Start with the page, profile, and setting.

Before changing or reinstalling anything, export a JSON backup if you can still open the library. Then reproduce the issue on a non-sensitive public page.

The selection menu does not appear

1. In the sidebar, open Settings and enable Floating selection menu. The equivalent full-Library control is Library → Settings → Show floating selection menu.
2. Make a fresh, non-empty text selection.
3. Reload the page if Redline was installed or updated after the page opened.
4. Try a standard https:// article page. Browser settings, extension pages, PDF viewers, new-tab pages, and other protected surfaces can block extensions.
5. Check whether another extension or the page itself replaces selection behavior.
6. Right-click the selection and choose Redline → Capture highlight as a fallback.

The panel or sidebar does not open

1. Open Redline from the browser toolbar or extension menu.
2. If a keyboard shortcut fails, check the browser’s extension-shortcut page for a conflict.
3. In Firefox, try the toolbar again to open or toggle the browser sidebar. Redline uses an extension tab only when neither a compatible side-panel nor sidebar API is available.
4. Restart the browser after a Redline or browser update if the panel state appears stuck.

A saved highlight is missing from the page

Go to Library → Annotations and open the record first. If the record is present, your text is still saved even though the visual highlight was not restored.

Restoration can fail when the page text changed, the same passage occurs several times, a client-side route rewrote the document, the content lives in an unsupported embedded viewer, or Settings → Restore highlights automatically is disabled. Compare the saved quote with the current page. When it needs manual attention, choose Anchor status → Needs review, then Save.

A readable capture cannot be verified or compared

1. Keep the existing capture; do not delete it to retry.
2. For Comparison unavailable, confirm the intended source is open in the active tab and is an ordinary readable HTTP(S) page, then retry Preview capture from the sidebar. Protected pages, embedded viewers, canvas text, login walls, and application-like content may not provide a comparable representation.
3. For a failed local digest check, stop using that capture as a verified byte-for-byte match and preserve the failure state. A digest mismatch does not say whether the source was true or false.
4. For Current page differs, preserve only after reviewing the sidebar preview, then choose Open capture history and inspect the focused changed blocks. Repeated navigation and unchanged page chrome are intentionally suppressed.
5. For Selector affected, open the linked annotation and any claim marked Evidence changed — review required. Review the dependency rather than automatically deleting or invalidating it.

Creating a new capture is always explicit: use Preview capture and Preserve capture in the sidebar. This retains the previous version. Deleting a chosen capture removes only that capture and its readable text; the Page, annotations, claims, and other captures remain.

Citation fields are incomplete

Open the intended original page and keep it as the active browser tab. Then go to Library → Pages, open the source record, and under Citation choose Refresh From Current Page. Redline reads the active tab and does not verify that its URL matches the record, so check the tab before refreshing. Some sites publish little or inconsistent structured metadata; review and edit the fields manually before exporting.

Unexpected duplicate or missing URLs

Redline applies built-in URL normalization when it saves a page: it lowercases the host, removes known tracking parameters and fragments, sorts remaining query parameters, and normalizes some ports and trailing slashes. Different meaningful parameters can still produce separate records, while distinct URLs can sometimes normalize to the same value.

1. Use Library → Data Health → Duplicate URL Groups to inspect records that share a normalized URL.
2. Choose Export Backup First.
3. Open each page record and compare its notes, annotations, tags, dossiers, and citation data.
4. Archive or soft-delete the unwanted Page manually. Data Health does not currently provide a duplicate-page merge action.

An import is blocked

1. Check which panel you used. Import Redline backup requires a Redline All data JSON export. Import browser bookmarks accepts Chrome-family bookmarks HTML or JSON created with Firefox’s bookmark manager Import and Backup → Backup option.
2. Read the validation message and keep the original file unchanged.
3. For Redline restore, check whether the file was truncated by a transfer or storage problem and try a known-good earlier backup.
4. For bookmark migration, create the file again from the browser’s bookmark manager rather than saving or hand-editing an ordinary web page.
5. Do not post any of these files publicly. Report the validation message and a redacted description instead.

An export does not appear

1. Open the browser’s downloads panel and check for a blocked or renamed download.
2. Confirm Redline still has download permission.
3. Check the browser’s configured download directory and available disk space.
4. Try a smaller scope or JSON format to see whether the problem is specific to one export path.

Evidence is unavailable or a passage needs review

1. Open the claim in Library → Evidence and identify the relation named by the audit.
2. For Evidence unavailable, check whether the annotation or its source page was deleted or is missing after an import. Restore a known-good All data JSON backup when appropriate.
3. For Anchor review, open the saved annotation and compare its exact quote with the live source. Rewritten, repeated, or dynamic text can prevent a confident match.
4. Keep the relation when the gap is part of the research history. Unlink it only when you intentionally no longer want that passage connected to the claim.

Search misses something I can see online

Redline searches your saved local vault, not all text on the current page or the live web. Save the page or capture the passage first. Use Library → Search for page, annotation, dossier, tag, domain, and claim groups. The sidebar’s Search tab displays page and annotation matches only.

Data is missing after a profile change or uninstall

Redline’s storage belongs to the browser profile where it was created. Confirm the browser, operating-system account, and profile are the same ones used originally. Do not clear more data while investigating.

Still stuck?

Collect your Redline version, browser and version, operating system, steps, expected result, actual result, and whether the issue occurs on a non-sensitive public page. Then use the appropriate support channel.