Most offline problems come down to a few patterns: the connection isn't really back yet, a change didn't upload, an inspection is locked by someone else, or the browser cleared stored data. This article walks through the common offline and sync issues and how to recover — and how to avoid trouble in the first place. For how Offline Mode works end to end, see the Offline Hub Guide.
Before you troubleshoot: protect your unsynced work. If you have changes that haven't synced, do not clear your browser data, switch browsers or devices, or use a private/incognito window. Any of those can permanently delete pending changes. Sync first, then troubleshoot.
How Syncing Works
While you're offline, every change you make is saved on your device as a pending operation. When you reconnect and click Sync All, nSpec uploads those changes one at a time, in the order you made them. As each one succeeds, it leaves the queue. When the queue is empty, your offline work is fully in the cloud — and nSpec takes you back online automatically.
I don't see the Offline Hub
- Offline Mode is for NSPEC tenants only. Procore tenants don't have it, because Procore sync requires a live connection.
- Refresh the page. If it's still missing, sign out and back in to load the latest version of the app.
I just installed the app and Offline Mode isn't working
Symptoms: Right after adding nSpec to your home screen, the "You're Offline" prompt doesn't appear and Offline Mode doesn't work on the very first launch.
A freshly installed app needs one restart to take full control on your device. Until then, that first session can't run Offline Mode.
Solution:
- Fully close (quit) the app and reopen it once. Offline Mode works from then on.
- Do this right after you install — while you still have a connection — so the app is ready before you head to a no-signal site.
"Go Offline (Prepare)" won't finish, or an inspection was skipped
Symptoms: Preparation fails, gets cancelled, or some inspections aren't taken offline.
- You must be online to prepare — preparing downloads data and photos.
- "Not enough storage" — free up space on your device or select fewer inspections, then try again. Nothing is saved halfway.
- "Checked out by someone else" — that inspection is locked to another user, so it wasn't locked to you. You'll have read-only (Partial) access to it offline. See An inspection is checked out by someone else.
- If you cancelled mid-prepare, nSpec rolls back that inspection — just run Go Offline (Prepare) again.
"Sync All" won't run even though I look online
Symptoms: You appear to be connected, but Sync All is blocked or shows a "can't reach the server" message.
nSpec checks that it can actually reach the server, not just that your device thinks it's online. On captive Wi-Fi (hotel, airport), a weak signal, or a VPN hiccup, your device can read as "online" while the server is unreachable. When that happens you'll see: "Can't reach the server right now. Check your internet connection and try again — your changes are still saved on this device and nothing has been lost."
Solutions:
- Confirm you really have internet — try loading another website.
- If you're on captive Wi-Fi, finish the network's sign-in page first.
- Move to a stronger signal and click Sync All again. Your work is safe on the device in the meantime.
The connection status looks wrong, or the offline view doesn't update
Symptoms: After your connection changes, the app keeps showing the old state — for example, Sync All stays disabled even though you're back online, the status badge doesn't match your real connection, or the offline view doesn't appear after you lose signal.
Solution:
- Give it a few seconds — the app re-checks your connection on its own periodically.
- If it still shows the wrong state, fully close (quit) the app and reopen it. It re-checks your connection on launch and shows the correct status.
- This is safe in Offline Mode: your offline data and any pending changes are saved on the device and restored when the app reopens.
Sync finished but a card still shows pending changes
Symptoms: You clicked Sync All, but the pending count didn't reach zero.
Solutions:
- Click Sync All again — most failures are temporary network glitches, and a retry usually clears them. Failed changes stay in the queue and are retried automatically; nothing is lost.
- Expand the inspection card to see which change failed and its error message.
- Make sure you have a stable connection (try another website), then retry.
- If one specific change keeps failing, contact support with the details from the card — don't delete it.
A change didn't upload, and later ones didn't either
Symptoms: One change failed, and other related changes show as held or also didn't apply.
This is intentional and protects your data. If a change that creates something fails (say, a new observation), nSpec holds any later change that depends on it — like a photo you linked to that observation — instead of uploading it on its own and leaving the inspection half-applied on the server.
Solutions:
- Click Sync All again. nSpec retries the failed change first; once it succeeds, the held changes upload right after.
- Unrelated changes to other records aren't affected — they sync normally.
Sync is slow with a lot of photos
Symptoms: A full field day takes a while to sync.
- This is expected. Photos upload one at a time, and each is a full image transfer — dozens or hundreds of photos add up.
- Use Wi-Fi rather than cellular, keep the app open and on the sync screen, and let it run to completion.
I can only View an existing record, not Edit
Symptoms: The Edit option shows as View, and Delete is missing.
You're working on a Partial inspection — one that's cached on your device but not locked to you. On Partial inspections, existing records are read-only; you can only add new items and edit the ones you create this session.
Solutions:
- To edit existing records, prepare the inspection with Go Offline (Prepare) while you're online. That checks it out to you and switches it to Full, with full editing.
- The banner at the top of the inspection tells you which mode you're in (Full or Partial).
An inspection is checked out by someone else
Symptoms: A banner reads "Checked out by [name] — read-only," and you can't edit anything.
- That person has prepared the inspection for offline work, so it's locked to them. It's read-only for everyone else until they sync and exit Offline Mode.
- Locks also expire on their own after about a week of inactivity.
- If you have the Force-break Lock permission and it's urgent, a Force unlock button appears on the banner. Forcing the lock discards the other person's unsynced changes, so use it only when you're sure they aren't about to sync. If you don't have the permission, the button won't appear — wait for the holder, or ask an administrator.
