# Let visitors message your team from the widget

_Category: Widget and embeds_

When your articles don't have the answer, visitors can write to your team without leaving the widget. Their message arrives in your inbox, and you reply by email.

**Who can do this:** Owners and Admins · **Plans:** All plans

## Turn on the contact form

The widget sends messages to the same address as your help center's contact page. Until that address is set, the widget hides every way to contact you.

1. In the left menu, click **Template editor**.
2. Open **Pages**, pick the **Contact** page, then select its **Contact form** component.
3. In **Recipient email**, enter the address that should receive messages, such as your support inbox.
4. Click **Publish**.

The same address switches on your help center's contact page. See [Set up your contact page and form](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/contact-form) for the form's other options.

## What visitors see

Visitors reach the form from the widget's contact options: **I can't find what I'm looking for** on the home screen, **Contact our team** when a search finds nothing, and **Still stuck? Message our team →** under an AI answer.

1. They enter **Your email**.
2. They describe their question under **How can we help?**
3. They click **Send message**. The widget confirms with **Message sent!**, and **Back to help** takes them back to the home screen.

![Screen recording. Still stuck? Visitors can message your team from the widget. They leave their email and question, then click Send message. The message arrives in your team's inbox.](https://helpcenter-io.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/self/ZOUWbhcyATSD1odGyNfLzMpkkyrmXdsAAtV8TeyJ.gif)
Visitors write to your team without leaving the page they're on.

A message needs at least 5 characters. Visitors who send several messages in a row are asked to wait a little before they send another.

## What your team receives

Each message arrives as an email from app@helpcenter.io with the subject "New support request". The reply-to address is the visitor's email, so you answer by replying.

The form tells visitors that your team replies by email, usually within a few hours. For your other languages, you can reword it in **Localization** → **Interface translations**, in the **Widget** group. The English wording can't be changed today.

## Send visitors to your own form or chat

If you'd rather open your own contact page or live chat when visitors ask for help, a developer can connect the widget's contact buttons to it. See [Handle contact requests yourself](https://developers.helpcenter.io/content/widget-custom-contact) on the developer portal.

## Troubleshooting

**The widget shows no way to contact you.** The contact form has no **Recipient email**, or the design that adds it isn't published yet. See [The contact form or "Ask us" button is missing](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/contact-form-missing).

**Messages don't arrive.** Check the address in **Recipient email**, then look in your spam folder for mail from app@helpcenter.io.

## Related articles

- [Set up your contact page and form](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/contact-form)
- [The contact form or "Ask us" button is missing](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/contact-form-missing)
- [Handle contact requests yourself](https://developers.helpcenter.io/content/widget-custom-contact) on the developer portal