
https://youtu.be/SJW4QNwTmn0
Markee
What if the float valve won’t pop up? What do I do then?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Markee – have you made sure it’s none of the reasons in the article? Have you done a water test? If it comes up during the water test, then it’s something having to do with the recipe you’re using – maybe not enough liquid?
Lisa
I am new at all this. Last night I used it and it never went to count down. It stayed “On”. Then after awhile it went to “burn “. I did a quick release and when I opened. It had cooked and some of the chicken got scorched. I had plenty of liquid. I don’t know but it was still delicious.
Also my release valve is and came very wabblie. I thought it was broken when I got it cause it was so loose. Is that normal?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Lisa – depending on what you’re cooking it does take time to go from “On” to counting down. However, since you ultimately got a “burn” error, it sounds like there was something about the recipe you’re using that caused this. If you want, I can take a look at the recipe and see if anything stands out. The steam release handle is supposed to be wobbly in order to allow steam to escape so that is not an issue.
Don
I am trying to cook Chili tonight. EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED to the point of nearly tossing the InstaPot in the Trash. I’ve got a VERY wet Chili mix in the pot and it kept trying to come up to pressure but then went into BURN mode repeatedly as the pressure weight was steaming away but not popping up. I finally decided to move the pot a little because all the steam was going straight up into a light fixture and as soon as I grabbed it by the handles on the side and touched the tabs on the lid, the valve popped up [email protected]#$%
It seems like the lid was just slightly not at full lock all the way to the right and the pressure on the lid tabs was enough to get it to seal and pop up.
I’ve been fighting with it for about 90 minutes now and just looked again and while it is still pressurized, it’s gone into burn shut down mode again.
If my Chili is ruined, I’m going to sledge hammer it in the garage tomorrow. I’ll post a YouTube video if I do. There is no way the lid should not have a very solid lock into place. There should be resistance to make you very firmly lock the lid into place so this doesn’t happen.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Don, I can sympathize with your frustration and I’m sorry you’re having trouble with the Instant Pot. So have you tried cooking other dishes in the IP? Do you get the burn error with other recipes? It could be that the recipe you’re using has some fillers that are causing the sticking. I would suggest that you read my post on the burn message and use the layering technique: put any dense sauces or starchy ingredients on top. I don’t think it’s the lid, but without knowing more about the recipe, I can’t give you a clear answer.
carla
Today is the first time I’ve had a noPr message, been using IP for about a year…mostly yogurt…the IP has paid for itself in yogurt. Thank you so much for this thorough discussion of the noPr message. First time making chicken stock today and of course I want to get as much out of it as possible. Filled it full without over filling it. Received noPr message about when it should have heated up sufficiently to seal. Following your advice, I just reset it (shut off, turned on, set 45mins at high pressure) and not too long after that it had sealed and was counting down. Just needed a bit more time to get up to pressure. No issue at all. Thank you!!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks for your comment, Carla. I’m glad to hear you got it figured out!
Viki Nelson
Hi. I love my instant pot and your website. I’ve been having recent problems with my float valve not rising although there’s plenty of steam coming out. I’ve gone through the fix-it list to no avail but done a runaround by placing a silicone spatula over the hole to block the steam which essentially forces the float valve up. This leaves me with a few questions: 1) is this safe to do (not from a burn perspective, but explosion) and 2) what else could be keeping the valve from rising on its own? Thanks so much!!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Viki, I would not advise that you block the steam in any way – that is dangerous. You could gently tap the float valve with a chopstick. One thing that I’ve heard people do is to gently push down on the lid when the float valve appears to be ready to go up. I can’t attest to how well the food cooks in this instance, but it isn’t dangerous like blocking the steam. Always make sure you have enough liquid, and that your sealing ring, float valve, and anti-block shield are completely clean. You might try to borrow a sealing ring to see if it’s the problem.
SAM
Thank you for your hard work. However it is absolutely absurd that they would sell a product that works this poorly and needs so much attention. I’ve spent hours at times trying to get it to work and not burn my soup or other meal. My first electric pressure cooker worked way better than this ever has, even when the instant pot was right out of the box. I’m never buying another one. I’ve never been able to use all the “special” settings since I can hardly get “manual ” to work.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Sam, I’m sorry you’ve been having trouble. I did have a learning curve initially, but once I figured out what not to do (to prevent sealing issues), I’ve pretty much not had any major problems. I hope it works out for you. If you can’t get it to work even with soup and no tricky ingredients (tomato sauces, starches) then maybe you have a defective unit and need to contact the company. I wish you luck.
Chris
Many thanks for all the helpful information. There were some comments about manually tightening the steam release handle when it appeared it had become unseated. Someone asked how to do that but I didn’t see a response. Do you know how? Also wondering if there is a rough guide about how long to wait for the pot to pressurize. I realize it depends on what you are cooking but since my IP never seems to come to
Pressure , wondering if this could be my issue. I will try the water test again and also the tip about pressing down on the lid.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Chris, I must have missed that question – I’ll go in and check. To answer your question re: steam release handle, it is supposed to be loose and wobbly, so that should not be an issue. The steam release valve has a nut on the inside of the lid and it should not be loose (a rare situation, by the way). You would tighten it with a wrench, but not over-tighten.
You definitely need to try the water test to eliminate ingredients or specific recipe as a possibility. If it doesn’t come to pressure, then you have an issue. If you’ve tried all the suggestions I made, you may want to contact the company. Good luck.
Sue Leroux
THANKS! I’ve been working with the company to figure out why my IP is not holding pressure. They determined my sealing ring was defective and sent me a new one today. (It was the right size but loose in one section.) Imagine my consternation when the new ring didn’t work either! But I read your suggestions and decided that I might not have enough liquid in my beef bourguignon, even though I added what the IP-tailored recipe suggested. And voila, the valve just sealed and I am cooking away. I SO wish the IP included an indicator that assured you of whether you had a good seal BEFORE you discovered this in the middle of cooking. Thanks for recounting the hundreds of reasons an IP might not build pressure!
Paint the Kitchen Red
The newer models try to address this issue by giving a ‘Burn’ error if the IP is not going to seal. The problem is that it can sometimes be too sensitive and people get the ‘burn’ error when they shouldn’t! Can’t win 🙂 Anyway, I’m glad you figured it out. Read my Burn Message article to see if you can possibly cook the recipe you have without changes, by layering ingredients that can stick (e.g. tomatoes, etc.)
David
I would like to have two Instant pots. One 6 qt, one 8 qt. I like the look of the duo plus & the Ultra. The Ultra because I am forgetful & I like the pressure venting. Haven’t used them before. Which would you recommend for the 6 qt? I may start on that first. Don’t know which is better to learn on. Also are the accessories interchangeable? Wonderful info. Thanks, David.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi David, thanks for your comment. I have the Duo and the Ultra. What I think you’ll find is that once you start with one, you’ll just get used to it. I really don’t think you can go wrong with either (the Duo Plus is similar to the Duo in terms of using the buttons, etc). For me personally, because I’ve been using the Ultra more lately, I like it better, and yes I do like the push button steam release a lot. The accessories like pans, trivets (not sealing ring or inner pot) for the 6 quart can be used in the 8 quart but not vice versa due to the diameter. The accessories for the same size Ultra can be used in the Duo/Plus and vice versa. That being said, when you first get the Ultra, you might notice that all the instructions on blogs and websites tend to be for the Duo (i.e. press this button, etc) and you’ll have to learn how to translate that. You can use my Instant Pot Ultra Quick Start Guide to get familiar with the Ultra. All the best!