Browser extension
When WordySpot isn’t working
Most problems are one of these, and each fix takes a minute. The quickest check of all is the connect page: it tests the extension in this browser and says what is wrong.
No words are underlined
- Is it connected? Open the connect page. It checks the extension in this browser and reconnects it with one click.
- Reload the page. A tab that was already open when you installed or reconnected needs one reload.
- Is it a page WordySpot can read? It can’t run on the browser’s own pages, extension stores, PDFs opened in the browser, or in private and incognito windows. Try an ordinary article.
- Is the site switched off? Look under Where WordySpot runs in its settings: the site may be on the Don’t run here list, or missing from an Only run here list.
- Did you hide the underlines on this page? The light bulb at the top of the panel turns them back on.
- Still nothing on any page? Restore its website access, next.
Restore website access
If WordySpot has stopped connecting or marking words, your browser is most likely holding back its access to websites. Open WordySpot from the Extensions menu: when its access page appears, choose what to allow and connect again.
If the toolbar button does nothing, pick your browser. These steps work even while the extension is turned off; exact wording varies between versions.
Older extension versions also need dict.wordyspot.com for definitions. Keep it allowed if your installed version lists this host.
Chrome and Edge
- Type chrome://extensions (Edge: edge://extensions) in the address bar, find WordySpot and turn it on.
- Open Details → Site access (or Permissions). Choose Allow on all sites to mark words everywhere, or Allow on specific sites and add wordyspot.com and sounds.wordyspot.com, plus the sites you read.
- Avoid Ask on every visit / On click for WordySpot’s own sites: it grants access one visit at a time, so connecting can fail after you navigate.
- If the Extensions menu says extensions are blocked on this site, turn them on for WordySpot’s website and your reading site. Reload after changing access.
Firefox
- Type about:addons in the address bar, select Extensions and turn WordySpot on.
- Open WordySpot → Permissions and data and enable website access, including wordyspot.com and sounds.wordyspot.com when they are listed separately.
- For a site you read, open the toolbar’s Extensions menu and let WordySpot always run there. Reload the page.
Firefox calls this access “optional” because you can withdraw it. WordySpot still needs it to connect, define and pronounce words.
Still stuck?
- Try an ordinary article in a normal window. WordySpot cannot run on browser settings pages, extension stores, built-in PDF viewers, or in private windows.
- If only one site is affected, check your excluded sites in the extension’s settings.
- If WordySpot is missing rather than blocked, install it again from the official store.
- If your browser says an administrator blocked it, WordySpot cannot override that — ask them.
- After changing access, reload this page and your reading tabs.
Too many words underlined, or too few
- Teach it what you know. A word you mark Known is never underlined again. On a page full of words you know, open the panel, press Select all, untick the few you don’t know, and press Known.
- Change how common a word must be to be left alone. In your profile, move Words you already know toward More help to underline more, or toward Fewer highlights to underline less. It applies on the website and in the extension.
It’s connected to the wrong account
Sign in here as the account you want and open the connect page. It sees the other account and offers to switch the extension over. Switching keeps both accounts and deletes nothing; words already saved stay with the account they were saved to.
On a phone
Chrome and Safari on phones can’t run extensions at all. A few other phone browsers can: Orion and Teak on iPhone and iPad, and Firefox, Vivaldi and a few more on Android. Each has a short video of the whole setup.
It feels slow
Open the extension’s settings and, at the very bottom, Advanced: WordySpot feels slow. Press Start recording, do whatever was slow, come back, press Stop and then Save report, and send me the file. It holds timings, not the words you read or your sign-in, and nothing leaves your computer unless you send it.
Removing it
- Chrome and Edge: right-click the WordySpot icon in the toolbar or the Extensions menu and choose Remove from Chrome (Remove from Microsoft Edge).
- Firefox: right-click the icon and choose Remove Extension.
- On a phone: open the browser’s menu, then Extensions, then WordySpot, and remove it there.
Your account, lists and books stay on the website, and you can add the extension back at any time. To pause it instead, see turning it off.
Still stuck? Write to me
Send me a message or email support@wordyspot.com. Say which browser and device you use and what happened. If the connect page shows a support code, include it. I read every message and reply myself.