Help: Browser troubleshooting and browser registration

Browser issues are the last thing that you want when using PitchBook to uncover market insights. This article is here to help. Below, we’ve listed common troubleshooting steps and details on specific scenarios you might encounter.

Here are a few things to consider when you first experience browser issues while using PitchBook.

If you’re using Google Chrome, try loading the page again in another browser, such as Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge.

Check that your browser version is the most up-to-date version. You can check this in Chrome Settings, then select About Chrome. If an update is available, you will see an option to update in the Chrome is up to date field below.

Talk to other PitchBook Users within your organization. Ask the users if they are experiencing similar issues. By asking, you can see if the issues are isolated to your profile or if it’s an issue for all of your IT network.

If you have not cleared the Chrome cache recently, corrupt and outdated site cookies can hinder basic browser functions. To avoid this, follow these steps:

1. Click on the three dots in the top right of the URL bar and select Settings from the drop-down menu.
2. From the Settings window, select Privacy and security, then select Delete browsing data to prompt the pop-up menu.
3. Within this menu, use the Time range drop-down menu to set your time frame to at least the last 24 hours.
4. Next, use the checkboxes next to Browsing history and Cookies (optional), and select Delete data to clear the browsing data. Note: If you choose to clear Cookies, please expect to log back into the websites used within the timeframe where you were previously logged in.

You might need to reset your browser profile if apps or extensions you have installed have changed your settings. This won’t clear or change saved bookmarks and passwords. To reset your browser, carry out the following steps:

1. Close any Chrome windows.
2. Open File Explorer within Windows.
3. Type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\ into the location bar and press Enter.
4. Rename the folder labelled as ‘Profile 1’ (sometimes named ‘Default’) to ‘Profile 1 Backup’.
5. Re-open Chrome.
6. The browser should automatically create a new Profile 1 or Default folder, which resets your profile.
7. Sign in to Chrome when prompted, and the data will resync.

Resetting your browser will usually resolve issues caused by any altered settings or malicious extensions. To reset your browser, follow these steps:

1. Click on the three dots in the top right of the URL bar and select Settings from the drop-down menu.
2. Select Reset settings from the left sidebar.
3. From this page, select Restore settings to their original defaults to prompt the pop-up menu.
4. Lastly, select Reset settings in the pop-up menu to initiate the reset.

Note: This will not sign out the Chrome User. However, you should find all extensions deactivated. After that happens, you can then re-enable all extensions in your extension menu.

To ensure optimal performance of PitchBook in a browser, we recommend the following settings. To edit your settings, follow these steps:

1. Click on the three dots in the top right of the URL bar and select Settings from the drop-down menu.
2. Select Privacy and security from the left sidebar.
3. From this page, select Site Settings.
4. Scroll down to the Content section. In this section, you will find several settings that you can update to improve your PitchBook experience. After changing a setting, use the arrow at the top of the page to return to the Content section and access the other settings.
   
   • Third-party cookies – Select Block third-party cookies.
   • JavaScript – Select Sites can use JavaScript. Allowing JavaScript enhances your experience through the coding language that PitchBook (and most other websites) are developed in. If this is not enabled, the site will most likely load in HTML coding language.
   • Pop-ups and redirects – Use the Add button in the Allowed to send pop-ups and redirects section to include pitchbook.com, as PitchBook uses pop-ups for downloading reports and .xml data.

Note: It is important to make sure that cookies are not totally blocked. Cookies are preferred as this can assist with slow loading times and site preferences per user by locale. This is as true with most sites as it is with ours.

For details on how PitchBook uses cookies, view the cookie consent information available on our website pitchbook.com by scrolling down and clicking on Privacy policy. Look for Cookie Settings in the lower right-hand corner to view details.

Local/Group Network settings are the settings associated with your internet provider and pertain to your local computer network preferences and VPN service connections. For these settings, we recommend reaching out to your organization’s IT team, as they will have full admin privileges to change the settings mentioned below.

