troubleshooting

American  

[truhb-uhl-shoot-ing] / ˈtrʌb əlˌʃut ɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or process of discovering and resolving problems, disputes, or mechanical or technical issues.

   The first step in cellphone troubleshooting is simple: restart your device.

   The customer support position involves troubleshooting, researching solutions, and providing resolutions to consumer problems.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the process of discovering and resolving problems, disputes, or mechanical or technical issues.

   If you’ve already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, please make sure to mention them.

Etymology

Origin of troubleshooting

First recorded in 1915–20; troubleshoot ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun; troubleshoot ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

troubleshooting

For some of them, it was just troubleshooting; did I enter the wrong number?

From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2026

He’s the co-founder of Keel, which makes artificial-intelligence troubleshooting software for IT teams.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

My wife does the bulk of the troubleshooting on these problems, bless her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Agentic-AI systems will act on behalf of users — negotiating, troubleshooting and completing transactions directly with other systems.

From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026

Back when JPL's Nerd Brigade hacked the rover and Pathfinder to be a poor man's IM client, they sent me a cheat sheet for troubleshooting.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir