Editing Transporter (Star Trek) (section)

===Technological and scientific restrictions===
While several characters have asserted that transporters cannot transport through a ship's [[shields (Star Trek)|shields]] or planetary defense shields, there are instances of this "rule" being broken through a [[technobabble]] solution (''TNG'': "[[The Wounded (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|The Wounded]]", ''DS9'': "[[Trials and Tribble-ations]]") or disregarded by the show's writers (''Voyager'': "[[Caretaker (Star Trek: Voyager)|Caretaker]]"). The non-canon ''TNG Technical Manual'' describes how a starship may create "windows" in the shield geometry through which a transporter beam may propagate at the expense of creating weak spots in the vessel's defensive field.

In ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]'', [[Vice Admiral (Star Trek)|Vice Admiral]] [[James T. Kirk]] and [[Lieutenant (Star Trek)|Lieutenant]] [[Saavik]] carry on a conversation during rematerialization. In ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]]'', Dr. Gillian Taylor jumps into Kirk's transporter beam during dematerialization, and rematerializes without any apparent ill effects. This is probably due to the "annular confinement beam", a component of the transporter mentioned in the various television episodes which serves to keep patterns separate from one another. In the same film, Mr. Spock is beamed onto a cloaked ship while walking.

According to the ''TNG Technical Manual'', the transporter cannot move [[antimatter]], but in the ''Voyager'' episode "[[Dark Frontier]]" ''Voyager'' transported a live photon torpedo equipped with antimatter onto a Borg ship. Also in ''TOS'' episode "[[Obsession (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Obsession]]" Kirk and a fellow crewman beam down to the surface of a planet with an antimatter bomb. The ''TAS'' episode "[[One of Our Planets Is Missing]]" has the ''Enterprise'' beaming a chunk of antimatter into a stasis box.

In the original series, beaming to and from the transporter chamber was a necessity. This is explained in the ''TOS'' episode "[[Day of the Dove]]". Spock and Scotty had said that doing a site-to-site transport, as they are referred to on the show, on board the ship could be risky. They could beam into a deck or other inanimate object and get stuck there. However, there are apparently safeguards in place to prevent people from being beamed into hostile environments such as under water and into lava pits, although it is possible to override this safety feature; for example, in the ''TOS'' episode "[[And the Children Shall Lead]]", two security guards are beamed into open space. In the following series, however, the transporter room seems to become mostly obsolete, the actual equipment notwithstanding. Characters are shown activating the transporter from ordinary consoles and beaming from place to place without apparent trouble. The main operator can likewise send those in transport anywhere with ease (for example, in the ''Voyager'' episode "[[In the Flesh (Star Trek: Voyager)|In the Flesh]]", a medical console is used to transport a body from the morgue to the surgical bay). A possible explanation for this is put forward in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual]]'', where such site-to-site transports would probably use twice as much energy as would be required for transport to or from the transporter room itself, since the subject would have to be beamed to the transporter, stored, then shunted to their destination. In addition, the six circles on the platform are generally used as targets for the subjects to stand on, but they do not appear to represent any limitation of the hardware to six or fewer people. People have been transported carrying others, in a coffin style transport, as well as animals, hay, and various inanimate objects.

Dialogue in ''Deep Space Nine'' indicates the existence of portable transporters, but these are never seen. The ''Next Generation'' episode "[[Timescape (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Timescape]]" features emergency transporter armbands, although these may have served only to activate a remote transporter. To confuse things more, ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]'' featured the prototype "emergency transport unit". Tom Paris uses a portable transporter in the  ''Voyager'' episode "[[Non Sequitur (Star Trek: Voyager)|Non Sequitur]]". 
For special effects reasons, in ''TOS'', people generally appear immobilized during transport, with the exception of Kirk in the episode "[[That Which Survives]]". However, by ''TNG'', characters can move within the confines of the transporter beam while being transported, although this is rarely shown. Persons being transported are at least sometimes able to perceive the functioning of the transporter while they are in transit. In the ''TOS'' episode "[[The Doomsday Machine (Star Trek: The Original Series)|The Doomsday Machine]]", the ''Enterprise'' transporter malfunctions while transporting Scotty from the disabled USS ''Constellation'' to the ''Enterprise'' due to a power drain, and Scotty's pattern is nearly lost in transit. As soon as he successfully materializes, Scotty asks the transporter operator with concern, "What's the matter with that thing?" and orders the transporter to be taken offline for emergency repair.

Some species do not use transporter technology for a variety of reasons. In the first appearance of Trill in the ''TNG'' episode "[[The Host (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|The Host]]", Trill were unable to be transported, once joined with a symbiont. It seems that was due to the symbiont being detected and removed by the transporter technology as an infestation in the host. Odan, the Trill host in this episode, is reluctant to say why he will not travel this way, and it only becomes apparent that he is carrying a symbiont when he is later injured. All the crew of the ''Enterprise'' react as if they have had no contact with this species before. It later becomes apparent that joined Trill have been working in the [[United Federation of Planets|Federation]] for some time.

In season three of ''[[Star Trek: Discovery]]'', set in the 32nd century, personal transporters are used.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.space.com/star-trek-discovery-season-3-episode-1-recap|title=The 'Star Trek: Discovery' season 3 premiere is one of its best episodes yet|website=[[Space.com]] |date=15 October 2020}}</ref>