Troubleshooting Manual
Almost every problem with a GVS tool traces to one fact: your data is stored by your browser, on your device, at one exact address. Once that is understood, most symptoms explain themselves. Each entry below states honestly whether recovery is possible — because for some of them it is not.
Check these five things first
- Are you at the exact same address? Data is bound to the precise URL. A different domain, a trailing slash difference, or a local file instead of the website is a different store.
- Are you in the same browser? Chrome and Edge and Firefox each keep separate storage. So do different profiles in the same browser.
- Are you on the same device? There is no sync. Phone and laptop are independent.
- Is this a private or incognito window? Those discard everything on close.
- Has browser data been cleared — by you, by a cleanup tool, or by a policy that clears on exit?
Data problems
The most common category, and the one where honesty about recovery matters most.
| Symptom | Most likely cause | Fix | Recoverable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everything is empty — the tool looks brand new | Different URL, different browser, different profile, or different device | Return to the exact original address in the original browser. If you cannot, import your last export. | Yes, if same origin |
| Data was there yesterday, gone today | Browser cleared site data — often a cleanup utility, a privacy extension, or "clear on exit" | Import your last export. Then disable the clearing behaviour for this site. | Only from export |
| Changes are not sticking between visits | Private/incognito mode, or the browser is blocking storage for this site | Use a normal window. Check site settings and allow cookies/site data for the address. | Yes, once fixed |
| Only some data is missing | An Import was run — import replaces, it does not merge | Import the more complete export file. Going forward, keep one device as primary. | From the right file |
| Device lost, stolen or wiped | Data existed only on that device | Import your export onto the new device. | No, without export |
| Cleared browser data with no backup | The only copy has been deleted | None available. GVS never held a copy and cannot produce one. | No |
We will not pretend otherwise
The last two rows have no fix. There is no support ticket, no escalation and no favour that recovers data GVS never held — that is the direct consequence of the design that keeps your data private in the first place.
The only protection is Export. If you are reading this before losing anything, go and export now. It takes ten seconds and it is the difference between an inconvenience and a loss.
Storage limits
Browsers cap how much a site may store. Large attachments hit that ceiling first.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A save silently fails, or an error mentions quota | Browser storage quota for this site is full | Export first. Then remove large stored items — document scans and images consume far more than text. Re-import if needed. |
| The tool becomes slow with a lot of data | Very large record counts being re-rendered | Export and archive older records, then clear them from the working set. Keep the export as your history. |
| Large file will not attach | Single-item size limit | Reduce the file size before adding, or store the file in your own document system and record only the reference. |
Practical guidance: these tools are designed for structured records, not as a document repository. Text-based entries scale to thousands of records comfortably; embedded images and scans do not.
Export & import
Your backup and transfer mechanism — and the two ways people lose data with it.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Import did nothing, or reported an error | Wrong file, or the file was altered or corrupted | Confirm it is the .json exported from the same tool. An export from a different tool will not load. |
| Import wiped my current work | Import replaces the current contents by design | Nothing to fix retrospectively unless you exported first. Always export before importing. |
| Export downloads nothing | Browser blocked the download, or downloads are redirected | Check the download bar and your browser's download permission for the site. Try a different browser if blocked by policy. |
| Cannot find the exported file | It went to the default Downloads folder | Search for the filename pattern the tool used. Then move it somewhere deliberate — Downloads is not a backup location. |
| Opened the export and it looks like code | It is JSON — plain structured text | Working as intended. Do not edit it by hand; an edit that breaks the structure makes it unimportable. |
IAS Vault & keys
The strictest tool, because encryption without recovery is the entire point of it.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix | Recoverable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forgotten master key | Content is encrypted with a key only you hold | None. There is no reset, no escrow and no override. | No |
| WebAuthn / biometric unlock stopped working | Credential bound to that device and browser; changed or reset | Unlock with your master key, then re-register the biometric. | Yes, with key |
| Vault will not open on a new device | Nothing syncs — the new device has no vault | Import your encrypted export, then unlock with your key. | From export |
| Unlock rejected but key seems right | Keyboard layout, caps lock, or trailing whitespace | Retype carefully. Check layout and any autofill inserting a space. | Yes |
Before you store anything important in Vault
Write the master key down and keep it somewhere physically safe. This sounds like poor security advice and, for a cloud service with account recovery, it would be. Here there is no recovery path at all — so the realistic failure mode is not an attacker guessing your key, it is you losing it.
AI features
Optional throughout. Every tool works fully without a key.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "Paste an API key first" | No key entered | Add your own Anthropic API key, or skip the feature — nothing else depends on it. |
| Error 401 or authentication failed | Key invalid, revoked, or mistyped | Re-copy the key in full. Confirm it is active in your Anthropic console. |
| Error 429 | Rate limit or credit exhausted on your account | Wait and retry, or check your account balance. This is between you and Anthropic; GVS is not in the path. |
| Network or CORS error | Corporate network blocking the API endpoint | Ask your network team about outbound access, or use the tool without AI. |
| Summary numbers look wrong | Underlying data is wrong — the model reports what the page computed | Check the source data. The model cannot alter a figure, so a wrong number means a wrong input. |
| Key disappeared after clearing browser | The key is stored locally like everything else | Re-paste it. Keys are never sent to or held by GVS. |
Printing & PDF
Print is the built-in way to produce a shareable document.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Print output is dark and heavy on ink | Screen colours being printed | Enable "Background graphics" only if you want the dark theme. Leave it off for a clean document. |
| Content cut off at the edge | Wide tables against page width | Print in landscape, or reduce scale to 80–90% in the print dialogue. |
| Buttons and controls appear in the PDF | Browser ignoring print styles | Use the tool's own Print button rather than Ctrl+P where one is provided. |
| Generated deck opens blank | Pop-up blocked | Allow pop-ups for the site. If blocked, the deck downloads instead — open the downloaded file. |
Browser & display
What the tools need, and what breaks them.
Supported
Any current mainstream browser, on desktop or mobile.
- Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari — current versions
- Android and iOS browsers
- Works offline once the page has loaded
Known to cause problems
- Private/incognito — discards all data
- Aggressive privacy extensions blocking storage
- Very old browsers lacking modern storage APIs
- Corporate policies clearing site data on exit
- Enterprise browsers with storage restrictions
Quick isolation test
Not sure whether the tool or the environment is at fault?
- Open the tool in a different browser
- Enter one test record and reload the page
- If it persists there, the issue is your original browser's settings, not the tool
Getting help
What to expect, stated plainly so nobody waits on a response that was never promised.
Before writing in
- Work through the five checks at the top
- Try the isolation test in another browser
- Confirm whether you have an export — it changes the answer entirely
What to include
- Which tool, and the exact URL you use
- Browser and version, desktop or mobile
- What you did, expected, and saw
- Any on-screen error text
- Whether you have an export file
What to expect
GVS is founder-led with no support desk and no on-call staff.
- Best-effort response only — no committed time
- Reproducible bugs get fixed and republished
- Lost data without an export cannot be recovered
- info@gvstechnologies.online
The single habit that prevents most of this manual
Export after every session that mattered. Roughly two-thirds of the symptoms above are either fixed instantly by an import, or unfixable without one. Nothing else you do comes close in value.