Get the chat to appear where you expect it
Most of the time, a missing chat is not broken. It is a setting doing exactly what it was told. This page walks you through the settings that hide the chat, in the order worth checking.
Use this when the chat is installed on your site but visitors cannot see it, or when it shows for some people and not others. No technical knowledge is needed for the first four checks.
Step by step
Check manual initialization
Go to Settings > Chat > Manual initialization. When this is on, the chat will not show until you start it yourself. If you did not mean to control when the chat loads, turn it off.
Check login initialization
Open Settings > Chat > Login initialization. With this on, the chat is shown only to logged-in users, so anyone browsing as a guest sees nothing at all.
Check your office hours setting
Look at Settings > Chat > Hide chat outside of office hours. If this is on, the chat disappears outside the hours you have set, which is often why it looks fine to you in the morning and missing in the evening.
Check the WordPress setting as well
If your site runs on WordPress, there is a separate control at Settings > WordPress > Manual initialization. This one applies to WordPress only, and it can hide the chat even when your chat settings look correct.
Rule out the layers in front of your site
Performance plugins, JavaScript minification, caching, a CDN or a proxy layer can all block the widget. Test your pages with them disabled to see whether the chat comes back.
Settings reference
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Manual initialization (Settings > Chat) | Stops the chat from showing until you start it yourself. |
| Login initialization | Shows the chat only to users who are logged in. |
| Hide chat outside of office hours | Removes the chat from your pages outside the office hours you have set. |
| Manual initialization (Settings > WordPress) | The WordPress-only version of manual initialization, controlled separately from your chat settings. |
Good to know
Two manual initialization settings exist
One lives under Settings > Chat and one under Settings > WordPress. On a WordPress site, check both before you look any further.
Guests see a different site to you
With Login initialization on, the chat follows the visitor's login state. You may be signed in and see the chat while your customers do not.
A missing chat can be the clock
Hide chat outside of office hours makes the widget come and go on a schedule. Check the time of day before you assume something has broken.
Your speed tools can swallow the widget
Performance plugins, JavaScript minification, caching, a CDN or a proxy layer sit between your pages and your visitors, and any of them can stop the chat loading. Disabling them temporarily is the quickest way to find out.
Common questions
The chat has stopped appearing on my site. What do I check first?
Why does the chat show for some visitors but not others?
My chat settings look right but the widget is still missing on WordPress. Why?
Can the chat disappear at certain times of day?
Could my caching or CDN be the problem?
Ready to end the chaos?
Unify your messages, automate the repetitive questions, and turn conversations into revenue — starting today.
Get Started