Lovable preview not working: match what you see to the fix

What you're seeing

The preview on the right side of the Lovable editor is white, won't load, or shows an error instead of your app. This page is about that preview only.

The preview and your live site are two different things. The preview runs your latest work in a temporary cloud environment that Lovable starts for your project. Your visitors see the published version, which only changes when you publish. So a broken preview usually doesn't mean your live site is down. If your published site is the problem, go to Lovable app not deploying instead.

Find the line that matches your screen:

First, for most cases: refresh in this order

Lovable's docs give the same three steps for a preview that looks wrong or won't load:

1. Click Refresh above the preview.
2. Hold Shift and click Refresh. This also restarts the preview environment, which Lovable says resolves most loading issues.
3. Do a hard browser refresh: Cmd+Shift+R on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows or Linux.

If the preview is still broken, go to your section.

1. Blank preview: an error in your app

Lovable's docs say a blank preview usually comes from an error in the app itself.

1. Ask Lovable in the project chat. Lovable's own suggested prompt is: The preview is white, investigate and fix it. Lovable reads your app's console logs itself.
2. Be specific if you can. Say which page goes blank and what you did just before. Lovable's debugging guide uses this example: The screen goes blank when I open the Projects page, and I can no longer make edits. Can you check what happened?
3. If an error appears with Try to fix, use it once or twice, not more. If the blank screen keeps coming back, switch to Plan mode and ask for the root cause before Lovable changes more code. Repeated blind fixes tend to pile up code that hides the real problem. More on that loop in Lovable app not working.
4. If the preview went blank right after a change, revert to a version that worked in version history, or edit your last message and choose Revert and resend. Then tell Lovable what you reverted, so it has the context.

2. Stuck on "Starting live preview…"

This message means Lovable is still starting the preview environment. Lovable retries a failed start automatically. If your device goes offline, it waits and resumes the start when your connection returns. While this message shows, you don't need to refresh or restart: wait for it.

If the message stays for several minutes, check your internet connection. If the start fails in the end, the preview switches to one of the errors in section 3.

3. The three preview errors

Each of these messages has a Try again button, which restarts the live preview.

Live preview couldn't start

Lovable couldn't start the preview environment, even after its automatic retries.

• Check your internet connection, then click Try again.
• If the message returns, Shift-click Refresh above the preview.
• If an earlier version of your app is available, you can click Dismiss to show that version instead while you sort it out.

Live preview lost connection

The connection to the environment running your app dropped, for example because your device went offline. Lovable tries to recover first and only shows this message if that fails.

• Check your internet connection, then click Try again.
• If it returns, Shift-click Refresh.

Live preview stopped responding

Either the environment stopped answering, or your app crashed again after Lovable restarted the preview for you. The second case is a problem in your code, like section 1.

• Click Try again.
• If it returns, ask Lovable to find the cause: The preview shows "Live preview stopped responding", investigate and fix it.

A steadier preview

By default the preview runs live and changes while Lovable works. To turn that off, open Project settings → General → Preview and switch Live preview off. The preview then shows the most recent completed version and updates when Lovable finishes a change. It doesn't pause while you're away. Your published app isn't affected, and you can turn it back on in the same place.

4. Paused preview: "Still building?"

The preview environment pauses when you've been away from the project for a while, to save resources. The preview then shows Still building? with a note that Lovable paused it.

Click Keep building. The environment starts again and picks up where you left off. Lovable's docs say pausing changes nothing about your project, and your published site stays up while the preview is paused.

5. When it's Lovable, not you

Sometimes the preview fails on Lovable's side. Between August and October 2026, Lovable's status history lists four incidents that affected previews:

• "Previews for TanStack applications are currently unavailable" (August)
• "Project previews and publishing not working." (August)
• "Previews and builds failing to start" (September)
• "Issues with previews, remix, and static asset serving" (October)

All four are marked resolved. If the refresh steps don't help and you didn't change anything, check status.lovable.dev before you ask Lovable to change your code.

6. Someone else can't open your preview

Two different addresses can show your preview, and they work differently.

• Open in new tab (the button above the preview) opens your development preview in its own tab. That address requires logging in to Lovable with access to your project. Someone without access can't use it. Send them a preview link instead.
• A shared preview link (Share → Share a preview link) is view-only and needs no Lovable account. If one stops working:
  • On Free and Pro plans, links expire after 7 days. Create a new one.
  • On Business and Enterprise plans, the link's expiry (24 hours, 7 days, 30 days or never) was set when it was created and can't be changed. Expired links disappear from the list.
  • A deleted link stops working for everyone. The change can take up to a minute to apply.
  • For a password-protected link, after someone enters the password, that browser keeps access for 24 hours, then asks again. Lovable can't show the password again after you leave or reload the editor. If it's lost, create a new link and delete the old one.
  • On Enterprise plans, an admin can turn off preview link sharing for the workspace. New links can't be created then. Links made before keep working until they expire or are deleted.

A shared link always shows your latest in-progress version, never your published site. If someone needs a stable address, publish the app.

One thing to know before you test in the preview

The preview and your published app share the same backend and data. Lovable's docs say changes to your database affect both. Test sign-ups or form submissions in the preview and they are saved to the same database your live app uses.

When it's more than a preview problem

If the preview keeps going blank after each fix, or a working app turns into a string of new errors, the project usually needs someone to read the code rather than another prompt. That's what our Production Readiness Audit is for: we go through the project, find what's breaking it, and tell you what it takes to get it to production. See what usually goes wrong in Lovable app not working.

Sources

All read on 24 October 2026. Lovable docs pages carry no dates.

1. Lovable, "Preview and test your app in Lovable"
2. Lovable, "Share a project with internal or external collaborators"
3. Lovable, "Debug and improve your app"
4. Lovable status page, History