At some point, every homeowner will need to test their smoke or carbon monoxide alarm. However, sometimes the alarm can go off while you are testing it, which can be annoying. If this happens, you can silence the alarm by pushing and holding the silence button for 5 seconds. You may need to do this a few times to give the alarm enough time to reset. Once the alarm is silenced, you can continue with your test. Just be sure to keep an eye on the alarm in case it goes off again. If it does, you'll know that there is an actual problem that needs to be addressed.