## **🔍 What Is Happening?**

When you first log in to Search Atlas, an onboarding modal overlay appears automatically to guide you through the platform setup. This modal sits on top of the full interface, which means the left sidebar navigation is hidden behind it — not collapsed or removed. This is expected behaviour, but it can feel like a dramatic layout change if you have already spent time inside the platform before the modal appeared.

You may notice the following signs that a modal overlay is active:

- The left sidebar is no longer visible or appears greyed out
- A large panel or popup is covering the centre or most of the screen
- Clicking outside the main content area does nothing
- The rest of the interface feels unresponsive or dimmed

## **❌ Why Clicking a Toggle Arrow Will Not Help**

A collapsed sidebar shows a small arrow or chevron icon along the left edge of the screen. If you can see that icon, clicking it will expand the sidebar. However, during onboarding the sidebar is not collapsed — it is fully obscured by the modal overlay sitting in front of it. Clicking a toggle arrow in this state will have no effect because the sidebar itself is not the problem. You need to close the modal first.

## **✅ How to Close the Onboarding Modal**

Follow these steps to dismiss the modal and restore access to your left sidebar:

1. **Look for an X button** in the top-right corner of the modal panel. This is the most common way to close it. Click the X to dismiss the overlay entirely.
2. **Scroll down inside the modal** if the X button is not immediately visible. On smaller screens or lower display resolutions, the close button may be just outside your current viewport. Scroll up within the modal panel to bring it into view.
3. **Look for a Skip or Dismiss link** near the bottom of the modal. Some onboarding steps include a text link such as **Skip for now** or **Dismiss** that will also close the overlay.
4. **Complete the current onboarding step** if no close or skip option is shown. Certain modal steps require a brief action — such as confirming a project name or selecting a goal — before the dismiss option becomes available. Complete the prompted action to unlock the X button.
5. Once the modal is closed, your **left sidebar will reappear immediately** and the full platform interface will be restored.

## **🔄 What If the Modal Reappears?**

The onboarding modal is designed to reappear on your next login if you have not fully completed or dismissed all onboarding steps. If it keeps returning, try the following:

- Work through each onboarding step in sequence and use the **Skip** or **Mark as done** option where available, rather than closing the browser tab mid-flow.
- Check whether your browser is blocking cookies or using private/incognito mode. The platform stores your onboarding progress in session data, and blocking cookies may reset your progress each time you log in.
- Try a hard refresh (**Ctrl + Shift + R** on Windows or **Cmd + Shift + R** on Mac) to clear any cached UI state that may be causing the modal to trigger unexpectedly.

## **💡 Quick Visual Reference**

Use the table below to tell the difference between a collapsed sidebar and a modal overlay so you can apply the correct fix right away:

- **Collapsed sidebar:** A narrow strip or arrow icon is visible on the left edge of the screen — click the arrow to expand.
- **Modal overlay active:** The entire screen is covered by a panel or popup with a dimmed background — close the modal using the X button or Skip link.

## **🆘 Still Stuck?**

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.