My client can’t access their program — what to check

Start here: the most common reasons a client loses program access

When a client messages you saying they can't see their program, can't log in, or are stuck on a blank screen, it almost always comes down to one of a handful of root causes — enrollment status, payment, account setup, or a simple browser issue. This guide walks you through every check, in order of likelihood, so you can get your client back on track in minutes.

Before diving into settings, ask your client one quick question: "What exactly do you see?" A blank dashboard, an error message, a login loop, and a missing program tile are four different problems with four different fixes. The answer will cut your troubleshooting time in half.

TL;DR — Quick checklist

• Enrollment: Confirm the client is actually enrolled in the program (not just invited).
• Payment: Check that their purchase completed and no payment is overdue.
• Account: Make sure they registered with the same email used at checkout.
• Program status: Verify the program is published and the start date has passed.
• Access window: Check whether a content drip or unlock schedule is blocking the specific week or task they're trying to reach.
• Browser / app: Try a private window or the mobile app to rule out cache issues.

Step 1 — Verify enrollment status in the coach dashboard

The first place to look is your client's enrollment record. Go to Coach → Clients, find the client by name or email, and open their profile. Under the Programs tab you'll see every program they are enrolled in and their current status.

Enrollment statuses to look for:

• Active — enrolled and in good standing. If this shows Active and your client still can't see the program, skip to Step 4.
• Pending — enrollment was initiated but not confirmed (usually because payment is incomplete). See Step 2.
• Expired — the access period ended. You can manually extend access from this screen.
• Cancelled — either the client cancelled or you cancelled their enrollment. Re-enroll them manually if this was a mistake.

If the client doesn't appear in the list at all, they were never enrolled. Jump to Step 5 for how to manually enroll them.

Step 2 — Check payment status

Coachful uses Stripe Connect to process payments, which means money flows directly to your Stripe account. If a client's payment failed — card declined, bank dispute, or an expired card on a payment plan — their access can be automatically paused or cancelled depending on your program settings.

To check:

1. Go to Coach → Billing → Transactions and search for the client's name or email.
2. Look for any transaction marked Failed, Disputed, or Incomplete.
3. For payment plans, check whether a scheduled installment has lapsed.
4. If payment genuinely failed, contact the client to update their payment method. You can send them the secure payment-update link directly from the Billing panel.
5. Once payment is resolved, re-activate their enrollment from the client profile.

If the purchase never shows up in Transactions at all — for example, you enrolled the client manually outside of Coachful — just confirm enrollment was saved correctly (Step 5).

Pro tip: If you offer payment plans, enable automatic retry in your Stripe settings so failed installments retry before access is paused. You'll find Stripe's retry configuration in your Stripe billing settings.

Step 3 — Confirm the client is using the right account

This is the single most overlooked cause of "I can't see my program" reports. A client buys through one email address, then creates an account (or already has one) with a different email. The enrollment lives on the first email; the account they're logging in to is the second. They see an empty dashboard.

How to check:

1. Ask the client which email they used at checkout. Check your Transactions or the program's enrollment list for that address.
2. Go to Coach → Clients and search for both email addresses. If you find two separate client records, one will have the enrollment and one won't.
3. Have the client log in at app.coachful.co/sign-in using the email that holds the enrollment.
4. If they've forgotten the password for that email, they can use Forgot password on the login screen to reset it.

If they insist on using a different email going forward, you can update their account email from Coach → Clients → [Client Name] → Edit Profile. Make sure the new email isn't already attached to another account before changing it.

Coaches on Coachful can search clients by either name or email directly from the Clients panel — no need to scroll through long lists. If you're still manually tracking this in spreadsheets, it might be time to upgrade your workflow.

Step 4 — Check the program's publish status and start date

A program has to be in a Published state before enrolled clients can see it in their dashboard. Draft programs are invisible to clients, even if the client is actively enrolled.

To verify:

1. Go to Coach → Programs and find the program.
2. Check the status badge — it should say Published. If it says Draft, click the program, go to Settings, and publish it.
3. Check the Program Start Date. If you set a future start date, clients won't see program content until that date arrives — even if they're enrolled today. You can change the start date or switch to a rolling start (where each client's program clock starts on their enrollment date).

Step 5 — Check content drip / unlock settings

Coachful programs are structured into weeks, days, and tasks. Each week or individual task can have an unlock rule: release immediately, release after a set number of days, or release on a specific date. If a client says they can see the program but not a specific week or task, a drip setting is almost certainly the culprit.

How to inspect:

1. Open the program in Coach → Programs and click the week or day in question.
2. Check the Unlock / Visibility settings for that unit.
3. If you're using day-based drip, the client's access is calculated from their personal enrollment date. A client who enrolled two days ago won't see Week 2 if Week 2 unlocks on Day 7.
4. To give a specific client early access, you can override the drip setting at the individual client level from their enrollment record.

