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Rewrite these error messages for humans

Your UI says "An error occurred" and support is fielding the fallout.

Longerrorsmicrocopy
Rewrite the error states below as messages a stressed user can act on.

Every message must answer, in this order:
1. What failed, in the user's terms rather than the system's.
2. Whether their work is safe.
3. What to do next, as a specific action available right now.

Rules:
- No blame. Do not say "you entered an invalid value" when the field never said what was valid.
- No system internals. Include an error code only where support will genuinely ask for it.
- Put the message next to the thing that failed, not in a toast that vanishes. Tell me where each one should sit.
- If recovery is already happening automatically, the copy should say that.

Separate errors caused by bad copy from errors caused by bad design, and say plainly which of these should not exist at all.

Errors:

Making it yours

  • Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
  • Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
  • If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.

Interface copy. Every word inside the product: button labels, error messages, empty states and what things are called.

Related prompts

Rewrite the microcopy on this screenBefore shipping a screen where the words started as placeholders you never revisited.Pick the right words for this buttonWhen the options are "OK / Cancel" and nobody is sure what OK does.Design the empty state for this screenThe screen looks great with data and blank the first time anyone opens it.Name this thing in the interfaceNaming a feature, tab, or object that users will have to learn and repeat.A better label for this buttonWhen the options are "OK" and "Cancel" and nobody is sure what OK does.Halve the words on this screenInterface copy that grew one clause at a time through review.

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