🔍 Overview
Experiencing a technical issue in Search Atlas can be frustrating, especially when it's not clear what's causing it. This article walks you through a structured diagnostic process so you can pinpoint the problem quickly and either resolve it yourself or get targeted help from our team.
⚙️ Step 1: Identify the Exact Symptom
Before troubleshooting, clearly define what is not working. Ask yourself:
- What feature or page is affected? (e.g., a specific report, account settings, or a tool you rely on)
- What did you expect to happen?
- What actually happened? (error message, blank screen, incorrect data, slow loading)
- When did it start? (after a specific action, after a certain date)
Having clear answers to these questions will dramatically speed up diagnosis — both for your own troubleshooting and if you need to contact support.
🌐 Step 2: Run Basic Browser Checks
Many technical issues are caused by the browser environment rather than the platform itself. Work through these checks first:
- Hard refresh the page — Press Ctrl + Shift + R (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + R (Mac) to clear the cached version of the page.
- Clear your browser cache and cookies — Stale cache data is one of the most common causes of display and loading issues.
- Disable browser extensions — Ad blockers, VPNs, and script blockers can interfere with platform functionality. Test in a clean browser session.
- Try a different browser — Open Search Atlas in an alternative browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari) to rule out browser-specific conflicts.
- Try an incognito or private window — This bypasses most extensions and cached data in one step.
👤 Step 3: Check Your Account and Permissions
Some issues are tied to account-level settings rather than the platform itself.
- Verify your role and permissions — Check your account settings to confirm your role has access to the feature you're trying to use.
- Check your subscription plan — Certain features are only available on specific plans. Review your current plan details under the top-right avatar → Billing (Plans & Top-ups tab) to ensure the feature is included.
- Confirm you're in the correct workspace — If your account has multiple workspaces, make sure you're working inside the right one.
🚀 Step 4: Test the Specific Feature
If the issue is with a specific tool, isolate it by navigating directly to that feature from the main menu and testing it in isolation. Note whether the problem occurs consistently or only under certain conditions (e.g., with a specific project, a particular data set, or after a certain action).
📋 Step 5: Gather Information Before Escalating
If the steps above do not resolve your issue, collect the following details before reaching out to support — this will help our team investigate quickly:
- Your account or workspace name
- The exact feature or page affected
- The exact error message, if one appears (a screenshot is ideal)
- The date and time the issue first occurred
- The browser and operating system you are using
- Whether the issue occurs in other browsers or incognito mode
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.