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

Vocabulary / By

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
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