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Common Issues

Solutions for common AssisT problems — features not working, AI setup, performance issues, and more.

Quick Fixes

Before diving into specific issues, try these universal solutions:

  1. Refresh the page — Many issues resolve after a reload
  2. Restart Chrome — Clears stuck extension states
  3. Check if feature is enabled — Toggle it off and on in the popup
  4. Update the extension — Go to chrome://extensions, enable Developer Mode, click Update

Permissions & Site Access

AssisT Doesn’t Work on This Website

Symptoms: Features don’t activate on a non-LMS website.

Why this happens: AssisT uses a privacy-first permission model. By default, it only works on educational platforms (Canvas, Moodle, Google Classroom, Google Docs).

Solution:

  1. Click the AssisT extension icon
  2. Look for the yellow “Works on LMS sites only” banner
  3. Click Enable Everywhere
  4. Approve in Chrome’s permission dialog
  5. Refresh the page—AssisT now works!

Why Doesn’t AssisT Request Access to All Websites?

We believe in privacy-first design. Most students primarily use AssisT on their learning management system, so we only request those permissions at install. This means:

  • No scary permission warnings when you install
  • You control when to expand access
  • Better privacy by default

I Already Enabled “All Websites” But It’s Not Working

Solutions:

  1. Refresh the page after granting permission
  2. Check chrome://extensions → AssisT → Details → Site access
  3. Verify “On all sites” is selected
  4. Restart Chrome if needed

Can I Revoke “All Websites” Permission?

Yes! Go to chrome://extensions → AssisT → Details → Site access → Change to “On specific sites” or “On click”.

Installation Issues

Extension Won’t Install

Symptoms: Install button doesn’t work, error message during install.

Solutions:

  1. Check Chrome version — AssisT requires Chrome 88+
  2. Clear Chrome cache: Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data
  3. Disable other extensions temporarily
  4. Try installing from Chrome Web Store in Incognito mode
  5. Restart Chrome and try again

Extension Icon Missing

Symptoms: AssisT installed but icon not in toolbar.

Solutions:

  1. Click the puzzle piece icon in Chrome toolbar
  2. Find AssisT in the list
  3. Click the pin icon to keep it visible
  4. If not in list, check chrome://extensions to verify installation

Extension Keeps Disabling

Symptoms: Extension turns off after browser restart.

Solutions:

  1. Check if your organisation manages Chrome (enterprise policy)
  2. Verify extension isn’t corrupted: remove and reinstall
  3. Check Chrome settings for extension management restrictions
  4. Some antivirus software blocks extensions — add exception

Text-to-Speech (TTS) Issues

No Sound

Symptoms: TTS enabled, press play, no audio.

Solutions:

  1. Check system volume isn’t muted
  2. Check Chrome’s site-specific volume (click lock icon → Site settings)
  3. Try a different voice in TTS settings
  4. Test with another website
  5. Restart Chrome

TTS Stops Mid-Sentence

Symptoms: Reading starts then stops unexpectedly.

Solutions:

  1. Click back in the page window (focus may have shifted)
  2. Check if page has auto-refresh or dynamic content
  3. Press Ctrl+Shift+Space to resume
  4. For PDFs: try Reading Mode first

Voice Sounds Wrong

Symptoms: Robotic, wrong language, or distorted voice.

Solutions:

  1. Select a different voice in TTS settings
  2. Install better voices through your OS settings
  3. Adjust pitch and rate slightly
  4. Windows: Install neural voices from Settings → Time & Language → Speech

Highlighting Not Following

Symptoms: TTS plays but word highlighting doesn’t work or falls out of sync.

Solutions:

  1. Check “Highlight enabled” is on in TTS settings
  2. If highlights are present but out of sync with speech: go to TTS settings → Word Highlight Sync Mode → switch from Boundary to Timer, then adjust the Highlight Speed slider to match your TTS rate
  3. Refresh the page
  4. Some dynamically-loaded content doesn’t support highlighting
  5. Try Reading Mode for consistent highlighting

Speech-to-Text (STT) Issues

Microphone Not Working

Symptoms: Click microphone, nothing happens.

