deposited but the coins never showed up on the exchange — panic review (solved it)

sent USDT from another wallet to the exchange, an hour passed, nothing showed, heart racing. bottom line: ① waiting on block confirmations, or ② missing memo/tag, or ③ check the deposit address. I looked up the TXID on the explorer, it showed 'success' — just needed exchange confirmations (reflected a bit late). if you skipped a memo, file a recovery ticket with support. lesson: before sending, ALWAYS re-check the trio — network, memo, address