🔧 Troubleshooting Guide

✅ Solutions:

1. Check Citation Format

CiteCount detects these parenthetical citation formats:

• APA: (Author, 2023), (Author et al., 2023)
• MLA: (Author 123), (Author and Author 45)
• Harvard: (Author 2023), (Author, et al. 2023)
• Chicago: (Author 2023, 45)

2. Verify Parentheses

Citations must be enclosed in proper parentheses (). Check for:

• Missing opening or closing parenthesis
• Incorrect bracket types: [Author 2023] won't work
• Extra spaces: ( Author 2023) may not detect

3. Check Citation Toggle

1. Open the Citations panel (right side on desktop, toolbar on mobile)
2. Find your citation in the list
3. Make sure the toggle switch is green (ON)
4. If it's red (OFF), click to enable exclusion

4. Refresh Citation Detection

• Make a small edit to your text (add/remove a space)
• This triggers re-analysis of citations
• Wait 1-2 seconds for processing

✅ Solutions:

1. Check if AutoSave is Enabled

1. Press ⌘, (Mac) or Ctrl, (Windows) to open Settings
2. Look for "Enable AutoSave" in General Settings
3. If it's OFF, your work wasn't being saved automatically
4. Turn it ON to prevent future data loss

2. Check Different Browsers

Data is saved per-browser. If you used CiteCount in:

• Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc. - each has separate storage
• Private/Incognito mode - data is cleared when window closes

Solution: Open the same browser you originally used

3. Check Browser Data Settings

Your text may have been cleared if you:

• Cleared browser history/cookies/cache
• Ran a "Clear Data" or "Reset" command
• Used browser cleaning tools (CCleaner, etc.)

4. Check Projects/Folders

Your text might be in a different project:

1. Click "Docs" in the top navigation
2. Browse through your projects and folders
3. Click each to check if your text is there

✅ Solutions:

1. Check File Type

CiteCount only supports:

• ✅ Microsoft Word (.docx)
• ✅ PDF (.pdf)
• ❌ NOT supported: .doc (older Word), .pages, .odt, .rtf

Solution: Convert to .docx using Microsoft Word or Google Docs

2. Check File Size

Very large files (>50MB) may fail to process. Try:

• Splitting your document into smaller sections
• Removing large images or embedded objects
• Compressing the PDF before uploading

3. Check File Corruption

If file consistently fails to import:

1. Open the file in Microsoft Word or a PDF reader
2. Verify it opens correctly without errors
3. If corrupted, try recovering from a backup
4. Copy-paste the text instead of importing the file

4. PDF-Specific Issues

PDFs may have problems if:

• Scanned documents: Text is actually an image (use OCR first)
• Password-protected: Remove password before importing
• Complex formatting: Tables, images, equations won't extract

Best practice: Use .docx files for most reliable imports

5. Try Alternative Import Method

If drag-and-drop fails:

1. Open your document in Word/PDF reader
2. Select all text (Cmd/Ctrl + A)
3. Copy (Cmd/Ctrl + C)
4. Paste into CiteCount editor (Cmd/Ctrl + V)

✅ Understanding Word Count Differences:

1. Citation Exclusion

CiteCount's primary feature is excluding citations from word count. Check:

• "Words without Citations" - This is your IB/academic count
• "Total Words" - This should match Word/Google Docs

2. Counting Method Differences

Different tools count words differently:

• Hyphenated words: "twenty-five" = 1 or 2 words?
• Numbers: "123" or "2023" = 1 word
• Contractions: "don't" = 1 word
• Symbols: "@", "&", "$" usually not counted

3. Hidden Formatting

When importing from Word/PDF:

• Hidden text, comments, and tracked changes are removed
• Headers, footers, and footnotes are excluded
• Tables may count differently

4. Asian Language Text

CiteCount has special support for Chinese, Japanese, Korean:

• Each CJK character counts as one word (IB standard)
• Word may count CJK text differently
• This is normal and follows IB guidelines

5. Verify Citation Detection

1. Open Citations panel
2. Check "Words from Citations" count
3. Add this to "Words without Citations"
4. Compare to your other tool's total

✅ Solutions:

Understanding Storage Limits

CiteCount uses your browser's localStorage with a typical limit of ~5-10MB. This stores:

• Current editor text
• Projects and folders
• Citation generator history
• Settings and preferences

1. Clear Citation History

1. Click the "Generate Citations" button in toolbar
2. Go to the "History" tab
3. Click "Clear All History"
4. This can free up significant space

2. Delete Old Projects/Folders

1. Click "Docs" in top navigation
2. Select old projects/folders you don't need
3. Use multi-select (Cmd/Ctrl + Click) for bulk deletion
4. Click the delete button

3. Export and Clear Current Text

1. Copy your current text to Word/Google Docs
2. Save as external backup
3. Clear the CiteCount editor
4. Work on one document at a time

4. Check Storage Usage

1. Click "Docs" → Storage icon (bottom of sidebar)
2. View "Storage Used" breakdown
3. Identify what's taking most space
4. Clean up accordingly

✅ Recommended Browsers:

Best Experience:

• ✅ Chrome/Chromium (latest version)
• ✅ Safari (latest version, macOS/iOS)
• ✅ Firefox (latest version)
• ✅ Edge (latest version)

If Having Issues:

1. Update Your Browser: Make sure you're using the latest version
2. Clear Cache: Hard refresh with Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + R
3. Disable Extensions: Some browser extensions interfere with CiteCount
4. Try Incognito/Private: Test if the issue persists without extensions
5. Check JavaScript: Ensure JavaScript is enabled in browser settings

Mobile Browsers:

• iOS: Safari works best
• Android: Chrome or Firefox
• Some features limited on mobile (smaller screen, different UI)

✅ Solutions:

1. Check Browser Conflicts

Some browsers override shortcuts:

• Cmd/Ctrl + B may open bookmarks instead of bold
• Cmd/Ctrl + , may not work in some browsers
• Try using toolbar buttons instead

2. Ensure Editor Has Focus

Shortcuts only work when:

• Your cursor is in the text editor
• You're not typing in a search box or modal
• No other input field is selected

3. Mac vs Windows

Make sure you're using the correct modifier:

• Mac: Use Cmd (⌘) key
• Windows/Linux: Use Ctrl key

4. Full Shortcut List

See Complete Keyboard Shortcuts Guide

✅ Solutions:

1. Reduce Text Length

• Very long documents (50,000+ words) may slow down
• Split into smaller sections if possible
• Work on one chapter/section at a time

2. Close Other Tabs/Apps

• Free up browser memory by closing unused tabs
• Close other memory-intensive applications
• Restart your browser periodically

3. Disable Focus Mode Features

If using Focus Mode, temporarily disable it to improve performance

4. Clear Browser Cache

1. Go to browser settings
2. Clear cache and cookies (keep localStorage if possible)
3. Restart browser
4. Reload CiteCount

5. Check Internet Connection

• Initial load requires internet connection
• Citation generator URL fetching needs internet
• Everything else works offline