Solutions:

  1. Check Chrome has microphone permission: chrome://settings/content/microphone
  2. Select correct microphone in Chrome settings
  3. Test microphone in another app
  4. Check if another app is using the microphone
  5. Restart Chrome

Low Recognition Accuracy

Symptoms: Words transcribed incorrectly.

Solutions:

  1. Speak clearly and at moderate pace
  2. Reduce background noise
  3. Get closer to microphone
  4. Try a different browser microphone
  5. Add problem words to custom vocabulary

Voice Commands Not Recognised

Symptoms: Commands like “delete last word” don’t work.

Solutions:

  1. Speak command clearly after brief pause
  2. Check voice commands are enabled in settings
  3. Use exact command wording (see reference guide)
  4. Some commands only work in specific contexts

AI Features Issues

AI Mode Shows “Unavailable” (Orange Status Bar)

Symptoms: AI feature panel shows orange warning bar.

Solutions by mode:

Local AI (Ollama):

  1. Check whether the popup says local AI needs your permission. If it does, this is not a server problem: press Check, or Apply on the server address, and choose Allow in the Chrome prompt. The loopback address is an optional permission, only requested when you turn local AI on, so a fresh install has not been granted it yet
  2. Check Ollama is running - visit localhost:11434
  3. If not running, open Ollama from your Applications/Start menu
  4. Verify models are installed: run ollama list in terminal
  5. Restart Ollama if it was recently updated
  6. If Ollama listens on a different port, set the address in the Local AI panel and press Apply, then allow the prompt for that address. Only loopback addresses are accepted in the public build

Local AI Says It Needs Permission

Symptoms: the Local AI panel reports that AssisT needs your permission to reach Ollama, even though Ollama is running.

Solution: press Check in the Local AI panel and choose Allow in the Chrome prompt. From version 1.0.0 the local AI address is an optional permission that AssisT asks for only when you turn local AI on, so nothing is granted until you do. If you changed the server address, press Apply instead and allow the prompt for that address, because the grant is per address.

If no prompt appears, remember that Chrome only shows one during a press, so use the button rather than waiting. If you withdrew the permission in Chrome’s extension settings earlier, the same press asks for it again.

Local AI Answers Contain the Model’s Thinking

Symptoms: answers from qwen3 or deepseek-r1 begin with the model reasoning out loud, or a feature that needs structured data (Knowledge Graph, Citation Analyzer, mind-map building) fails to read the reply.

Solution: update to version 1.0.0. Reasoning models are handled properly from that release: the thinking text is kept out of the answer, and requests that need JSON back get valid JSON. If you still see it on 1.0.0, check you are on the version you think you are in the popup’s About panel.

Embedding Models Appear in the Model List

Models such as nomic-embed-text produce embeddings, not chat replies, and are filtered out of the model pickers. If you pull one, expect it not to appear as a choice.

Browser AI (WebLLM):

  1. Ensure a model has been downloaded (check model picker in popup)
  2. Click Load to initialise the model if it’s downloaded but not loaded
  3. Check your browser supports WebGPU — visit chrome://gpu
  4. Try a smaller model if GPU memory is limited

Cloud AI:

  1. Verify your API key is entered correctly
  2. Check the API key hasn’t expired or been revoked
  3. Ensure you have credits/quota with your provider
  4. Try a different provider to isolate the issue

AI Response Takes Too Long or Times Out

Symptoms: AI feature spins indefinitely or shows timeout error.

