Progress updates

General rules

Use sentence case to align with our UX writing guidelines.

Use the present simple progressive (continuous, -ing) verb form to indicate ongoing actions.

Use verbs before nouns to focus on the action and make messages easier to scan.

Use horizontal ellipses (…) after the verb without a space instead of adding three full stops (unicode U+2026, Mac Option+/Windows ALT+0133).

Use ellipses for text with numbers or the object to show a running process.

Avoid ellipses to show time remaining and approximate or unknown times as they're status indicators, not actions.

Change verb form without ellipses when possible in buttons with loading spinners to avoid visual clutter.

Use the correct verb form without using ellipses to show background processes.

Use specific and definitive text to make users aware of what is happening and how long the process takes.

Use informative text and actions when multiple processes are happening at the same time.

Use transitional text to manage user expectations and reduce frustration for lengthy processes.

Processing your request. This usually takes about 1–2 minutes.
This step takes a bit longer than usual.
We’re preparing your dashboard. Once it’s ready, you’ll be able to customize your view.