My offline changes disappeared after I reconnected
Symptoms: You synced and some of your changes for one inspection are gone, with a notice that the lock was released or broken.
Your check-out lock on that inspection was released — either it expired, or someone with permission forced it open — while you still had unsynced changes. To avoid overwriting newer work, nSpec discards those changes and tells you: "[name] broke the lock on this inspection. All your unsynced offline changes for it have been lost."
How to avoid it:
- Sync as soon as you're back in range — don't leave unsynced work sitting for days.
- If you'll be out longer than a week, sync partway through if you can; locks expire after about a week of inactivity.
The same inspection is read-only on my other device
Symptoms: You prepared an inspection on one device, and on a second device it shows "You have this checked out on another device — read-only here."
- A check-out lock belongs to one device at a time. Finish and sync on the original device, then exit Offline Mode there to release the lock.
- Don't try to work the same inspection on two devices at once — only the locked device can save changes.
An inspection won't open offline
Symptoms: You try to open an inspection while offline and it isn't available.
- Only inspections you prepared, or recently opened while online, are cached on your device. Anything else can't load without a connection.
- Reconnect, open the inspection (and prepare it if you'll need to edit it), then go offline again.
Photos in an inspection are stuck loading
Symptoms: One or more photos keep showing a loading spinner and never finish.
Solution:
- Fully close (quit) the app and reopen it — this clears the stuck state and the photos load normally.
- This is safe to do in Offline Mode: your offline data and any pending changes are saved on the device and restored automatically when the app reopens.
- If specific photos still won't load after a restart while you're online, check your connection and see Photo Upload Issues.
Buttons are missing offline (Report, AI captions, Collaboration, Procore)
Symptoms: Some buttons and options you normally see aren't there while offline.
This is by design. Features that need the server — generating reports/PDFs, Download Photos, AI captions and AI description help, Collaboration messages, project editing, and Procore features — are hidden offline and come back automatically when you reconnect. Likewise, when you create an action item offline, Procore-specific fields won't load; fill in the core details (description, status, due date, images, linked observation) and the Procore fields once you're back online.
Checklist statuses or "create from template" don't work offline
Symptoms: A checklist's status options are empty offline, or you can't create a checklist from a template.
- Checklist statuses and templates have to be loaded from the server at least once. Open the inspection's checklist tab while you're online before going offline, and they'll be cached for offline use.
The page won't refresh, or I refreshed and it stayed offline
- nSpec blocks refresh and close while you're offline to protect any work you haven't saved yet. This is intentional.
- If the page does reload (some tablets force it), don't worry — your offline data and pending changes are stored on the device and the app restores your session automatically. You won't be logged out and nothing in the sync queue is lost.
Storage warnings, or "this device may clear stored data"
Symptoms: A warning about storage, or a notice that the device may clear offline data when the app isn't in use.
- On phones and tablets, the browser can evict a website's stored data — sometimes within a few days of not using it. Install nSpec to your home screen (Add to Home Screen) to get durable storage before relying on offline access.
- If you prepared a site the night before and it was gone by morning, this is almost always the cause — install the app and prepare again.
- If storage fills up, free space by syncing and removing inspections you've already finished, then prepare again. nSpec warns you rather than silently dropping data.
"Exit Offline Mode" is hidden, or asks me to type "revert changes"
- Exit is hidden until you're online and every change has synced. This prevents you from leaving Offline Mode with work that never uploaded. Click Sync All first — when the queue empties, nSpec exits for you.
- If you choose to leave without syncing, nSpec asks you to type revert changes to confirm that you're permanently discarding those changes. The per-inspection Clear Pending button works the same way. Use Sync Now instead whenever you can.
I cleared browser data (or switched browsers) and lost my offline work
- Offline data lives in the browser on the device where you went offline. Clearing site data, switching browsers, or using a private/incognito window removes it — anything not yet synced is gone.
- Anything that had synced is safe in the cloud; just sign back in.
- Contact support to confirm what was synced before the data was cleared. Never clear browser data while you have pending changes — always sync first.
Procore action items aren't syncing
- This is different from offline sync — Procore sync happens in real time, not through the Offline Hub.
- See Troubleshooting NSPEC-X Sync Issues for the dedicated guide.
Preventing Sync Problems
- Prepare ahead on a strong connection with Go Offline (Prepare) — don't rely on the automatic prompt unless you have to.
- Install the app (Add to Home Screen) on phones and tablets for durable offline storage.
- Sync as soon as you reconnect. Don't let pending changes sit for days, and don't leave a lock held longer than needed.
- Wait for the sync to finish and for nSpec to return you online before closing the app.
- Never clear browser data, switch browsers, or use a private window while you have pending changes.
- One device per inspection. Work each checked-out inspection on the device that holds its lock.
- Test the workflow once before you depend on it: prepare an inspection, make a few edits offline, sync, and confirm they appear in the cloud.
Reporting a Sync Problem
If you've worked through this list and sync still isn't working, contact support with:
- The browser and version, and the device and operating system
- Whether the app is installed to the home screen or running in a browser tab
- The inspection(s) affected and how many pending changes remain
- Any error messages shown on the inspection card (screenshots help)
- Whether you can still see the data in nSpec — don't clear anything yet
Send to support@nxtconstruction.ai with "OFFLINE SYNC" in the subject line so the team handles it as a data-preservation issue.
Related Articles
Need help? Contact our support team at support@nxtconstruction.ai
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.