Solutions:

  1. Use shorter input text (especially for Knowledge Graph and Multi-Doc Compare)
  2. Switch to a faster/smaller model
  3. For Ollama: ensure no other applications are using the GPU
  4. For Browser AI: close other GPU-intensive tabs
  5. For Cloud: check your internet connection
  6. AssisT uses a 25-second timeout — complex operations on slower hardware may exceed this

Ollama Models Not Appearing in Dropdown

Symptoms: Local AI panel shows empty model selector.

Solutions:

  1. Verify Ollama is running and accessible
  2. Check models are installed: ollama list
  3. Close and reopen the AssisT popup
  4. Restart Chrome if the issue persists

WebLLM Model Download Stuck

Symptoms: Progress bar stops or download fails.

Solutions:

  1. Check internet connection
  2. Ensure sufficient disk space (models are 1-6GB)
  3. Try a smaller model first
  4. Close other downloads/heavy tabs
  5. Restart Chrome and retry

AI Output Quality Issues

Symptoms: AI responses are generic, incomplete, or contain artifacts.

Solutions:

  1. Text Simplification automatically strips trailing AI conversational artifacts — if you see “Would you like me to…” leftovers, update your extension
  2. Socratic Tutor filters out generic canned hints — if hints feel unhelpful, try rephrasing your question
  3. Knowledge Graph on local models may misclassify entities — this is corrected automatically by person-detection heuristics
  4. Try a larger/more capable model for complex tasks
  5. For Cloud AI: switch from a fast model to a balanced or quality model

SPA Navigation Issues

Features Stop Working After Navigating on Canvas/LMS

Symptoms: Features worked on the first page but stop after clicking links within Canvas, Moodle, or other single-page applications.

Solutions:

  1. Refresh the page — this re-initialises all listeners
  2. This issue has been fixed in the latest version with automatic SPA navigation detection (MutationObserver + popstate)
  3. Update AssisT to the latest version if you’re experiencing this

TTS Plays Multiple Times After Navigation

Symptoms: Text-to-speech reads the same text multiple times simultaneously.

Solutions:

  1. Update AssisT — this was caused by duplicate event listeners accumulating during SPA navigation, now fixed
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+S to stop all TTS
  3. Refresh the page to reset

Reading Mode Issues

Reading Mode Won’t Activate

Symptoms: Click Reading Mode, nothing happens.

Solutions:

  1. Some pages don’t have readable content (login pages, apps)
  2. Try on an article page with body text
  3. Refresh and try again
  4. Press Alt+R as alternative activation

Content Missing in Reading Mode

Symptoms: Article text incomplete or missing sections.

Solutions:

  1. Page may use unusual markup
  2. Dynamic content may not be captured
  3. Try selecting specific text before Reading Mode
  4. Some paywalled content can’t be extracted

Visual Features Issues

Colour Overlay Not Visible

Symptoms: Toggle overlay, no colour change appears.

Solutions:

  1. Increase overlay opacity
  2. Some sites use complex layering that blocks overlays
  3. Try Reading Mode + Overlay combination

Overlay or Custom Cursor Does Nothing in Google Docs or Sheets

Symptoms: the Screen Color Overlay and the Custom Cursor work everywhere else but have no effect inside a Google Doc or a Google Sheet.

Solution: this was a bug and it is fixed in version 1.0.0. Update, then reload the document tab. Both features now apply inside Google Docs and Google Sheets.

Font Changes Not Applying

Symptoms: Select font, text doesn’t change.

Solutions:

  1. Some sites force fonts with !important CSS
  2. Refresh page after changing settings
  3. Try “Force colours” option
  4. Reading Mode applies fonts more reliably

Focus Mode Issues

Spotlight Not Appearing

Symptoms: Enable Focus Mode, no dimming or spotlight.

Solutions:

  1. Check if another overlay feature is active
  2. Refresh the page
  3. Try Alt+F toggle
  4. Move mouse to trigger spotlight

Spotlight Too Small/Large

Symptoms: Can’t see enough content in spotlight.

