Why does my dashboard data look out of date after switching profiles?

The panel is built to keep showing useful information rather than flashing blank the instant you switch profiles, so for a moment right after you navigate it may still show the previous profile's details before it catches up on its own, usually within a few seconds. Separately, PostSnag's dashboard only reflects what you last sent it with Export To Dashboard, so switching between profiles without exporting again, or coming back to a profile later, can also make the dashboard look behind what you actually captured. Both are expected, and both are quick to sort out once you know which one you're looking at.

The panel does have a refresh button in its header, but it's worth understanding what it actually does before you reach for it: it's a full rescan, not a lightweight sync, and it clears anything you've captured locally for the current profile that you haven't exported yet.

Why this happens

The panel can briefly hold onto its last view while it catches up. For a moment right after you switch to a new profile, you may still see the previous profile's Collected count or details before the panel finishes recognizing the new page. This normally resolves on its own within a few seconds, since the panel checks in with your captured data automatically every few seconds while it's idle.

The refresh button in the panel's header is a full rescan, not a quick sync. Click it and a confirmation appears first: "Refresh the extension data? This clears locally cached scans and reloads the page so the profile scans completely fresh. Your dashboard data is not affected." Confirming clears whatever's captured locally for the profile you're currently on and reloads the page so it starts scanning from zero, as if you'd never scanned it before. Anything already sent to your dashboard with Export To Dashboard is untouched either way, but anything you'd scrolled and captured locally on this profile and hadn't exported yet is gone, and you'd need to scroll it again. It's the right tool for "this profile's stored details themselves look wrong and I want a clean rescan," not for "the panel just looks a beat behind."

The dashboard updates only when you export, not while you scroll. Capturing posts by scrolling only ever saves them locally in your own browser. Nothing reaches your dashboard automatically, no matter how many profiles you scroll through in a session. If you switch from one profile to another and only exported the first one, the second profile's dashboard page won't show anything new until you click Export To Dashboard for it too. Revisiting a profile you captured a while ago works the same way: whatever's on its dashboard page reflects your last export for that profile, not necessarily your most recent scroll.

Local capture and your dashboard are two separate stores. What you've captured lives on your own device first. Your dashboard is a separate, synced view of whatever you've explicitly sent it. Removing or changing something on the dashboard side doesn't reach back and clear what's stored locally in the extension, and capturing more locally doesn't reach the dashboard until you export again.

What to do

1. Give the panel a moment after switching to a new profile. It usually updates within a few seconds on its own, without you doing anything.

2. Refresh the Facebook tab itself (a normal browser reload) if the panel still looks like it's showing the wrong profile after a few seconds. This is a safe, ordinary page reload and doesn't clear anything.

3. Click Export To Dashboard again for a profile any time you want its dashboard page to reflect what you've most recently captured, including after switching away and coming back to it later.

4. Refresh the dashboard page itself if a profile you just exported still looks behind. Dashboard pages sometimes need a reload to pick up a fresh export.

5. Use the panel's refresh button only when you want a genuinely fresh rescan of the profile you're currently on, and export first if you have anything captured on it that you haven't sent to your dashboard yet. Confirming the dialog clears that unexported local data.

Keeping the dashboard current

Make exporting the last step of each profile before you move to the next one, rather than scrolling through several profiles and exporting once at the end. Exporting right after you finish a profile keeps its dashboard page matched to what you just captured, instead of relying on remembering to go back and export it later.

Common questions

What does the refresh button in the panel do?

It's in the panel's header, and it's a full rescan: a confirmation dialog first explains that it clears locally cached scans for the profile you're on and reloads the page so it scans completely fresh. It doesn't touch anything already sent to your dashboard. Use it when you want a clean rescan, not as a quick "catch up" click.

Why did the panel show the wrong profile right after I switched?

That's a brief handoff moment. The panel keeps showing your last profile's details rather than going blank while it loads the new one, and it normally catches up within a few seconds on its own.

I removed a profile from my dashboard. Why does the extension still show it?

Local capture data lives on your device, separate from your dashboard. Removing something from the dashboard doesn't clear what's already stored locally in the extension.

Why doesn't the dashboard update while I'm still scrolling Facebook?

Only clicking Export To Dashboard sends anything to your dashboard. Scrolling and capturing only ever builds up your local, on-device data.

Will clicking refresh in the panel lose anything I've captured?

Only for the profile you're currently on, and only what you haven't exported yet. The confirmation dialog says so before it happens: it clears locally cached scans and rescans that profile from scratch. Export first if you want to keep what you've already captured on it.

Related articles

• How do I send my captured posts to the dashboard? (Export To Dashboard)

• What's in the PostSnag dashboard? (a tour)

• What is the PostSnag panel?

• Recent scans: what is the difference between remove and delete?

• Why do post counts look different across the panel, dashboard, and Facebook?

PostSnag is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta Platforms, Inc.