Help · Won't start
TableDI won't start
TableDI carries its own data engine, and almost every startup failure is something on the machine stopping that engine. Three causes cover nearly all of it.
First: how long did you wait?
The first launch after installing or updating starts the data engine for the first time and can take a good deal longer than later ones — longer still on a mechanical disk or with antivirus scanning every file it touches. If you're looking at a splash screen, give it a minute before treating it as broken.
1. Security software blocked the engine
This is the most common cause on Windows. Security suites — including 360 Total Security and similar — see a bundled Java runtime starting a local server and quarantine it. The app then either sits on the splash screen or reports that it couldn't start.
Add TableDI to the allowlist and launch again. If your security software keeps a quarantine log, TableDI will be in it, which confirms the diagnosis in about ten seconds.
2. A local port is already in use
The engine listens on a local port. TableDI picks a free one, but an aggressive firewall or an unusual network setup can block the loopback interface entirely. Symptom: the interface loads but never connects, or the error names a port.
Allow the app to communicate on the local network. Nothing goes out to the internet — this is the app talking to itself.
3. Two copies at once
Two TableDI processes sharing one data folder will fight over it. Quit fully — check the Task Manager on Windows, Activity Monitor on macOS — and start one copy.
If none of that is it
The log names the real cause. It's here:
- macOS —
~/Library/Application Support/tabledi-desktop/TableDI/logs/ - Windows —
%APPDATA%\tabledi-desktop\TableDI\logs\
The file starting with error is the useful one. Open the most recent, scroll to
the bottom, and look for the first line that isn't routine startup chatter. If the error
window is showing, it has an Open log folder button that takes you straight there.
Send it to us with your operating system and the version number, and we'll tell you what it says. The log holds no cell data from your tables — it's the engine's own diary.
Related: it starts, but the workspace is empty
A different problem with a different fix. If TableDI opens onto a "data isn't ready" page,
the usual cause is a .tdbk backup that was exported but never imported — the
page has an import button. See backup and restore.
Last resort: reinstall
Reinstalling does not delete your data — the tables live in a separate folder that the installer doesn't touch (where). If the install itself is damaged, download a fresh copy from the download page and install over the top.
Still stuck? Email us — one inbox, read by the people who build TableDI.