Troubleshooting
Fixes for problems in the extension itself. Provider errors like invalid credentials or access denied are covered in each setup guide. If none of these help, please open an issue on GitHub with the provider you're using and what you tried.
No audio plays
- Check your browser and system audio settings (volume, muted tab, output device)
- Confirm other audio (e.g. a YouTube video) plays in the browser
- Check the mini-player; playback may be paused, or a previous read may still be in the queue (right-click → Stop to clear it)
- Try a short, plain-text selection to rule out very long or unusual content
- Restart the browser; extensions occasionally need a fresh background restart
Voices missing after an update
If the voice list is empty or your saved voice disappeared after the extension updated, the cached voice list just needs a refresh: open Settings, go to your provider, and click Save & test again. The extension re-fetches the voices and your favorites reappear.
Keyboard shortcuts don't work
- The defaults are Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+S (read aloud) and Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+E (download); another extension may have claimed them
- Review and rebind them at chrome://extensions/shortcuts (Chrome) or via about:addons → gear icon → Manage Extension Shortcuts (Firefox)
Unexpected charges
- Every character, including spaces, counts toward usage; long pages add up quickly
- Premium tiers cost much more: neural voices are ~4x standard, and generative, long-form, and HD voices more still; see the pricing comparison
- Monitor usage in your provider's console (AWS Console → Polly → usage reports, Azure Portal metrics, Google Cloud billing, OpenAI usage dashboard)
- Set up billing alerts or budgets so you're warned early
Provider errors
If Save & test reports "These credentials didn't work", or playback fails with a "Speech synthesis failed" banner followed by the provider's own error message, the cause depends on your provider. Each setup guide has a troubleshooting section for them:
Still stuck?
Report bugs and ask questions on GitHub Issues. Include your provider, the exact error message, and the steps to reproduce. Never include your API keys.