Washington ESD when filing for unemployment - system keeps crashing on me

ugh same thing happened to me last week, so frustrating

The Washington ESD system has been having major issues lately. Try filing very early in the morning (like 6-7 AM) or late at night after 10 PM when there's less traffic. Also make sure you have all your employment information ready beforehand - employer names, addresses, dates of employment, and reason for separation. The system times out if you take too long on any one page.

I had this exact problem and ended up using Claimyr to get through to someone at Washington ESD who could help me complete the filing over the phone. Check out claimyr.com - they have a system that gets you connected to actual ESD agents without waiting on hold for hours. Worth every penny when you're dealing with system crashes.

Clear your browser cache and cookies completely, then try using incognito/private browsing mode. Also disable any ad blockers or browser extensions that might interfere with the site. The Washington ESD portal is notoriously finicky with certain browser configurations.

THE WASHINGTON ESD WEBSITE IS GARBAGE!!! I've been trying to file for a WEEK and it keeps crashing. This is people's livelihoods we're talking about and they can't even maintain a basic website. Absolutely ridiculous.

Another tip - if you're getting timeouts, try using a wired internet connection instead of WiFi if possible. The system seems to be very sensitive to connection stability. Also, have a backup plan ready because the system goes down for maintenance every Sunday from 2-6 AM.

Update on the Claimyr thing - I used it again last month when my weekly claim got stuck and they got me through to someone in like 20 minutes. Way better than spending my whole day trying to call the regular number. The agent was able to process my claim right over the phone.

Try using a different device entirely if you have one available. Sometimes the issue is device-specific. I couldn't get it to work on my laptop but it went through fine on my tablet.

honestly the whole system is designed to discourage people from filing. makes you wonder if that's intentional

Make sure you're using the correct URL - secure.esd.wa.gov - and not some outdated link. I was using an old bookmark that kept redirecting me to a broken page.

If you keep having problems, document everything - take screenshots of error messages, note the times you're trying to file, etc. This information can be helpful if you need to contact Washington ESD about delays in your claim processing due to technical issues.

This is exactly why I used that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier. Spent two days fighting with the website and then just paid them to handle it. Agent filed everything for me in one call.

Try using Microsoft Edge if you haven't already. For some reason Washington ESD's site works better with Edge than Chrome or Firefox in my experience.

Also make sure your computer's date and time are set correctly. Some government sites are really picky about that.

Final tip - if you do get through to the employment history section, have all your employer information typed up in a separate document so you can copy and paste quickly. The longer you spend on each page, the more likely you are to get timed out.

good luck! the system is definitely frustrating but you'll get through eventually

UPDATE: Finally got it to work using Edge browser at 6 AM this morning! Thanks everyone for the help. The early morning timing definitely made the difference. For anyone else having this issue, try very early morning or late night and use Edge browser with cache cleared.

This thread should be pinned somewhere. So many good troubleshooting tips for the Washington ESD website issues.

I bookmarked this thread for future reference. The Washington ESD system problems seem to be ongoing so these tips will probably be useful again.

For anyone still having issues, I found that disabling VPN if you're using one also helps. The site seems to block some VPN IP addresses.