Resetting a breaker is the first thing everyone tries, and there’s nothing wrong with doing it once. If it holds, you had a momentary overload. If it goes again within a minute, something on that circuit has changed — and the breaker is now the only thing standing between you and a much worse afternoon.
Three faults, three different feelings
An overload trips slowly. You put the kettle, the microwave and the toaster on together and thirty seconds later the lights go out. A short circuit trips instantly, often with a bang or a smell. A ground fault trips the moment something gets wet — the outdoor outlet after rain, the bathroom outlet, the garage freezer. Which of the three you have tells you where to look and how urgent it is.
What to check before you call anyone
Unplug everything on the affected circuit and reset. If it holds, plug things back one at a time with a minute between each; whatever trips it is your culprit, and it’s usually a heating element or a motor. If the breaker won’t hold with the circuit completely empty, the fault is in the fixed wiring and it needs testing rather than guessing.
When to stop and pick up the phone
Stop immediately if the breaker is warm to the touch, if you can smell hot plastic, if the panel buzzes or crackles, or if resetting takes real force. Those four point at the panel itself rather than anything plugged into it, and repeated resetting makes them worse. Anything you can smell is already past the stage where waiting is sensible.