31 Tech Support Nightmares That'll Make You Want to Unplug the Universe

John Summers • Contributor

Nov 28, 2024 8:00 PM EST

I have always been the "Tech guy" in my family. Not because I actually know what I'm doing or have any professional IT experience—far from it. I just like computers, which is apparently enough to qualify me as the resident tech expert. Somehow, simply being able to switch the HDMI input and knowing how to restart a modem makes me a technological genius in my family's eyes.

Being the "Tech guy" means I've had to deal with some pretty hair-raising tech support nightmares. My aunt once called me to say that her "cup holder" was broken and asked if I could fix it—turns out she was using the CD tray as a coffee holder. And let's not forget my cousin, who accidentally deleted his entire hard drive because he thought the "Format Disk" prompt meant cleaning up his files to make more space.

So, in honor of all the reluctant tech support heroes out there, here are 31 examples of tech support nightmares that will either make you laugh, cry, or both. Trust me, you'll feel less alone.

01
"I don't need a new mouse, I like it how it is"

via u/MayaIngenue
02
“My space heater stopped working”

via u/Majahzi
03
I need somewhere to set this candle....oh here’s a good spot!

via u/kjb0419
04
USB receiver wouldn't go all the way in so they used a hammer

via u/Viciouspom
05
If you ever wondered why your Internet connection is so poor

via u/zenbanjoman
06
“My flash drive won’t show up and I’ve literally tried everything!”

via u/nopenotamish
07
Sorry, that's not my department. Get an exorcist

via u/TheAnswerToYang
08
Just peel it off!

via u/Ferbel

Customer came in with his iPhone, his glass cracked, he thought he could peel off the glass so he wouldn't notice the crack anymore.
09
"My PC shut off suddenly and won't turn back on."

via u/Rennsport_Dota
10
“The printer isn’t working”

via u/MirrorlikeTent
11
User "Dropped it walking to the car." It came in the day after the Super Bowl.

via u/SirReginaldIT
12
Hospital server room

via u/The_Revolutionary
13
First day on job; set up those 4 wireless speakers for you.

via u/UsablePizza
14
"It didn't plug in, so I bent the pins to make it fit."

via u/gunner1chase
15
"Camera flickers to fuzzy brown image often"

via u/RandomITpro
16
Hey, It works!

via DammitLeeroy9
17
Ouch!

via @_wOxy
18
User spilled coffee on his laptop - so he put it in the oven to dry it out...

via u/smarthawk
19
“I pushed the cable in a little too hard”.

via u/cdq1985
20
What could possibly go wrong?

via u/TooThomas
21
No one will ever guess the password

via u/Kerberos42
22
"But I like it this way, it's convenient." -my tech savvy aunt

via u/Lordalphax
23
Grandpa found a screw on the ground and thought it fell out of his phone

via u/endmethanks
24
"My fan was making too much noise!"

via u/ako_123
25
Someone unplugged something and now the office internet doesn't work...

via u/Kharenis
26
There! It's Grounded!

via u/clearbox
27
"My PC is low on space, can you help?"

$Select Scan View Options 1 The Size Fras Home X Stop Scan Directory Scan Name Refresh Size Allocated File Space Count Mode 456.5 GB C:\ on [OS] 271.6 GB Windows 234.2 GB Temp 15.9 GB winsxs 7.3 GB Logs 4.4 GB System32 2.5 GB CSC 1.9 GB Installer 1.2 GB SysWOW64 1.1 GB Software Distribu... 1.0 GB assembly 51 25 2$

via u/Doge_Read
28
When a teacher decides to buy and install a screen protector on their own.

via u/anondeadpixel
29
Ever seen a 1.69TB text file?

$Big Bertha.txt Properties General Security Details Previous Versions Big_Bertha.txt Type of file: Text Document (.txt) Opens with: Notepad Change... Location: D:\Big Bertha Size: 1.69 TB (1,866,622,368,650 bytes) Size on disk: 1.69 TB (1,866,622,369,792 bytes) Created: 05 September 2021, 04:43:23 Modified: 05 September 2021, 06:55:44 Accessed: 05 September 2021, 13:35:29 Attributes: Read-only Hidden Advanced... OK Cancel Apply$

via u/XandrowH

It's Over 108 Billion Lines
30
The servers are down

via u/IqtaKadabra
31
Are those the computer bugs everyone's been talking about?

via u/martyjmma