Why Roomba Won’t Start Cleaning? – Troubleshooting Guide

Roomba robot vacuums are intelligent devices that clean your home automatically. That’s why it can be pretty confusing when these devices don’t behave so smartly. For example, why would your Roomba fail to start cleaning, even if it’s actively moving around your home?

Firstly, your Roomba might not start cleaning because it’s performing a Mapping Run to understand the layout of your home. Besides that, a full bin, clogged brushes or extractors, and a software glitch can also prevent the unit from starting its cleaning cycle. To fix it, let the Roomba complete its Mapping Run, clean its bin and brushes, and remember to update the unit’s software when possible.

A Roomba that refuses to start cleaning can be pretty confusing at first glance. Still, there’s nothing to worry about. So instead, this guide will walk you through the most likely reasons and how to fix them yourself.

Your Roomba won’t begin cleaning if it’s on a mapping run, has a full bin, suffers from a clog, or has software issues. Thankfully, resolving any of these issues is pretty straightforward.

This section dives into each of those likely causes and their individual solutions.

The Roomba Is On A Mapping Run

What it is: Your Roomba unit has a unique feature called a Mapping Run. The Roomba will explore your home to understand its layout when the feature is active. As a result, the Roomba can plan its cleaning sessions better and work more efficiently to clean your space.

The problem: When your Roomba performs a Mapping Run, its vacuum motor is disabled to save battery power. That way, the Roomba can explore more space in your home without returning to its home base to recharge.

In other words, you’ll see your Roomba continue to move around even though it never starts cleaning.

How to solve it: The best thing you can do when your Roomba is performing a Mapping Run is to let it continue uninterrupted. That way, the Roomba can spend less time mapping the spaces it’ll clean.

Let’s suppose you’ve assigned your Roomba to clean a space that’s larger than average. In that case, it’ll take much longer for it to complete the Mapping Run. The Roomba might have to recharge halfway through before continuing the rest of the Mapping run.

Whatever the case, you must let the Roomba work without any interruptions. 

The sooner your Roomba finishes the Mapping Run, the sooner it’ll start cleaning your floors.

Read: Roomba Keeps Saying Clean Debris Extractors – Troubleshooting Guide

The Roomba Has A Full Bin

What it is: When your Roomba cleans your floors, its brushes and extractors will collect dust and debris. Then, everything collected is deposited inside the onboard bin, where it’ll stay contained.

You can quickly clean the bin by removing it from the Roomba and emptying its contents into the trash.

The problem: The Roomba robot vacuum offers plenty of convenience because it cleans your home automatically. Unfortunately, that also means it can be hard to track how much dust or debris it picks up while cleaning.

When that onboard bin gets full, the Roomba will pause its cleaning activities. It will not start cleaning again until you empty the bin.

How to solve it: To solve this issue, remove the bin from your Roomba. Then, be sure to empty all the dust and debris inside.

Before putting the bin back in your Roomba, you must use a dry cloth to wipe the full bin sensors and ports. There are 6 inner and outer full bin sensors and ports that require your attention. 

If those sensors stay dirty, the Roomba will mistakenly think that the bin is still full. That will prevent the vacuum from resuming its regular cleaning activities.

You can refer to the user manual for help in identifying and locating each of those full bin sensors.

Roomba robot vacuums are intelligent devices that clean your home automatically. That’s why it can be pretty confusing when these devices don’t behave so smartly. For example, why would your Roomba fail to start cleaning, even if it’s actively moving around your home?

Firstly, your Roomba might not start cleaning because it’s performing a Mapping Run to understand the layout of your home. Besides that, a full bin, clogged brushes or extractors, and a software glitch can also prevent the unit from starting its cleaning cycle. To fix it, let the Roomba complete its Mapping Run, clean its bin and brushes, and remember to update the unit’s software when possible.

A Roomba that refuses to start cleaning can be pretty confusing at first glance. Still, there’s nothing to worry about. So instead, this guide will walk you through the most likely reasons and how to fix them yourself.

Your Roomba won’t begin cleaning if it’s on a mapping run, has a full bin, suffers from a clog, or has software issues. Thankfully, resolving any of these issues is pretty straightforward.

This section dives into each of those likely causes and their individual solutions.

The Roomba Is On A Mapping Run

What it is: Your Roomba unit has a unique feature called a Mapping Run. The Roomba will explore your home to understand its layout when the feature is active. As a result, the Roomba can plan its cleaning sessions better and work more efficiently to clean your space.

The problem: When your Roomba performs a Mapping Run, its vacuum motor is disabled to save battery power. That way, the Roomba can explore more space in your home without returning to its home base to recharge.

In other words, you’ll see your Roomba continue to move around even though it never starts cleaning.

How to solve it: The best thing you can do when your Roomba is performing a Mapping Run is to let it continue uninterrupted. That way, the Roomba can spend less time mapping the spaces it’ll clean.

Let’s suppose you’ve assigned your Roomba to clean a space that’s larger than average. In that case, it’ll take much longer for it to complete the Mapping Run. The Roomba might have to recharge halfway through before continuing the rest of the Mapping run.

Whatever the case, you must let the Roomba work without any interruptions. 

The sooner your Roomba finishes the Mapping Run, the sooner it’ll start cleaning your floors.

Read: Roomba Keeps Saying Clean Debris Extractors – Troubleshooting Guide

The Roomba Has A Full Bin

What it is: When your Roomba cleans your floors, its brushes and extractors will collect dust and debris. Then, everything collected is deposited inside the onboard bin, where it’ll stay contained.

You can quickly clean the bin by removing it from the Roomba and emptying its contents into the trash.

The problem: The Roomba robot vacuum offers plenty of convenience because it cleans your home automatically. Unfortunately, that also means it can be hard to track how much dust or debris it picks up while cleaning.

When that onboard bin gets full, the Roomba will pause its cleaning activities. It will not start cleaning again until you empty the bin.

How to solve it: To solve this issue, remove the bin from your Roomba. Then, be sure to empty all the dust and debris inside.

Before putting the bin back in your Roomba, you must use a dry cloth to wipe the full bin sensors and ports. There are 6 inner and outer full bin sensors and ports that require your attention. 

If those sensors stay dirty, the Roomba will mistakenly think that the bin is still full. That will prevent the vacuum from resuming its regular cleaning activities.

You can refer to the user manual for help in identifying and locating each of those full bin sensors.