Bosch Dishwasher E22 Error Code: Meaning, Causes & Fix

Filter clogged — the filter system is blocked and needs cleaning (a maintenance code, not a breakdown).

E22 is Bosch telling you the filters are too clogged to run properly: the control detects the circulation/drain behaving as if the filter is matted (because it is). It is the friendliest code in the Bosch list — the repair is a sink, hot water, and a soft brush. Ignoring E22 invites its neighbours: poor wash results first, then drain faults (E24/E25) as the same mats choke the pump. Bosch's own wording for E22 deserves quoting because it is the whole diagnosis: 'The dishwasher filter is blocked. The filter is the area where food particles get caught and it needs to be cleaned regularly.' Bosch's published remedy is equally plain — remove the filter, wash it under running water with mild soap and a soft brush, and reinstall it. Two things owners often miss sit inside that short text. First, Bosch says mild soap and a soft brush, not just a rinse: the blockage that trips E22 is usually a grease film bonded to the fine mesh, and water alone sheets off grease without removing it — a filter can look clean held up to the light and still be blinded by a film you can feel with a fingertip. Second, Bosch's US error-code page for this code family adds the neighbours worth checking while the filter is out: the drain pump area under its cover (blocked, or the cover loose), a kinked drain hose, and a clogged air gap — because the filter is where E22 lives, but the sump it guards is where the next codes (E24, E25) are already queuing if debris has got past it.

What causes the E22 code on a Bosch dishwasher?

Grease/food-matted filters

The fine mesh blinds over weeks of heavy use, especially with low-temperature eco cycles that don't melt grease through.

Paper labels and jar glue in the mesh

Labels washed off jars and bottles do not dissolve; they shred into fibres that mat into the fine filter with grease as the binder, and a single new-jar-heavy week can blind a filter that was fine for months. It is the classic 'sudden E22 in a careful household' story, and the mat peels off in grey sheets once you soak the filter.

A filter refitted unseated after the last clean

The filter system only filters when it is fully home: the cylindrical filter turned until it locks, the assembly sitting flat. A filter left a quarter-turn loose lets debris bypass into the sump while the mesh itself stays clean — and the control still reads the resulting circulation behaviour as a filter problem. If E22 followed your last filter clean by days, suspect the refit before the filth.

Debris already past the filter, in the sump

Glass shards, seeds and label fragments that reached the sump sit under the filter and around the pump cover, disturbing the flow the control is judging. Bosch's US page pairs its filter instruction with cleaning the drain pump area for this reason: the filter gets the code, but the sump sometimes holds the cause.

Checks to run before you replace anything

1. Pull the filter assembly (twist out the cylinder, lift the mesh) and look — E22 rarely lies.
2. Judge the filter by touch as well as sight: run a fingertip across the fine mesh. A slippery, greasy feel on a filter that looks clear is a blocked filter — E22 is reporting the film, and the film is what the soap-and-brush remedy exists to remove.
3. With the filter out, look into the sump before refitting: standing debris, glass or a grey mat at the bottom means the clean has to extend one layer down. Bosch's US instructions for this code family include removing the drain pump cover (it clicks off), clearing debris and standing water, and refitting the cover until it clicks — a loose cover is itself a listed cause on that page.
4. Check the filter for damage while it is in your hands: a torn mesh or a cracked frame has stopped filtering even if it is spotless, and no amount of cleaning restores it. Bosch's remedy assumes a sound filter; a damaged one is replaced, not washed harder.

How to fix the E22 error code

1. Wash all filter parts in hot soapy water; use a soft brush on the fine mesh (never a wire brush — damaged mesh passes debris to the pump).
2. Refit fully seated; run a hot cycle.
3. Bosch's cleaning method, done completely: remove the filter system, separate its parts, and wash each under running water with mild soap and a soft brush, working the brush across the fine mesh until the grease film is gone. For a grease-matted filter, a soak in hot soapy water first loosens what the brush then removes. Rinse, reassemble, and refit until the assembly seats and locks flat. Finish with the sump recess wiped and the pump cover clicked home if you opened it, then run the hottest cycle empty — E22 should not appear on that cycle; if it does, the blockage story is downstream (hose, air gap) and Bosch's US page lists those checks next.

