Turn off power to the water heater.
Remove the top or bottom heating element access panel. Most hot water tanks have two access panels on the front of the tank; one at the top and one at the bottom. Removing the panel will reveal the heating element.
Use a screwdriver to loosen and disconnect each wire. Most wires are screwed in place, so you cannot remove them without loosening them first.
Turn on the multimeter. Set the dial to the lowest Ohms of resistance. Connect the black and red multimeter probes to the multimeter, if they’re not already connected. Touch one probe to one terminal on the heating element and the second probe to the other terminal.
Review the multimeter display. If the heating element has continuity, it will show some resistance. If it does not, a “1,” known as infinity, will appear, indicating that the element has no continuity. If either element has no continuity, it must be replaced.