Turnitin - Invalid or Missing State
- Andy Jaffrey
- Gerard Ross
The problem
Some users are reporting an error message Invalid or Missing State when attempting to access a Turnitin submission for marking or submitting.
This error is local to the user’s web browser and Turnitin have stated that this error can occur when launching an LTI assignment with 3rd party cookies and/or JavaScript blocked.
The majority of cases we have seen on the Helpdesk have been related to Safari security settings on Apple devices however the issue also appears less regularly on all operating systems and different browsers.
Potential Solutions
Try a different browser
As the problem is browser based a quick solution would be to try an alternative browser. We have found that this has been most successful on Windows environments. You might try switching to Firefox, Google Chrome or Edge.
This approach has been less successful on Apple devices, probably because of similar security settings across multiple browsers.
Enable Third Party Cookies
We recommend visiting https://www.whatismybrowser.com to get a browser report, this will tell you if you have third party cookies disabled.
In the example below, third party cookies are disabled.
The help text on the right hand side ‘How to enable third-party cookies’ will give you advice for enabling third-party cookies on your browser.
Full details are available here https://www.whatismybrowser.com/guides/how-to-enable-cookies/
Things can be a little more complicated for Safari (Apple Computers and Apple Mobile Devices) so the below videos show you the process.
For Apple Computers:
For iPhone/iPad
Note: After making these changes it is always good advice to close your browser, restart and log back in to Blackboard Learn.
Some users may feel uncomfortable enabling third party cookies and may prefer to add exceptions for specific sites. If that is the case please add api.turnitin.com / api.turnitinuk.com to the sites that are Allowed to use Third Party Cookies.
Enabling Javascript
Some browser settings can block Javascript, so it’s worth checking these settings too.
In Safari, select Safari > Preferences > Security > Web content > Enable JavaScript
In Firefox, select File > Preferences > Privacy & Security. If Strict is enabled, please change this to Standard, or Custom.
In Microsoft Edge, select Microsoft Edge > Preferences > Cookies and Site permissions > JavaScript > Allowed (recommended)
In Google Chrome, select Settings (you can open the Settings page by clicking the icon with three stacked horizontal lines in your browser's menu bar) > Privacy & Security > Site Settings > Content > JavaScript > Please ensure that the option Sites can use JavaScript (recommended) is enabled.
Again if you prefer to use exceptions , please add api.turnitin.com / api.turnitinuk.com to the sites that are Allowed to use JavaScript / 3rd Party Cookies.
Other things to try
In some cases we have found that clearing cache is necessary to enable Turnitin to work again. Instructions to clear cache are available at https://www.whatismybrowser.com/guides/clear-cache-history-cookies/
Clearing cache for all sites can cause frustrating user experiences, so it may best to clear cache for Turnitin only.
Clear site-specific cookies and cache in Chrome
At the top right of Chrome, click on the ellipsis (three dots)
Open Settings
Click Privacy and security
Select Site Settings
Select view permissions and data stored across sites
Locate Turnitinuk.com and Turnitin.com in the list and select the Trash icon to the right to delete
Clear site-specific cookies and cache in Safari
Open Safari, select Settings
Select Privacy
Click Manage Website Data
Search for Turnitin
Select remove if Turnitin sites appear