One troubleshooting option is to set a proxy for PitchBook within your local computer settings. A proxy is a system that provides a gateway between you and the internet. This is helpful in both troubleshooting and in preventing cyber attacks. In this case, the proxy will control which sites automatically allow cookies.

To set a proxy setting, follow these steps.

1. Navigate to your Windows Start menu.
2. Search Internet Options.
3. Select the Privacy tab.
4. Select Sites.
5. Add pitchbook.com to allowed Sites by adding it to the URL bar and selecting Allow.

Note: On occasion, a local IT person may set global cookie settings elsewhere than within this menu. We recommend reaching out to them to ask if there are any other security measures that may remove Cookie IDs from the cache.

Your organization’s local IT team may restrict browsing by blocking certain IP addresses or domains. This could result in the PitchBook website being blocked and inaccessible. To resolve this, please reach out to your internal IT team to confirm if the following domains and IP addresses are blocked/allowed.

• PitchBook IP addresses: 162.159.140.76 - 172.66.0.76
• PitchBook domains: pitchbook.com & my.pitchbook.com

Cloudflare is PitchBook’s security bot management system. This section walks through how to troubleshoot some common issues related to the system.

A: If you see the checkbox below, this means that you need to verify you’re not a robot. Clicking the box confirms this by completing a captcha to access PitchBook.

B: If you run into a webpage protected by Cloudflare. This block happens if the webpage does not pass a challenge that gets served by Cloudflare’s bot management solution.

If this happens, there are three things you can try. Learn more about how to troubleshoot this issue in using Cloudflare’s Firewall Rules documentation.

1. Consult with your IT team to check that the Cloudflare IPs are safelisted. The IP numbers are 162.159.140.76 and 172.66.0.76.
2. Make sure to clear your cache and cookies after the IP gets safelisted. Reloading your browser is also helpful.
3. Finally, check if JavaScript is enabled on the browser. To do this, consult your IT team to make sure nothing is blocking JavaScript. The PitchBook Platform runs on JavaScript, so if it’s not running, that could impact your access to the platform.

The screenshot below shows an example of when JavaScript is not enabled (when requests to and from the /cdn-cgi/ path are blocked).

If the above doesn’t help, providing a screen recording of what’s happening on your computer is helpful information to give our team when contacting Support. Email [email protected] for assistance.

At PitchBook, we use browser registration as an added level of security on your account. By registering a browser, you confirm that it is under your control and that only you will use this browser to access PitchBook. Only a limited number of browsers can be registered to your account, and only those browsers will be able to access the PitchBook platform.

If you have reached your browser limit, you will need to access PitchBook through a previously registered browser or follow the instructions below to change registered browsers. Please note that we are registering the browser, not your device. The registration process uses cookies to recognize your browser each time you log in. Clearing your cache or cookies will prompt you to register a new browser, even if you’re using the same browser and device you used to log in previously.

If you are presented with the browser registration pop-up window, you will need to register your browser to access the PitchBook Platform. By clicking Get Registration Code, an email will be sent to you so you can authenticate the browser.

To add your browser, follow these steps from the browser registration window.

1. Click Get Registration Code.
2. Retrieve the registration code from the email sent to your email inbox.
3. Enter the six-digit registration code into the platform prompt.
4. Click Register Browser.

Note: If your preferred browsers change, our Support team can help by removing previously registered browsers to make room for new ones. Email [email protected] to request assistance.

If any of these solutions do not resolve the issue, please take a screenshot of your browser window with your browser’s console open, so we can escalate this to the appropriate channels within PitchBook for resolution.

1. Replicate the error within a Chrome Browser.
2. Press F12.
3. This will load the Chrome Console on the right side of the screen.
4. Navigate to the Console tab.
5. Screenshot the errors highlighted in yellow or red.

Follow the above Chrome Browser steps.

Press CTRL, SHIFT, and K key.

1. Within the Safari Window, navigate to Preferences.
2. Go to Advanced, then select Show Develop menu in the menu bar.
3. Select Develop from the menu bar and Show JavaScript Console.