Something on my page looks broken. Can you fix it?

How do I check whether it’s really broken?

1. Reload the page. A half-loaded page can look scrambled. Reload once and wait for it to finish.
2. Open a private window. In Chrome, open the three-dot menu and choose New Incognito window, or press Ctrl+Shift+N (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+N (Mac). Chrome’s help covers this. A private window ignores your saved copy of the site and most browser add-ons.
3. If it looks fine in the private window, clear your browser’s saved files. In Chrome, open the three-dot menu, choose Delete browsing data, pick a time range, tick the boxes and select Delete data, as Google’s help explains. Clearing cookies signs you out of sites, so tick only what you need.
4. Try another device. Look at the same page on your phone, or ask a colleague to check it.
5. Take a screenshot of the problem with the address bar showing. Cover any customer names, emails or order details before you send it.

Expected result: you know whether the problem is on the site, which we can fix, or in one browser, which clearing the cache usually solves.

The short version

• Reload the page, then open it in a private (incognito) window.
• Still wrong? Send us the page address, a screenshot with personal details covered, and your device and browser.

Why does it matter?

A layout fault can hide your phone number, cover a button or push text off the screen. Visitors rarely report it. They just leave. A quick report usually means a quick fix.

What usually causes it?

• A recent update. A plugin, theme or page builder update can change how parts of a page are drawn.
• A recent edit. A long word in a heading, a very wide photo, or text pasted from Word with hidden formatting can push things out of line.
• A missing image. The file was renamed, deleted or replaced, so the page shows an empty box.
• Every image missing at once. This usually follows a site move or a change of domain, when image links still point at the old address. It needs your web team, not a re-upload of each photo.
• An outside tool. A booking widget, map, review feed or social feed that changed or stopped loading.
• Only on phones. That’s its own topic. See why does my site look wrong on phones?

What are the common mistakes and edge cases?

• Fixing it yourself in the page builder on a site someone else maintains. You may fix one screen size and break another. Tell your web company instead.
• Sending a screenshot without the address bar. Without it, whoever fixes it has to guess which page it is.
• Saying “it’s broken” without the device. Many faults show on one browser or screen size only. Tell us what you used.
• Only you see it. If no one else can reproduce it, it’s almost always your browser’s saved copy. Step 3 fixes that.
• It’s a link or button that does nothing. See broken links and buttons.

What if this didn’t work?

• Clearing the cache didn’t help, and others see it too: it’s on the site. Send it to your web company.
• The whole page is blank or shows an error message: see critical error or white screen.
• The site won’t load at all: see why is my website down.
• It broke right after a change E-3 made: tell us right away. See how to undo a change.

How does E-3 handle this?

On sites E-3 looks after, a person at E-3 makes every fix. Send us:

• the page address;
• a screenshot, with personal details covered;
• the device and browser you used, such as “iPhone, Safari” or “Windows laptop, Chrome”;
• when you first noticed it, and anything that changed around then.

Please don’t send passwords, and you don’t need to log in for us. We find the cause and fix it. Bigger fixes go to a staging copy for testing first, and sites in website care are backed up daily.

Reach us at support@e3help.me or 814-399-4655, or through the Get support form. Replies usually come within one business day. If the fault hides your contact details or checkout, call.

Related questions

• Why does my site look wrong on phones?
• Why are some links or buttons broken?
• Can you update the text on my website?