11 ways you’re shortening the life of your microwave

Maybe there are a few seconds left on the microwave and you just run it instead of resetting it. Running it when there’s nothing in it is also certainly easy to do by accident. If you notice this, you should definitely put a stop to it, because it can damage your microwave. Take it from Bedford: “With nothing inside, all the microwave can do is absorb its own energy!” he told Reader’s Digest. “I’ve done this accidentally before and killed the appliance after only around ten seconds.” Now that’s an embarrassing headache no one wants.