---
title: "Washer: Control lock"
description: "Washer control lock — washer: Control lock: lG washer — reported by blinking lights rather than by a code."
url: "https://lgmiami.support/error-codes/washer-control-lock/"
date_modified: "2026-09-05"
Appliance type: "Dryers, Washers"
---


# Washer: Control lock

### What the appliance is actually reporting

Two buttons held together for three seconds locks the control panel so a running cycle cannot be changed, and CL is what the machine shows while that is on. It survives the power being turned off and on, which is what convinces people the machine is broken. The same two buttons release it.

### The other light combinations that mean this

CL · cL

LG publishes what the indicator lights mean on the washers and dryers that have no numeric display. They are grouped here by what they mean rather than split into near-identical pages, and every pattern the maker names is printed above.

### Where this appears, and why not to clear it

On the indicator lights, on a laundry machine with no numeric display. LG publishes what the patterns mean, and on those models the pattern is the entire diagnosis — it disappears the moment the power is cut. Write it down or photograph the panel before switching anything off, and count a full sequence rather than a single flash: the lights also blink to show cycle status, so treat it as an error only if the machine is misbehaving as well.

### What to do about it

- Find the two buttons marked with the lock symbol and hold them for three seconds.
- Listen for the chime.
- Note that turning the machine off and on will not clear this — it is meant not to.
- If the panel is dead with the lock released, that is a different problem.

### Where this goes next

The job this usually becomes is [diagnostic visit](/services/diagnostic-visit/), and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. If it turns out to be nothing — and on this make a real share of these are modes, reminders and settings rather than problems — the visit ends there and you pay the diagnostic and nothing else, or call [(305) 419-0291](tel:+13054190291) and describe what the panel is doing before booking anything.

Control lock

What the lights are telling you

What the appliance is actually reporting

Two buttons held together for three seconds locks the control panel so a running cycle cannot be changed, and CL is what the machine shows while that is on. It survives the power being turned off and on, which is what convinces people the machine is broken. The same two buttons release it.

The other light combinations that mean this

CL · cL

LG publishes what the indicator lights mean on the washers and dryers that have no numeric display. They are grouped here by what they mean rather than split into near-identical pages, and every pattern the maker names is printed above.

Where this appears, and why not to clear it

On the indicator lights, on a laundry machine with no numeric display. LG publishes what the patterns mean, and on those models the pattern is the entire diagnosis — it disappears the moment the power is cut. Write it down or photograph the panel before switching anything off, and count a full sequence rather than a single flash: the lights also blink to show cycle status, so treat it as an error only if the machine is misbehaving as well.

What to do about it

Find the two buttons marked with the lock symbol and hold them for three seconds.

Listen for the chime.

Note that turning the machine off and on will not clear this — it is meant not to.

If the panel is dead with the lock released, that is a different problem.

Where this goes next

The job this usually becomes is diagnostic visit, and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. If it turns out to be nothing — and on this make a real share of these are modes, reminders and settings rather than problems — the visit ends there and you pay the diagnostic and nothing else, or call [(305) 419-0291](tel:+13054190291) and describe what the panel is doing before booking anything.

---

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