Help Us Help You

Here's a few things that can help out when working with our support team.

Jump ahead to:

• How to take a screenshot
• How to use Basecamp Debug
• How to find the version of Basecamp you're using
• How to generate a HAR file
• How to find a specific URL or link

How to take a screenshot

Taking a screenshot can be an easy way to share information with our support team. Attach to your email reply to us, explain the issue you bumped into, and we’ll be happy to help you right away!

The following steps outline how to take a screenshot based on your device.

Mac:

1. To capture the entire screen, press the "Command ⌘" + "Shift" + "3" keys on your keyboard simultaneously.
2. You will hear a camera shutter sound indicating that the screenshot has been captured.
3. To view the screenshot, look for the saved image file on your desktop. It will be saved with the name "Screenshot" followed by the date and time of capture.
4. To capture a portion of the screen, press "Command ⌘" + "Shift" + "4" instead. Your cursor will turn into a crosshair pointer, and you can drag it to select the portion of the screen you want to capture.
5. Once you've selected the desired area, release the mouse or trackpad button to take the screenshot.
6. The screenshot will be saved as an image file on your desktop.

Windows PC:

1. To capture the entire screen, press the "Print Screen" key on your keyboard. This key may be abbreviated as "PrtScn" or "PrtSc" and is usually located in the upper-right section of the keyboard.
2. If you want to capture only the active window, press "Alt" + "Print Screen" instead. If you have Windows 8 or 10, use “⊞ Win” + “PrtScn” to capture the screen and save the file to a folder called "Screenshots" in the "Pictures" folder.
3. Open Paint, an image editing program.
4. Press "Ctrl" + "V" or right-click and select "Paste" to paste the screenshot into the program.
5. Save the screenshot as an image file such as JPEG or PNG to your desired location.
6. To capture a portion of the screen, use Snipping Tool, and attach the file to your email reply.

iPhone:

1. Press the Side button and the Volume up button at the same time (it will be the Side button and the Home button if your iPhone has a Touch ID) . You will see the screen flash, indicating that the screenshot has been taken.
2. Quickly release both buttons.
3. After you take a screenshot, a thumbnail appears temporarily in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen. Tap the thumbnail to open it or swipe left to dismiss it.
4. If you want to capture a specific portion of the screen, tap on the screenshot thumbnail that appears in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen after taking the screenshot. This will open the markup screen where you can crop the screenshot as desired.
5. Once you've edited the screenshot, tap "Done" and then "Save" to save the screenshot to your device.

To find the screenshots you took, open Photos, then go to Albums > Media Types > Screenshots.

Android device:

1. Press and hold the Volume Down (or Home) button and the Power button at the same time.
2. Wait for 1-2 seconds until your screen flashes white.
3. Your device captures the entire screen and saves it as a photo. You can also see the preview of your screenshot at the bottom left.
4. Some Android devices have different ways to take screenshots. For example, some devices may require you to swipe your hand across the screen or use a specific combination of buttons. Check your device's manual or phone manufacturer’s support site for help.

After that, to find the screenshots you took, open Screenshots folder in your Gallery or Photos app.

How to use Basecamp Debug

In case we require some additional information to diagnose the issue, we may request that you visit this special tool at https://basecamp-debug.com/. It is designed to aid our support team in identifying and resolving the network and connection issues that you may be experiencing.

Upon visiting the page, you will be able to view your IPv4 address and trigger the useful browser and internet connection tests that will run automatically and detect any issues. We'll be specific about what we need from you so if you're even unsure about what to copy from this site, please do let us know!

How to find the version of Basecamp you're using

On your desktop, you can be using Basecamp 4, Basecamp 2, or Basecamp Classic. You can see the visual differences here:

You can also tell what version you're using by looking at the URL in the address bar of your browser page:

We'll focus on Basecamp 4 to dig into what version of the mobile or desktop app you're using.

iPhone:

1. Open the Basecamp app.
2. Tap "My stuff" located on the bottom right-hand side of the screen.
3. Find the "⚙ Personal settings" option in the list and tap it.
4. Look for the section labeled "Support". Your exact version number will be displayed next to "What's new?"

Android device:

1. Open the Basecamp app.
2. Tap "My stuff" located on the bottom right-hand side of the screen.
3. Find the "⚙ Personal settings" option in the list and tap it.
4. Look for the section labeled "APP INFO". Your exact version number will be displayed under "What's new?"

Mac:

1. Open the Basecamp app.
2. You'll see what version of Basecamp you're using in the Basecamp 3 menu in the left-hand corner of your screen.
3. To quickly copy the version number go to About Basecamp 3.

Windows PC:

1. Open the Basecamp app.
2. You'll see what version of Basecamp you're using in the Basecamp 3 menu in the left-hand corner of your screen.

How to generate a HAR file

Sometimes a troubleshooting journey will lead the support team to ask you to generate an HAR file. It is essentially a log of network requests that occur during the problem, which is analyzed by our team when you share it.

Fortunately, Zendesk has an excellent support page that explains how to generate one using various browsers:

How to find a specific URL or link

Each Basecamp account has an account number to help us identify your data on the back end. They're unique to an account — a big part of why we ask for it. Letting us know the account URL helps us focus on the account you're asking about.

We also have numbers for each project in your account. Here's the format:

Account number

1. Click "Home" to get your account URL.
2. Copy the URL in the address bar of your browser:

Sometimes we'll need to ask you for a link to something specific in your account. We'll go over how to get each kind of link.

Project

1. Find the project that the support team is asking you about on your Home screen.
2. Click the project to open it.
3. Right-click the URL in the address bar.
4. Select "Copy" or use the keyboard shortcut "Command + C" ("Control + C" on Windows).
5. Open the reply to the support team and paste the URL by right-clicking and selecting "Paste" or using the keyboard shortcut "Command + V" ("Control + V" on Windows).

Messages, Events, Files, Email Forwards

All of these are single URLs that you can easily share with us. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click into the tool that contains the item you want to share, such as a file, message, comment, or email forward.
2. Locate the specific item you want to share and click it to open it (or click the date next to it).
3. Copy the URL for that item.
4. Share the copied URL with us by pasting it in your reply.

Here is how you can get the URL for a single Message Board post, for example:

Comments

To share the URL of a comment with us:

1. Locate the comment you want to share and click the "•••" More options button located on the right of the comment.
2. In the overflow menu, select "Copy link".
3. The URL of the comment will now be copied to your clipboard.
4. Share the copied URL with us by pasting it in your reply.

To-Do lists, To-Do groups, To-dos

To-Do lists are like onions. Onions have layers. To-do lists have layers. You get it! The topmost is the to-do list:

1. Begin by opening the project that we're focusing on.
2. Click the "To-dos" tool located within the project.
3. Locate the To-do list that you want to share and click its name to open it.
4. Copy the URL for the To-do list.
5. Share the copied URL with us by pasting it in your reply.

Going one layer further, click the to-do group and copy the URL from the address bar. Note that you may not have to-do groups set up — and that's quite alright! Only grab this link if you're asked for it: 

Finally, there is an individual to-do layer. You can click into individual to-do and copy the URL the same way:

Campfire

The second type of link would be for a particular message in a Campfire conversation. To obtain this link, hover your mouse cursor over a message and click the "•••" More options button, then choose "Copy link":

Pings

Similar to Campfires, there are two possible links to give us here. The first is of the entire Ping conversation:

The second would be a link to a specific message in a Ping conversation. To obtain this link, hover your mouse cursor over a message and click the "•••" More options button, then choose "Copy link":