General Troubleshooting Tips

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Technology is great… except when it’s not. Tech troubles can disrupt the best-laid plans, but the good news is: there are simple steps you can try to solve or work around many issues

Quit and reopen the program

Quitting and reopening an application can clear temporarily stored data and sometimes this is enough to solve common problems. If you’re having trouble with a program that you access through your web browser (for example, Canvas), try quitting and reopening the web browser.

Restart your computer

Many of us keep our computers on all the time; this can sometimes be an issue. Restarting your computer is often a great first step in troubleshooting any technical problem.

Check for announcements of widespread issues

Most programs have a status page where a company can post updates if a service is down or having an issue.

ServiceURL
UCI Office of Information Technologyhttps://www.oit.uci.edu/service-alert/
Canvashttps://status.instructure.com/ 
Google (Gmail, Drive, Docs, etc.)https://www.google.com/appsstatus
iClicker Cloudhttp://status.iclicker.com/
Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Exchange, etc.)https://status.office365.com/
Zoomhttp://status.zoom.us/

Don’t see the program you’ve having trouble with in this list?
Google the name of the program + “status” and you’ll often be able to find a page with current information.

Tell someone (e.g. instructor / students / boss / colleagues / etc.)

We all know what it’s like to have something go wrong with technology. If you need to get something done and technology is getting in the way, tell someone what’s going on! They may be able to help solve the problem or be flexible while you work on it.

Plus, it’s often a lot less stressful to deal with an issue once you’ve let people know; you can focus on solving the problem instead of worrying about getting to that meeting on time, holding class the way you planned, meeting a deadline, et cetera.

Google it!

Do web search (for example: “Can’t login to Zoom”) to see if anyone else has described the same problem. You might find that someone has shared a way to solve or work around it until it’s resolved.

Ask for help

Most companies have a way you can contact them for help. Look for a website for the program or service that’s giving you trouble and see if you can fill out a form to report the problem, send an email to a support contact, find help documentation on the website, or call a number for more help.

You can always reach out to UCI’s Office of Information Technology at oit@uci.edu or (949) 824-2222; if OIT staff can’t help you directly, they’ll still do their best to point you in the right direction or connect you with the right person for more help.