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How do I collect the data requested by the Support Team?

Last updated on 30 Aug 2022
5 min read

When you contact us we may need to ask for additional information such as log files, screenshots, or screen recordings to help us find the best solution. This article contains instructions on collecting the information we might need.

Note: Information shared with us is 100% confidential, and we’ll delete any files you share as soon as we’ve finished our investigations.

If you’re troubleshooting an issue that’s difficult to describe or reproduce, you may find it useful to give our Support Team temporary access to your Workspace. Support access expires after seven days by default, but you can disable it earlier if you like

How to take screenshots on your Mac

You can quickly and easily take a screenshot by pressing ⌘⇧5 (CMD+Shift+5). This will reveal a frame highlighting the current screenshot area, which you can resize as needed. There are also options that allow you to capture your entire screen, a specific window etc.

Once you have selected the area you want, click on the Capture option; your screenshot will display in the bottom right corner for a few seconds. It will save to your Desktop, where you can open and edit it if necessary. You can find more detailed instructions on Apple’s website.

Screenshots in macOS

How to create a screen recording

Open your QuickTime Player app and choose File > New Screen Recording from the menu to create a simple recording. Click on Options and then click Show Mouse Clicks, as this helps us diagnose the issue. Click the Record option, and the recording will begin. Once you have captured what you need, click on the stop icon on the top right side of the menu bar.

After you select stop , the recording will save to your Desktop, and it will open in a new window for you to view.

Additionally, you can also enable recording via your Mac’s microphone if you are comfortable doing so. Use the same options menu and talk through your issue as you make your screen recording.

How to send a crash report

Crash logs are useful to determine what happened to cause the crash. There are two ways to share a crash report with us:

Option 1: Use the crash report window

If the Mac app crashes, open it again, and a window titled Problem Report for Sketch will pop up. Please enter your email and, if possible, a comment describing what you were doing just before the Mac app crashed. Your email is essential as it enables us to locate your report in our backend records.

Please mention that you sent a crash report using this window and share the email address entered you used when contacting us with a support request.

macOS Sketch crash report window

Option 2: Collect the crash report from your Mac

If the Mac app crashes and you don’t see the crash report window displayed when you relaunch you can collect the crash report by following these steps:

  • In Finder, go to your Applications folder, then Utilities, and launch the app, Console.
  • Select User Diagnostic Reports on the sidebar and locate the most recent crash.
  • Optionally, you can type “sketch” on the search bar of the console to quickly locate the report.
  • When found, control-click it, and then select Reveal in Finder from the shortcut menu.
  • Copy, or drag and drop the selected file from the Finder window to attach it to your message to us.

How to record a sample process file

If the Mac app becomes slow or unresponsive we recommend recording a sampled log file. The sampling process will gather a report that contains helpful information to debug the problem.

The sampling process log must be captured while the Mac app is slow. You’ll need to trigger the slowness in the document while recording the sample process log.

  1. Open the Terminal application from your Applications/Utilities folder and run the following command:

  2. sample Sketch 120 -wait -mayDie -file ~/Desktop/SketchSample.txt .
  3. The 120 parameter is the duration of the recording in seconds. Set this parameter to the necessary duration so you will have time to trigger the slowness and the recording will capture it.

  4. Open the problem document immediately and reproduce the steps that cause the slowness i.e editing Symbols or Artboards.
  5. A file will be created on your Desktop called SketchSample.txt. Please attach the file and send it with your reply.

How to record Sketch logs

If the problem occurs while working with Workspace files or collaborating in real-time, we’ll ask you to collect a Sketch log.

To successfully collect this log, you need first to reproduce the issue, i.e., slowness, and then collect the log file. Please follow the below steps:

  1. Open a Workspace file and reproduce the problem.

  2. If the problem happens while collaborating with someone else, have at least one colleague connect with you on the same file.

  3. Open a new Finder window and select Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
  4. Open the Terminal and paste command: bash <(curl -fsSL /logs) 60m

Note: The “60m” parameter needs to be set to the length (in minutes) that is needed to record the issue. This doesn’t mean the log will run for an hour, but rather that it will collect events from the last hour, the capture actually takes just a few moments to complete.

  1. Once the log has been collected, a zip file will be on your desktop, titled: “Sketch Logs (date).zip”. This is the file you’ll share with the Support Team.

How to collect browser details

If you’re experiencing issues with the web app, it is best to know which browser you’re using.

While answering “Safari”, or “Chrome” is correct, that’s only part of the information needed. This handy link will detect the exact details of your browser. Select the page, click on “Copy,” and paste the URL in your reply to us.

How to reinstall the Mac app

Sometimes after reviewing a case, we may advise reinstalling Sketch. Please read this article on how to reinstall and ensure your plugins, libraries, and gradient presets are restored.