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Troubleshooting guide

This is a comprehensive guide to troubleshooting all known/common Bulk Texter Pro texting issues. If you are unable to resolve your issue after following this guide, you should reach out to support@bulktexterpro.com.

Issue from May 24, 2023 – Messages not sending due to error – "startChat" failed​

This error was caused by an update on Google's side, and Bulk Texter Pro v2.1.26 resolves the error. v2.1.26 is currently released on Chrome and will be released on Firefox/Edge in the next few days.

Follow the instructions here to update to v2.1.26 now: https://www.bulktexterpro.com/docs/getting-started/updating-it/

1 – The send/schedule button is greyed out, and clicking it doesn't do anything.​

  • If you're using Form Entry, make sure that you've filled in the Message and Numbers, Names fields. See our guide on using Form Entry.
  • If you're using CSV Upload, make sure that you've filled in the Message field and uploaded a valid CSV. See our guide on using CSV Upload.
  • Make sure that Bulk Texter Pro is up to date — if your version is too old, there will be a banner at the top of Bulk Texter Pro indicating that.

2 – I can click send/schedule, but my messages stay in Pending and nothing happens.​

  • Make sure that you have a registered account and an active subscription or trial by opening the account menu at the top right of Bulk Texter Pro.
  • If your subscription is expired or payment is overdue, you'll need to renew your subscription in order to use Bulk Texter Pro.
  • Make sure that you have authorized Bulk Texter Pro to access all of the websites that it requests access to. You can do this by right-clicking the Bulk Texter Pro icon in your browser extensions list in the URL bar, then click "Manage Extension". You'll want to check the "Permissions" section.

3 – Messages sent right away work, but scheduled messages aren't being sent.​

Make sure that your computer is configured to stay awake, and not sleep/hibernate/shut down. Steps for this can vary based on your computer's operating system. See the installation guide for some tips.

4 – Bulk Texter Pro opens Google Voice, but fails to send some or all messages.​

  1. Wait until Bulk Texter Pro finishes trying to send messages — or if you've already been waiting awhile and the CANCEL CURRENT MESSAGES button is visible, you can click it to cancel.
  2. Navigate to the HISTORY tab in Bulk Texter Pro.
  3. Under Messages Not Sent, open the message batch in question by clicking the VIEW button in the Texts column.
  4. Check the Status and Status Details columns for the messages you're troubleshooting.
  5. See the next section in this guide.

5 – My messages have errors in the HISTORY tab.​

Click the VIEW button in the Texts column to open the message batch in question, then check the Status and Status Details columns for the messages you're troubleshooting.

I'm seeing a Missed status under Messages Not Sent.​

A Missed status for the entire message batch means that Bulk Texter Pro was not able to send your messages at the time you scheduled them. This typically occurs because your computer was in standby mode — see section 3 above.

I'm seeing a verifyAccount error.​

  • A verifyAccount error means that your Google Voice account email address does not match the email address that you registered and subscribed with.
  • Double check the email address in the account menus at the top right of Google Voice and Bulk Texter Pro and make sure they match.
  • If they don't match, you'll want to register and subscribe with the correct account in Bulk Texter Pro.
  • Ideally, the account that you want Bulk Texter Pro to use for texting should be the only Google account you are signed into with your chrome user / browser user.

I'm seeing a startChat error.​

  • A startChat error typically means there is an issue inputting the phone number you provided into Google Voice.
  • Double check that the phone numbers you've provided are correct and are formatted correctly.

I'm seeing a confirmSent error.​

  • A confirmSent error usually indicates that Google Voice is temporarily rate limiting or blocking your account.
  • To avoid having your messages rate limited or blocked, refer to our tips and best practices in the FAQ.
  • Try sending the exact same messages manually in the same Google Voice tab, without using Bulk Texter Pro.
    • If this doesn’t work either, then there’s an issue with your Google Account or with Google Voice, and not with Bulk Texter Pro.
    • Bulk Texter Pro is unaffiliated with Google / Google Voice, so you'll need to work with Google's support team to resolve the issue.
    • Google's troubleshooting guide may help (see "Why can't I send text messages").

I'm seeing a different error.​

  • Make sure that both your Google Account and your browser settings are set to English for the Google Voice page. Although text messages can be in any language, Bulk Texter Pro requires that the Google Voice interface be in English.
  • Random errors can occur if the computer is falling asleep or locking mid-send. If you are using Bulk Texter Pro to send texts while away from your computer, we recommend falling the configuration tips in the installation guide.
  • Reach out to support@bulktexterpro.com for assistance and send us the error message you're seeing. Google occasionally makes changes to Google Voice that require changes to Bulk Texter Pro, and we can usually make those changes pretty quickly.

6 – I followed this guide, but it's still not working.​

One last thing to try is restarting the extension. You can do this by going to chrome://extensions in your browser, then toggling Bulk Texter Pro off and back on. This will not result in data loss, but note that if you fully uninstall/reinstall Bulk Texter Pro, you may lose your scheduled and historic text information.

If you are still running into issues after following this guide, reach out to support@bulktexterpro.com for assistance and we'll be happy to help!