If the interior lights do not come on it could be because the bulbs burned out. It can also be because the fuse blew out as well.
Mainly two reasons - the bulb is not working - the fuse is not working
Press dome override button 3 or 4 times till you here a beep to put headlights and interior lights back on auto
The interior light switch on the ceiling of the car might have them turned off, or there may be some electrical short causing the problem.
You don't say what year of Ford Explorer but on some years you can rotate the guage panel dimmer switch until none of the interior lights will come on if any doors or the liftgate is opened
Check and see if the interior lights come on when you open each door. open one if lights come on shut it and wait for the lights to go off and then open another until you open all the doors. if the lights don't come on with one of the doors it will be a bad door switch on that door. if lights come on on all doors it may be the trunk. check and see if you have a trunk open warning displayed on the information center on the instrument panel. if so the car thinks the trunk is open and alarm won't set.
fuse or broken ground in wires
did you check the bulb if it is not that it could be the plunger on the door jam is just stuck or bad If so equiped, you have a switch in your overhead switch group that disables the interior lights until you enable them again.
locate the fuse to the interior lights and remove it. On our 98 Explorer you turn the dash light adjustment switch off, next to the headlight switch.
Just to the right of the headlight switch on your dash is a dimmer wheel switch for your gauge lighting , if the switch is rotated all the way down ( past the detent ) the interior lights won't come on . Also , if the switch is rotated all the way up ( past the detent ) the interior lights will come on with the doors closed
pull out the fuse ----------------------------------- rotate your gauge lighting dimmer wheel all the way down ( to the right of your headlight switch ) that shuts off the interior lights so they won't come on when a door is opened
I have a 2004 and there is a rocker switch on left side below radio that has 3 settings for interior lights. I believe UP is for lights on all the time and the neutral or middle setting is for lights on with door open and the Down setting is for lights off all the time which would be for having doors open for extended period of time (to save battery).
There is a knob on your dashboard that you can turn to set the brightness of your dash lights and interior lights. If you have this knob turned all the way down, the interior light will not come on when you open the doors, and your dashboard lights will be dark. If this is not the solution to your problem, look for a blown fuse in your fuse box.