The part that usually fails: None — the filters themselves, cleaned not replaced (unless the mesh is torn)

A torn/damaged filter should be replaced: it protects the pump and wash system from debris.

How to reset / clear the E22 code

E22 clears once flow normalises after cleaning — usually by the next cycle.

On Bosch dishwashers, most error codes clear when the cycle is cancelled: hold the Start button for about 3 seconds until the display shows 0:01, let the machine pump out for a minute, then switch off. For many codes a control reset is the next step — switch the machine off, and on models with a physical power switch also cut power at the breaker for a few minutes. A code that returns straight after a reset is an active fault; Bosch controls re-detect it at the next self-check, typically within the first minutes of a new cycle.

Why does the E22 code keep coming back?

E22 returning within days means the filters weren't fully de-greased (soak longer) or the household's rinse habits load them unusually fast — monthly cleaning is the standing answer. E22's returns run on a schedule that tells the story: back within days means the clean was a rinse rather than a de-grease, or the refit never seated; back within weeks, every time, means the household loads the filter faster than monthly cleaning handles — pre-scraping habits and a standing monthly clean are the fix, not a part. The return that matters is E22 graduating: if E24 or E25 joins it, debris has moved from the filter into the drain path, and the conversation changes from maintenance to the pump area. Keep E22 as a calendar event and it never gets to graduate.

How to stop E22 coming back

• Grease/food-matted filters: The fine mesh blinds over weeks of heavy use, especially with low-temperature eco cycles that don't melt grease through.
• Paper labels and jar glue in the mesh: Labels washed off jars and bottles do not dissolve; they shred into fibres that mat into the fine filter with grease as the binder, and a single new-jar-heavy week can blind a filter that was fine for months. It is the classic 'sudden E22 in a careful household' story, and the mat peels off in grey sheets once you soak the filter.
• A filter refitted unseated after the last clean: The filter system only filters when it is fully home: the cylindrical filter turned until it locks, the assembly sitting flat. A filter left a quarter-turn loose lets debris bypass into the sump while the mesh itself stays clean — and the control still reads the resulting circulation behaviour as a filter problem. If E22 followed your last filter clean by days, suspect the refit before the filth.

Retrieving stored fault codes on Bosch dishwashers

Bosch dishwashers store the last errors in a fault memory that can be read in the customer-service/test program (entered with a two-button hold that varies by series — e.g. holding two program buttons while switching on). The test program also steps through fill, heat, wash and drain so a technician can see which stage re-triggers the code. The exact button pair for your series is in the service documentation; the fault memory survives a normal reset, which is why a Bosch technician can still see a code you cleared from the display.

Other Bosch dishwasher error codes

See the full list on the Bosch Dishwasher error codes hub.

Codes E22 gets confused with

E09 — Heating circuit error — the dishwasher's heater is not working (heat pump/heater fault). E09 is Bosch's heating fault: the control drove the heater (on modern Bosch machines the heater is integrated in the circulation 'heat pump') and the temperature didn't rise as expected.

E92 — Not one fault but a two-member family in Bosch's current suffixed display format: E:92-10 — spray-arm rotation of the lower spray arm is blocked (or the lower spray arm is not correctly fitted); E:92-40 — filters are soiled or blocked. Bosch publishes no standalone 'E92' definition without its suffix. Current Bosch manuals print fault codes as E:XX-XX, and the number after the dash is not decoration — each suffixed code gets its own row, its own cause and its own remedy in Bosch's troubleshooting table.

E01 — Heat pump motor circuit fault at the main control board — Bosch's own published definition of E01 on its dishwasher error-code lists, with exactly one published owner remedy: reset power at the breaker for 30 seconds, and if the code is not resolved, contact Bosch Customer Support. Bosch defines this code more precisely than most.

E25 — Drain pump error — the drain pump is blocked, jammed, or its cover is not fitted (Bosch). E25 is E24's closer relative: where E24 indicts drainage generally, E25 points at the pump itself — the impeller is jammed by debris, the pump cover is missing/loose (Bosch's manual calls this out explicitly for E25), or the pump motor has failed.

Working from a symptom instead? Read our troubleshooting guide for this problem.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

Facts on this page were checked against manufacturer documentation: www.bosch-home.ca · www.bosch-home.com · www.bosch-home.com · washingcodes.com · manuals.plus · mans.io