# A patient's link doesn't work (/docs/en/troubleshooting/patient-link-problems)



A patient opens the link from your email and sees **This request has closed**, **Request unavailable**, or a message that a form link has expired or was already used.

## Check these first [#checks]

1. **Check the request.** Open the patient's **Requests** page. A request is **Waiting**, **Answered**, **Expired** or **Canceled**. Only a waiting request still has a working link. A canceled request's link stops working, and answers the patient already submitted are kept.
2. **Check the expiry.** Links open for a limited time. The dialog you send from proposes an expiry one week ahead, and you can change it. The patient's page shows when the request closes: the date and time set when it was sent, or midnight for the day's scheduled asks. An expired request moves to **Came back or closed** with the date its link ran out.
3. **Use Remind while it is still waiting.** Open the row's menu and choose **Remind**. Salisan sends the same link again and extends it to 14 days from now if it would end sooner. **Remind** is not offered once the request has expired or been canceled. It needs the permission **Send email, forms, and requests**.
4. **Send a new request if it has expired.** Choose **Send to patient** on **Requests**, or **Send form** in the **Forms** section of the record. Set a later date under **Expires**. Each send makes a new link.
5. **Check whether it was already answered.** Each step of a request can be submitted once, and a patient who already sent a step is told so. A one-time form link says it has already been used. Look in **Forms**, **Vitals** and **Came back or closed** before you send another.
6. **Make sure the email can be received.** The link only works from the email Salisan sent, so a patient cannot find it by browsing. If the patient did not get the email, see [A patient didn't get my email](/docs/en/troubleshooting/patient-email-not-received).

A request link is private. Anyone who holds it can open it. Do not forward it or paste it into messages to colleagues or support.

## If it still doesn't work [#still-stuck]

Open **Help & support** from the **Requests** page. See [Contact support](/docs/en/troubleshooting/contact-support).

Send the time you sent the request, the status shown in **Requests**, and the exact words the patient saw. Do not send the link itself or the patient's name.

See also [Patient forms and requests](/docs/en/guides/patient-forms#follow-up).