Step 6 — Rule out browser and app issues

If enrollment, payment, account, publish status, and drip settings all look correct, the problem is almost certainly local to the client's device or browser. Ask them to try the following, in this order:

1. Hard refresh: Ctrl + Shift + R (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Shift + R (Mac).
2. Private / incognito window: This bypasses cached data and extensions. If the program shows up here, it's a cache or extension conflict.
3. Clear cookies and site data for app.coachful.co (or their custom subdomain if you're using a custom domain).
4. Try a different browser: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge all behave slightly differently. Safari on older iOS versions can cause session issues.
5. Mobile app: Have them download the Coachful app (available on iOS and Android) or visit app.coachful.co/mobile and log in fresh. The native app shell sometimes resolves issues that browser-based PWA sessions don't.

If the private window works but regular browsing doesn't, the culprit is a browser extension — ad blockers and privacy tools sometimes interfere with authentication tokens. Ask your client to disable extensions one by one to identify the conflict.

Step 7 — Manually enroll or re-enroll the client

If none of the above reveals the issue, or if enrollment is simply missing, you can manually add the client to the program:

1. Go to Coach → Programs → [Program Name] → Members.
2. Click Add member and search for the client by email.
3. Set their enrollment date and any relevant start-date or payment-bypass settings.
4. Save. The client will receive a notification and the program will appear in their dashboard immediately (assuming it's published and the start date has passed).

Manual enrollment bypasses payment processing, so use it only when you've already confirmed payment through Stripe or have another arrangement in place.

Pro tips for preventing access issues before they happen

Best practice: Send every new client a "Getting started" message the moment they enroll. Include the login URL (app.coachful.co/sign-in or your custom subdomain), the exact email they should use, and a one-paragraph walkthrough of what they'll see on their dashboard. This single step eliminates the majority of "I can't find my program" support tickets.

• Use the Squad onboarding message. When a client enrolls in a program, Coachful automatically creates a cohort squad for that program group. Pin a welcome message with login instructions in the squad chat so it's always visible.
• Test your own program. Create a test client account with a personal email, purchase (or manually enroll) yourself, and walk through the exact experience your clients have. You'll catch drip errors, missing content, and broken links before your clients do.
• Set payment retry rules. For payment-plan clients, configure Stripe to retry failed charges automatically. This avoids unnecessary access disruptions for clients who simply had a temporary card issue.
• Check custom domain SSL. If you use a custom domain, an expired SSL certificate will show a browser security warning that looks like the site is broken. Coachful provisions SSL automatically, but if you recently changed DNS settings, allow up to 48 hours for propagation.

Troubleshooting: common mistakes coaches make

Forgetting to publish the program after editing

Every time you make structural changes to a program — adding a week, reordering tasks, changing the start date — double-check that the program is still in Published status. Some edits can push a program back to Draft if you accidentally exit the publish flow.

Enrolling the client to the wrong program version

If you've created multiple versions of a program (e.g., "12-Week Kickstart v1" and "12-Week Kickstart v2"), it's easy to enroll a client in the wrong one. Always confirm the program name in the enrollment record matches what the client purchased.

Assuming the client received the welcome email

Onboarding emails sometimes land in spam, especially if the client's email provider is aggressive about filtering SaaS notifications. Ask the client to check their spam or promotions folder, and whitelist notifications@coachful.co. You can also resend the welcome email from the client's profile.

Not checking the enrollment date vs. the drip schedule

Coaches often set up drip schedules based on a fixed program start date, then enroll clients on a rolling basis. A client who enrolls on Day 10 of a 12-week program won't get access to the first 10 days of content if the drip is date-locked rather than enrollment-date-relative. Switch to Days after enrollment drip timing if you run rolling enrollments.

Using the Squad instead of the Program for content

Squads are for group communication and community — not for structured curriculum delivery. If a client is looking for their lessons, tasks, and goals, they should be in the Programs section of their dashboard, not the Squad chat. Make sure your onboarding message points them to the right place.

Overlooking the mobile app cache

The Coachful mobile app (iOS and Android) caches session data locally. If a client updated their email or password, the old session may still be cached. Ask them to log out fully from the app (Profile → Log out), then log back in with the updated credentials.

Ready to make client access issues a thing of the past?

Most "my client can't access their program" tickets are preventable with the right onboarding setup and a clear enrollment workflow. Coachful gives you the tools to handle it all in one place — client management, program delivery, billing, and real-time messaging — so you spend less time troubleshooting and more time actually coaching.

If you're still setting up your programs or want to explore how Coachful's structured program builder, automatic cohort squads, and Stripe-powered billing can streamline your practice, start your free trial at Coachful. Already have an account? Sign in to your workspace and work through the checklist above — you'll likely have your client back online in under five minutes.

For more troubleshooting guides, browse the full Coachful Help Center. You might also find these articles useful: Client login and password reset, Setting up content drip schedules, and Managing payment plans and failed charges.