> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ahaslides.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Presentation won't start or can't join
> Fix a presentation that won't start or participants who can't join by checking private mode, Present mode, your network, the join link and verification.
If you press **Present** and nothing happens for your audience, or people say they can't join with the access code or QR code, it's almost always one of a handful of causes. Work through the checks below in order — each one takes a few seconds and fixes the most common reasons a session won't start.
## Troubleshoot a presentation that won't start or can't be joined
### The join link won't open: the presentation is in private mode
Participants can only join and interact when a presentation is in **public** mode. If it's still in **private** mode — the setting you use while editing — the join link won't open for anyone.
Click the **Share** icon in the top-right corner of the editor, open **Visibility**, and choose **Public**. Private mode is available on every plan, so this is never a plan restriction. See [Turning on private mode for your presentation](/presenting/turning-on-private-mode-for-your-presentation).
### Participants can't join: you haven't pressed Present (or, for a quiz, you're not on a quiz slide)
In the default **host-led** setup, participants can only join while you are actually presenting. If you're still on the edit screen, or you've shared the link before pressing **Present**, the session isn't open yet.
Press **Present** first, then share the link or QR code. For a **quiz**, participants also need you to be on a quiz slide — a host-led quiz isn't "open" before you press **Present** or while a non-quiz slide is on screen. See [How to Make and Run a Quiz](/using-slide-types/how-to-make-and-run-a-quiz) and [Quiz troubleshooting and FAQs](/using-slide-types/quiz-troubleshooting-and-faqs).
If you'd rather let people join and answer at any time without a host, switch to self-paced mode — open the **Settings** tab, click **Who takes the lead**, and choose **Audience (self-paced)**. See [Setting up a self-paced presentation on AhaSlides](/presenting/setting-up-a-self-paced-presentation-on-ahaslides).
### AhaSlides won't load: a restricted network is blocking it
If AhaSlides won't load at all — for you or for your participants — the block is usually coming from a company, organisation or school network, or from an internet service provider.
Ask whoever manages the network to whitelist AhaSlides, and check the participants' own connection is stable. The full list of ports and domains to allow is in [Using AhaSlides on a restricted network](/getting-started/using-ahaslides-on-a-restricted-network).
### The code or link is rejected: it's the wrong or an old join link
Each presentation has its own unique access code and QR code. If someone is using a link or code from a different presentation — or a screenshot from an earlier session — they won't get in.
Share the current link or QR code straight from the **Share** menu of the presentation you're running, and ask participants to enter the code exactly as shown. See [Sharing your presentation for participants to join](/presenting/sharing-your-presentation-for-participants-to-join).
### Some participants can't get in: audience verification is switched on
If you've deliberately turned on audience verification or authentication — for example, to restrict a presentation to specific people — participants are asked to verify before they can join. Anyone who isn't allowed, or hasn't completed the step, won't get in.
Check whether you meant to have this on, and confirm the right people are on the list. See [Participant verification](/features-and-functions/participant-verification) and [Using audience authentication](/presenting/using-audience-authentication).
### The Present button is missing or greyed out
**Present** sits in the top-right of the editor, to the right of the **Share** icon and **Preview**. If it's greyed out, the presentation doesn't have a slide yet: add at least one slide and it becomes clickable.
### Does the presentation time out, or do participants have to rejoin?
There is no time limit on how long an AhaSlides presentation can be joined by participants, and no idle timeout on a participant's session.
Who a participant is, and what they have already answered, is saved **in their browser cache** on the device they joined with — not in an AhaSlides account, since participants don't need one. So as long as they stay in the **same browser on that same device, and their browser cache is not cleared**:
1. **They are not asked for their details again.** Their name — and their avatar, email or team, if you [collect that information](/features-and-functions/collecting-audience-information) — is read back from the browser cache for the rest of the session, so they never have to type it in a second time.
2. **A dropped connection reconnects on its own.** If a phone goes to sleep, someone switches to another app, or the Wi-Fi drops for a moment, the audience page reconnects by itself as soon as they come back to it. They don't need the access code or their name again.
3. **Closing the tab isn't fatal either.** Reopening the join link brings them back as the same participant, with the same progress — for up to three days after they last took part in that presentation.
One thing does change on their screen: if you go **back** to a quiz slide, everyone is put back on that quiz's lobby screen and waits for you to start the question again. That's by design — a quiz always restarts from its lobby so everyone begins the round together. They aren't being asked to rejoin: the lobby shows their own name.
The only countdowns in AhaSlides are the per-slide answer timers you set yourself, such as **Time limit** on a [Poll slide](/using-slide-types/creating-a-poll-question-on-ahaslides) or the time limit on a quiz question. Those apply to a single slide, not to the session.
**It has to be the same browser on that same device, with the browser cache not cleared.** Because all of it lives in the browser cache, a participant who moves to another device, opens the link in a different browser or in a private/incognito window, or clears their browser cache or browsing data, comes back as a brand-new participant: they are asked for the access code and their name again and cannot carry on from where they left off. Anything they had already submitted stays in your results — it just belongs to the participant they were before.
### Why can't some participants join and see "Participant limit exceeded"?
The participant limit of a presentation comes from the plan of the account that is presenting, not from the plan of the presentation's owner. The participant limit is the number of participants who can be online at the same time. Sharing a presentation does not share the owner's participant limit with the collaborator. If a collaborator on the Free plan presents a presentation you own on a paid plan, the Free plan's participant limit applies. Participants over that limit cannot join and see the **Participant limit exceeded** screen. To let more participants join, present from the account with the larger participant limit, or [upgrade the presenting account](/after-purchase/how-to-change-your-subscription#raising-your-participant-limit). See also [Presenter role](/features-and-functions/presenter-role).
### Can I run one presentation across two days?
Yes. Your audience's responses and scores are kept until you [reset the results](/after-the-presentation/resetting-the-results), so closing your laptop overnight and presenting again the next day doesn't clear them. When you start presenting again, participants who reopen the join link on the same browser and device, within three days of last taking part, carry on as the same person, with their name, answers and quiz score. Anyone who switches device, uses a private window or clears their browser data joins as a new participant. Don't press **Reset results** between the two days: it clears everything and starts a new session in your report.
## Related pages
For the full setup behind these fixes, see:
How to share the access link and QR code, and whether participants need an account.
The ports and domains to whitelist when a company, school or ISP network is blocking AhaSlides.
**Have a question?**
Contact our support team — if you're logged in, use the chat bubble in the bottom-right of your dashboard; otherwise [contact us here](https://ahaslides.com/contact-us/) or email [hi@ahaslides.com](mailto:hi@ahaslides.com).
Want to connect with other users? Join the [AhaSlides community](https://community.ahaslides.com/) to share tips, request features, and see how others engage their audiences.
This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.