Troubleshooting — Fix Common Extension Issues

Step-by-step fixes for the most common Video Downloader Plus problems — detection failures, download errors, sync issues, and more.

Stream not detected

The Video Downloader Plus icon stays inactive on a page that has video.

1. Check the stream format

   Video Downloader Plus detects HLS (m3u8), DASH (mpd), MP4, and WebM streams. Sites that serve video through proprietary DRM systems typically cannot be detected regardless of settings.

2. Refresh the page

   Detection runs at page load. A full refresh gives Video Downloader Plus another opportunity to find the stream before any content is cached by the browser.

3. Play the video first

   Many platforms delay loading the stream URL until you press play. Start the video, wait a few seconds, and check whether the Video Downloader Plus icon activates.

4. Confirm the extension is enabled

   Right-click the Video Downloader Plus icon in your toolbar and open Manage extension. Verify the toggle is set to On for the site you are visiting.

Download fails or is incomplete

A download starts but stops early, or the output file is corrupted.

• Check your connection — HLS downloads fetch many small segments in sequence. A dropped connection can interrupt this process.
• Switch to a lower quality — Smaller files place less strain on slow or unstable connections and are more likely to complete in one pass.
• Retry the download — Video Downloader Plus supports resuming interrupted HLS downloads from where they stopped. Start the download again rather than restarting from the beginning.
• Clear browser cache — Stale manifest data can cause the extension to request segments that no longer exist. Clear your cache, refresh the page, and try again.
• Verify available disk space — Make sure the drive you are saving to has enough free space to hold the full video file.

Extension not visible in toolbar

You installed Video Downloader Plus but cannot find the icon in your browser.

The extension is installed but may not be pinned yet:

1. Click the puzzle piece icon in the upper-right corner of your browser window
2. Locate Video Downloader Plus in the list of installed extensions
3. Click the pin icon to keep it permanently visible in your toolbar

For detailed screenshots, see the Pin to Toolbar guide.

Cloud sync issues

Uploads to cloud storage fail or do not start.

Google Drive / Dropbox

• Re-authorize the connection — OAuth tokens expire over time. Go to your Cloud Sync settings, disconnect the provider, and reconnect to generate a fresh token.
• Review granted permissions — During the OAuth flow, Video Downloader Plus requires specific access scopes. If you declined any permissions, the connection may be partially authorized. Disconnect and reconnect, granting all requested permissions.
• Check storage quota — Your Google Drive or Dropbox account may be full. Free up space before retrying the upload.

AWS S3 / Cloudflare R2

• Verify your credentials — Confirm that the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key entered in Video Downloader Plus settings are current and correct.
• Check bucket permissions — The IAM user or policy attached to your credentials must include s3:PutObject and s3:CreateMultipartUpload at minimum.
• Confirm the region — An incorrect region setting will cause all requests to fail. Match the region in Video Downloader Plus settings to the region shown in your bucket configuration.

Account issues

Cannot verify email

If the verification email did not arrive:

1. Check your spam and junk folders — transactional email can be filtered automatically
2. Go to vidow.io/email/verify and click Resend verification email
3. If you use a work or school address, ask your IT team whether outbound email from external domains is filtered

Forgot password

1. Open vidow.io/forgot-password
2. Enter the email address associated with your account
3. Check your inbox for the reset link and follow the instructions to set a new password

Locked out after 2FA

If you have lost access to your authenticator app:

1. Use one of the recovery codes you saved when you set up 2FA to log in
2. Once inside your account, disable 2FA and re-enable it with a working device

If you no longer have your recovery codes either, contact support for manual account recovery.

Download limit reached

Video Downloader Plus shows a message saying you have hit your daily limit.

Free accounts get unlimited downloads at 720p and below. Downloads at 1080p and above are capped at 3 per day.

• The limit resets at midnight — Wait until the following day and your HD allocation refreshes automatically.
• The limit follows your account, not your device — Switching browsers or machines will not bypass the cap if you are logged in.
• 720p and below are always unlimited — You can continue downloading at standard quality without any restriction.
• Remove the cap permanently — Professional plans include unlimited HD downloads with no daily limit.

If you regularly need more than 3 HD downloads per day, Lifetime Access is a one-time payment that removes the cap and all other Professional restrictions indefinitely.

Cloud upload stuck

An upload shows as in progress but the progress bar is not moving.

Check your connection health

Open vidow.io/cloud-sync and look at the status indicator on your provider card:

• Healthy (green) — The connection is authorized and working. The stall is likely network-related.
• Broken (yellow) — Your OAuth token expired. Click Reconnect to re-authorize without losing your settings.
• Revoked (red) — Access was removed from the provider side. You will need to reconnect and re-authorize from scratch.

Pause and resume the upload

For S3 and R2 multipart uploads, pausing and resuming creates a fresh connection while keeping already-uploaded parts intact. No data is re-uploaded from the beginning.

Check your storage quota

A full cloud storage account will silently reject new uploads. Confirm your provider account has enough available space before retrying. Google Drive shares its quota across Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.

Retry a failed upload

Failed uploads appear in your upload history on the Cloud Sync page. Click the retry button next to any failed entry to attempt the upload again from where it stopped.

Payment issues

A payment was declined or your subscription has not activated.

Card declined

1. Go to vidow.io/billing and update your payment method
2. Retry the payment from your billing dashboard

Common reasons for a decline: insufficient funds, an expired card, or automatic fraud protection from your bank. Contact your bank directly if the card should be working.

Invoice payment failed

Failed invoices can be retried manually from your billing dashboard. Video Downloader Plus also schedules automatic retry attempts after a short delay, so the payment may succeed on its own.

Subscription not activating after payment

Subscription activation relies on a payment confirmation from Stripe. Processing usually takes under a minute, but can occasionally run longer. If your Professional features have not appeared within 5 minutes of payment:

1. Refresh the page
2. Log out and log back in
3. Contact support if the account still shows as free

Extension does not detect videos on single-page apps

Video Downloader Plus misses videos when you navigate between pages without a full reload.

Video Downloader Plus includes a built-in SPA observer that watches for navigation changes on React, Vue, Angular, and similar frameworks. If detection is still not triggering:

1. Play the video — Many SPAs do not fetch the stream URL until the player is actually started
2. Wait a few seconds — Navigation events fire asynchronously, so detection can lag a few seconds behind the route change
3. Force a full page refresh — Press F5 or Ctrl+R to reload the page entirely, which restarts the detection process from scratch
4. Check your blocked sites list — Confirm the domain is not excluded in your extension settings

Report a bug

If you run into a problem that is not covered here, submit a report directly from the extension:

1. Click the Video Downloader Plus icon in your toolbar
2. Find the report option in the popup footer
3. Describe what happened and submit

All submitted reports are reviewed by the team, and we will follow up if more detail is needed.

Still need help?

Contact support

Reach out to the Video Downloader Plus team and we will help you resolve the issue.