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How to check the console for errors

In case we ask you to look for errors in your browser's console, here's how you do it.

Written by Mark

If Marvin is crashing or otherwise behaving strangely, we might ask you to check for errors in your browser's console so that we can figure out what's going on.

Follow the instructions below to open the console, then send us everything that's red! You can copy and paste or take a screenshot. It's often helpful if you click the ▸ to expand errors:

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Chrome / Edge / Opera / Firefox

First, right-click the page while Marvin is open and click "Inspect" or "Inspect Element":
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Next, find the "Console" tab.  You may have to click the » symbol to find it:

Look for a red error message and send us a screenshot or copy and paste the text. Be sure to click the ▶ symbol to expand the error message!
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If your console is showing multiple errors, you can also right-click anywhere in the Console, click on "Copy console" and paste the errors into the email.

Safari

First you'll need to enable the Develop menu. Press Cmd+, (or click Safari → Preferences):

then go the Advanced tab and click the checkbox at the bottom to "Show Develop menu in menu bar":

Now you can right click → Inspect Element:

and then click the Console tab. If you don't see this tab, then click the "+" button on the right:

and click Console from the list of icons:

Internet Explorer

In Internet Explorer, press F12 on your keyboard to open the developer tools, then click the Console tab.  You may need to reload the web page with the console open in order to see any errors.

Desktop App (macOS)

It's also possible to open the console in the desktop app. Go to Help in the application menu:

and select Open Dev Tools:

On Windows and Linux, press Alt on your keyboard to make this menu appear.

Desktop App (Windows)

First press the Alt key which will open the menu bar at the top, then click on the "Help" tab, and there you will find the "Open Dev Tools" button:

After that, you can follow the steps from the "Chrome / Edge / Opera / Firefox" section of this article.

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