Solutions:

  1. Use + and - keys to resize
  2. Adjust size in Focus Mode settings
  3. Try different spotlight shape (Circle → Rectangle)

Annotation Issues

Notes Disappearing

Symptoms: Create notes, they’re gone on page refresh.

Solutions:

  1. Annotations are URL-specific — check you’re on same page
  2. Check if URL changed (www vs non-www, http vs https)
  3. Verify notes in “View Annotations” panel
  4. Clear browser cache may remove notes — export regularly

Can’t Create Notes

Symptoms: Shortcut or button doesn’t create note.

Solutions:

  1. Check Annotations feature is enabled
  2. Try clicking page first to ensure focus
  3. Some interactive pages block note creation
  4. Try creating from highlight menu instead of shortcut

Performance Issues

Extension Making Chrome Slow

Symptoms: Chrome lags when AssisT is enabled.

Solutions:

  1. Disable features you’re not using
  2. Reduce number of simultaneous features active
  3. Check Chrome Task Manager (Shift+Esc) for memory usage
  4. Restart Chrome to clear accumulated memory
  5. Disable on heavy sites (social media, video sites)

High CPU/GPU Usage

Symptoms: Fan spinning, computer hot when using AssisT.

Solutions:

  1. TTS with highlighting uses significant CPU — reduce on weak devices
  2. Browser AI (WebLLM) uses GPU heavily during inference — close other GPU-intensive applications
  3. Local AI (Ollama) can spike CPU/GPU during generation — consider smaller models
  4. Disable features when not needed
  5. Close other resource-heavy tabs
  6. Some features + complex pages = high load

Page Load Delays

Symptoms: Pages take longer to load with AssisT.

Solutions:

  1. Disable “Auto-apply” features
  2. Let page fully load before enabling features
  3. Some features analyse page content on load
  4. Consider using features on-demand rather than always-on

Keyboard Shortcuts Not Working

Shortcut Does Nothing

Symptoms: Press shortcut, feature doesn’t activate.

Solutions:

  1. Check feature is enabled first
  2. Click in page content (not address bar or other UI)
  3. Another extension may use same shortcut
  4. Check shortcut hasn’t been customised differently
  5. Some shortcuts only work in specific contexts (modals, etc.)

Shortcut Conflicts

Symptoms: Wrong action happens when pressing shortcut.

Solutions:

  1. Go to AssisT Settings → Shortcuts
  2. Change conflicting shortcut to new key combination
  3. Check Chrome’s global shortcuts: chrome://extensions/shortcuts
  4. Disable conflicting extensions

Reset and Recovery

Reset All Settings

If AssisT is behaving strangely:

  1. Click AssisT icon
  2. Click Settings (gear icon)
  3. Scroll to bottom
  4. Click Reset to Defaults
  5. Confirm reset
  6. Reconfigure preferences

Complete Reinstall

For persistent issues:

  1. Go to chrome://extensions
  2. Find AssisT
  3. Click Remove
  4. Restart Chrome
  5. Reinstall from Chrome Web Store
  6. Reconfigure settings

Note: Reinstalling removes saved annotations and custom settings. Export settings first if possible.

Getting More Help

Information to Include

When reporting issues, include:

  • Chrome version (chrome://version)
  • AssisT version (from popup footer)
  • Which feature is affected
  • Steps to reproduce the issue
  • Screenshot if visual issue

Contact Options

For Educators & Parents

Student-Specific Troubleshooting

IssueFirst Check
”It’s not working”Is the feature toggled on?
”I can’t hear it”Check system volume, headphones
”It looks different”Different Chrome profile/device
”My notes are gone”Different URL or Chrome profile

Classroom Checklist

Before class:

  • AssisT installed on all devices
  • Features tested on lesson content
  • Students know how to enable needed features
  • Backup plan if technology fails

When to Escalate

Contact IT support if:

  • Extension won’t install (may be organisation policy)
  • Consistent issues across multiple students
  • Features that worked before suddenly don’t
  • Error messages you don’t understand