troubleshoot

Or trou·ble-shoot

[truhb-uhl-shoot]

verb (used without object)

troubleshooted, troubleshot, troubleshooting. 

1. to act or be employed as an expert in discovering and eliminating problems or malfunctions in software, mechanical equipment, etc..

   She troubleshoots for a large industrial firm.

verb (used with object)

troubleshooted, troubleshot, troubleshooting. 

1. to discover and eliminate problems or malfunctions in (software, mechanical equipment, etc.).

   When using web conferencing platforms, it's important to troubleshoot your tech before joining the call.

2. to discover and eliminate (problems or malfunctions in software, mechanical equipment, etc).

   I had to troubleshoot an error that was freezing me out of the program.

Word History and Origins

Origin of troubleshoot¹

First recorded in 1930–35; back formation from troubleshooter

Example Sentences

There is a growing network of municipal officials across the U.S. who talk regularly to compare notes, troubleshoot funding shortfalls and strategize on ways to respond to events in Washington given their limited individual capacity.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The superstar actor occasionally joined the huddle of people trying to troubleshoot with the contraption.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Stafne walks the manufacturing floor, answers questions from other engineers and troubleshoots maintenance issues.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"From selecting materials and 3D printing, to troubleshooting electronics and satisfying requirements, working collaboratively with Yuji and Xinyu has been extremely rewarding," he said.

Read more on Science Daily

He discovered that, in fact, the biggest drain on the time of care home staff was cleaning and recharging the robots - and above all troubleshooting when they went wrong.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• balance 
• correct 
• fine-tune 
• fix 
• improve 
• overhaul 
• readjust 
• regulate 
• tighten 

When To Use

What does troubleshoot mean?

To troubleshoot is to resolve a dispute, fix a problem, or eliminate something that causes trouble, as in Before throwing away your toaster, why not troubleshoot it to find the problem?To troubleshoot is also to act or work as a troubleshooter, as in Naomi was promoted to troubleshoot the IT department’s toughest issues. A troubleshooter is often a person with good problem-solving skills and a deep knowledge about the thing they’re troubleshooting. Both troubleshooted and troubleshot are acceptable past tense versions of the verb troubleshoot. Because shooted is not the past tense of shoot, you may hear troubleshot more often.Example: I tried to troubleshoot the app myself, but it just isn’t working right.