Troubleshooting & FAQ
Find solutions to common issues, understand error messages, and get answers to frequently asked questions.
Common Issues
White screen after update
Clicking 'Refresh' on the update banner sometimes results in a white screen on Windows.
Solutions (try in order):
- Close and reopen the app
- Clear WebView2 cache: Settings then About then Clear Cache
- Uninstall and reinstall the app (your vault is preserved)
Forgot my PIN
If you forget your PIN, you can unlock the vault using your 24-word recovery phrase.
Reset PIN with recovery phrase:
- Open the Desktop App
- Click 'Forgot PIN?' on the lock screen
- Enter your 24-word recovery phrase
Lost recovery phrase
If you lost your recovery phrase and cannot remember your PIN, vault recovery is not possible.
If the vault is still unlocked:
- Open the app (do not close it)
- Go to Settings then Security then Recovery Phrase
- View and write down your phrase immediately
- Store it safely
Files not processing
If your file fails to analyze or anonymize, check the following.
Check these common causes:
- File is too large (PDF: 50 MB, DOCX: 30 MB, XLSX: 20 MB)
- File format is not supported (try PDF, DOCX, TXT, CSV, JSON, XML)
- Insufficient token balance — see pricing page
- Internet connection issue — check your network
Sign-in not working
If the browser authentication flow fails or the app does not register the sign-in.
Try the following:
- Check your internet connection
- Ensure your default browser is not blocking local redirects (localhost)
- Try a different browser as your default
- Contact support if the issue persists
Presets not loading
If your presets do not appear or fail to sync after sign-in.
Solutions:
- Click the sync button in the app to force a manual sync
- Sign out and sign back in to reset the session
- Check anonym.legal/app/presets in the browser to verify your presets exist
Error Messages
"No text content found"The file has no extractable text. This happens with scanned PDFs (image-only). Try using an OCR tool to convert it to text first.
"Insufficient token balance"Your token balance is too low. Purchase more tokens or upgrade your plan at anonym.legal/pricing.
"Analysis failed"The PII analysis failed. This is usually a temporary server issue. Wait 30 seconds and try again. If it persists, contact support.
"Extraction data not found"The text extraction data was not found. Re-open the file and try again.
"File too large"The file exceeds the maximum allowed size. PDF: 50 MB, DOCX: 30 MB, XLSX: 20 MB.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my data secure?
Yes. Only plain text is sent to our servers (not your original file). Text is processed in memory and never stored. The vault is encrypted with AES-256-GCM and Argon2id. See the Security documentation for details.
Does the Desktop App work offline?
The vault, history, and app UI work offline. However, PII analysis and anonymization require an internet connection to reach our Presidio-based API.
What happens if I lose my recovery phrase?
If you lose your recovery phrase and cannot remember your PIN, the vault is permanently inaccessible. This is by design — we have no backdoor. Always store your phrase safely.
Why am I running out of tokens?
Tokens are consumed per API call (analyze + anonymize). Each page of a document typically uses 50-200 tokens. Check your usage in Settings then Account. Upgrade at pricing for more details.
Can I use the same account on multiple devices?
Yes. Your account, presets, custom entities, and encryption keys (metadata) sync across all devices. The vault itself is local to each device.
Why does the app need the internet?
PII detection uses our Presidio-based NLP engine running on EU servers. This requires an API call. The processing is stateless — no content is stored.
How do I update the app?
The app checks for updates on startup. When an update is available, a banner appears. Click 'Install Update' to download and install in one click. You can also download the latest version from our website.
What operating systems are supported?
Windows 10 and later (64-bit) is fully supported. macOS and Linux builds are in development and will be released in a future version.