Is Troubleshooted or Troubleshot correct?(Past tense of troubleshoot)

Troubleshooted is not an official word. Troubleshot is correct and is the past tense of the verb troubleshoot.

The meaning of troubleshoot

It means to attempt to diagnose a problem and hopefully resolve it for a person or an organization or company.

A person with expertise in the subject matter is normally appointed as a troubleshooter in a company to investigate why something isn’t working.

What problems can be troubleshot?

The issue could be a website failing to work properly – which a software engineer may be needed for. Or a shop till that has jammed and needs a shop worker with knowledge of the equipment to investigate.

It can be a person’s main job, part of a wider job or just used in everyday life.

What’s an example of a troubleshooting job?

Does your workplace have an IT support desk or department to deal with computer issues around a company? The staff members on that desk are normally troubleshooters whose main job is to get a computer working again.

Do you need to be an expert to troubleshoot an issue?

No, not necessarily. For example, you can attempt to troubleshoot your own computer issues – there are plenty of step-by-step guides on the internet to assist you. But you may end up needing an IT expert to diagnose and fix it.

An electrical issue would definitely need a qualified electrician to investigate from the start though.

How to troubleshoot

The steps taken to troubleshoot a problem can be:

  • Identify the issue.
  • Identify any possible solutions.
  • Test each solution.
  • Resolve the issue.

Steps 1 to 3 can be repeated several times before reaching step 4.

Examples of using the word

Examples of troubleshoot in the present tense:

‘I have been asked to troubleshoot a broken page on the website.’

‘An expert was needed to troubleshoot the broken machine.’

“I’m troubleshooting the issue right now.’

Examples of troubleshoot in the past tense are:
‘She successfully troubleshot the issue on the website and now it’s working properly again.

‘He troubleshot the machine’s issue and concluded that it was broken beyond repair and a replacement was needed.’

What are the origins of the word?

It was originally used in the late 19th century to mean someone who works on telegraph or telephone lines.

Conor