🔧 Troubleshooting and FAQ
Quick answers to the things that come up mid-lesson. If your question isn't here, the feedback button at the bottom of your console goes straight to the developer.
A website won't show in the overlay ("refused to connect")
Some sites refuse to be shown inside another app. That is a setting on their end, enforced by the browser, and nothing in teachChat can override it. The overlay checks every link you load and tells you when a site refuses, so you are never left staring at a dead panel wondering what went wrong.
The workaround: open that site full screen, then use Float on top in the overlay's More menu. It pops the chat into an always-on-top window (Chrome and Edge) that floats above full-screen apps, so the class stays visible over anything.
Streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Max, Peacock, Prime Video) block every app this way as part of their DRM, so full screen plus Float on top is the route there too.
Most classroom staples embed fine: Google Slides, Docs, Sheets, Forms, and Drive files, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, direct links to PDFs, images, video, and audio, plus sites like Wikipedia, Desmos, GeoGebra, and PhET. See Projector overlay for the full list.
A student forgot their PIN
Forgotten PINs are a when, not an if. In your console roster, click the key icon (🔑) next to the student's name, type a new 4-digit PIN, and they sign right back in with it.
A student says they're stuck waiting
Check the Waiting to join box on your console. Every first-time joiner waits there, always: you see their first name next to the screenname they picked, so you can check the handle before letting them in. Accept lets them chat; decline frees the screenname so they can try again. Their screen tells them to hang tight while you decide. The full walkthrough is on Join approval.
The join code leaked
Retire it and generate a new one from your console. Your roster and everyone's PINs are unaffected: students already on the roster sign back in with screenname + PIN, not the code. Anyone still using the old code, including overlay links, will need the new one.
Returning students never need the join code, so retiring a leaked one locks out strangers without slowing down your class.
Do students need accounts or email addresses?
No. Students join with the class code, type a first name and last initial, pick a screenname and a 4-digit PIN, and they are in. No emails, no passwords to forget over the weekend, no accounts to provision. More on their side of the screen: For students.
Does it work on school Chromebooks?
Yes. teachChat is a website, so it runs in any modern browser: school Chromebooks, laptops, tablets, desktops. There is nothing to install and no app store involved, which also means nothing for your IT department to push out.
What do student devices actually see?
Files from your own computer (PDFs, images, video, audio) never upload anywhere: they show from your machine only, so student devices never receive them. When you put a web link on the board, students who can't see the projector get a "Can't see the board? Open it here" button that opens that same link on their own device. And when you use the live mirror, student devices get snapshots of your screen, roughly one per second, stills only with no audio: never full-motion video and never your actual files. Privacy details live on the Privacy page.
Where do I send feedback?
Use the feedback button on your console: Report a bug, suggest a feature. Pick one, tell the story, and hit send. It goes straight to the developer right from there, no email app needed. teachChat is a sapling, and this is how it grows.