How to Repair and Realign Kitchen Cabinet Doors

Kitchen cabinet doors take a beating. They swing open and closed hundreds of times a year, get slammed by kids, bear the weight of groceries, and shift as the house settles. After a few years, you'll notice a door hanging slightly crooked, rubbing against its neighbor, or gap-inconsistent along the frame. The good news: most of these problems are fixable in under an hour with nothing more than a screwdriver. The bad news: if you ignore them, the hinges wear faster, doors warp, and what started as a simple adjustment becomes a replacement job. The key is understanding that cabinet doors fail in predictable ways. Hinges loosen. Frames shift. Doors sag or drift. Each problem has a specific fix, and you can diagnose which one you're facing just by looking at how the door sits. This guide walks you through the inspection, the tightening, and the adjustment process—the exact sequence a cabinet maker uses to get doors sitting perfect.

1. Inspect the hinge screws for looseness. Open the cabinet door fully and look at the hinges—typically there are two or three per door. Try to wiggle the hinge arm where it connects to the door. If there's play, use your screwdriver to tighten every screw you see on both the hinge arm and the hinge bracket. Work slowly; you don't need to overtighten. Tighten the screw on the frame side too. Check if the door now closes flush against the frame.
2. Check for and repair stripped screw holes. If a screw spins freely without tightening, the hole is stripped. Remove that screw and inspect the hole. If it's enlarged or damaged, you have two options: use a toothpick or wooden dowel coated in wood glue to fill the hole, let it dry, then drill a pilot hole and reinstall the screw, or switch to a slightly larger gauge screw in the same hole. For cabinet hinges, moving up one size (say, from a #6 to #8 screw) usually works without catching anything.
3. Adjust the hinge for vertical alignment. Most modern cabinet hinges have an adjustment screw that moves the door up or down. This screw is typically located on the hinge arm itself, perpendicular to the hinge pin. Locate it and turn it clockwise to raise the door or counterclockwise to lower it. Make small quarter-turn adjustments, then close the door to see the effect. Repeat until the top and bottom gaps between the door and frame are equal.
4. Adjust the hinge for side-to-side alignment. The second adjustment screw on most hinges controls left-right movement. This screw typically sits where the hinge arm connects to the hinge cup or bracket. Turning it clockwise usually pulls the door toward the frame (closing a gap on the latch side), and counterclockwise pushes it away. Make quarter-turn adjustments and test. Your goal is equal gaps on both the hinge side and the latch side of the door.
5. Adjust the hinge for depth (if the door sticks). Some hinges have a third adjustment that moves the door forward or backward in the cabinet opening. This is usually a screw on the back of the hinge bracket or a set screw near the hinge pin itself. If your door is rubbing against the cabinet frame or frame edge, use this adjustment to fine-tune the door's depth. A quarter turn makes a noticeable difference here; work carefully.
6. Test the door closure and gap consistency. Close the door slowly and listen. It should close smoothly without rubbing, binding, or slamming. Look at the gaps: top gap, bottom gap, latch-side gap, and hinge-side gap should all be consistent (typically 1/8 inch for frameless cabinets, slightly wider for framed). If one gap is wider than the others, go back to the adjustment screws and fine-tune. Open and close the door five times—it should feel the same each time.
7. Repeat for all doors in the bank. Once you've mastered the first door, apply the same process to every other door in the cabinet bank. Check hinge screws first, adjust vertically, then horizontally, then test. Work from left to right or top to bottom for consistency. If you have double-door cabinets, ensure both doors meet at the center with even gaps on both sides.