Troubleshooting

The link does not open

Make sure that you copied the whole link. An email or chat message can remove the end of a long link.

If Groundwork shows a message about a problem in the map’s data source, send the message to your administrator. The message says what is wrong, and your administrator must fix it.

Sign-in does not work

Make sure that you sign in with the work account that your administrator gave access to. The map opens only for people who have access to its data. If sign-in still does not work, ask your administrator to check your access.

Switch account

If you signed in with the wrong account, such as a personal account instead of your work account, change the account:

1. Click the map name at the top of the panel, then choose Create new map. Groundwork shows the Start page.
2. Choose Dropbox or OneDrive, whichever service you signed in to. Then press Switch account.
3. Open the link again, and sign in with your work account.

Groundwork keeps your maps when you switch accounts.

Reset Groundwork

Reset Groundwork in the settings menu also clears the sign-in, but it also removes your maps, edits, bookmarks and settings from this device. If you use Reset Groundwork, first download any layer with edits that you still need.

The edit or add controls are missing

Do these checks:

• Make sure that your layer is not hidden. A hidden layer does not show its feature list or edit controls until you show the layer again.
• Complete or cancel the feature that you draw or edit. While you draw or edit, Groundwork hides most other controls.
• If your map has more than one layer, make sure that the correct layer is active. The layer name at the top of the Data panel shows the active layer.
• On a map with more than one layer, check the icon of the layer in the layer picker. You cannot edit a layer with a padlock or a stacked-squares icon.

If none of these checks finds the cause, the map is view-only, or Groundwork cannot save to the place that its data comes from. Groundwork shows no message that says so: the only sign is that no layer shows the editing tools. Ask the person who sent you the link for a new link that lets you edit.

Features are missing from the list

To show all the features, clear the highlighted controls above the list. While a filter or bookmarks narrow the list, the count shows “N of M”.

To clear the controls:

• Press the bookmark button or Nearby again.
• Open the Filter list and press Clear all. Clear all also clears the values that you clicked in the legend.

A message says that Groundwork could not save your change

Choose one of the buttons on the message. The message says what Groundwork could not save, and why. Groundwork shows different buttons for different causes:

• Discard my change and load the latest version shows in most cases. It does not show after a map server refused a new feature, or after Groundwork could not reload the layer from the map server.
• Try again shows if Groundwork could not send your change to the map’s data source. For example, the connection failed. It also shows if someone else saved again while Groundwork added your change to their newer copy. Then Try again adds your change to the newest copy. It also shows when the message has no discard button.
• Sign in to Dropbox shows if your Dropbox sign-in expired. Press it and sign in. Then press Try again on the message.
• Download the layer with my change shows if your access is view-only. Press it to save your change to a file. Then send the file to your administrator.

    flowchart TD
  A["Groundwork could not save your change"] --> B{"Does the message say that your Dropbox sign-in expired?"}
  B -->|Yes| S["Press Sign in to Dropbox and sign in, then press Try again"]
  B -->|No| C{"Does it say that your access is view-only?"}
  C -->|Yes| D["Press Download the layer with my change, then send the file to your administrator"]
  C -->|No| E{"Does it say that the file or the feature changed after you opened it?"}
  E -->|Yes| X["Press Discard my change and load the latest version, then make your change again"]
  E -->|No| T["Press Try again"]
  

If you reload the page or close the tab, you lose the message and your unsaved change.

Dates show in the wrong order

To change the order of the date boxes, change the language and region of your device:

1. Set the device’s language and region to Australia, the United Kingdom or another country that writes the day first.
2. Close the browser and open it again.

If the order does not change, also check the browser’s language setting. Some browsers have a language setting of their own.

Groundwork records the date correctly. It stores the date in the same way, whatever order you see, so colleagues on other devices see the correct date. Outside edit mode, Groundwork writes the date with the month as a word, such as 9 Mar 2026. So the day is always clear.

The map looks wrong or does not load completely

Find the warning or notice that you see:

If the map or a control does not respond, save your edits first. Then reload the browser tab. If you reload, you lose any change that you did not save.