When Something Goes Wrong
Nothing here is a dead end. Every message the app shows is listed with what it actually means and what to do next.
Messages You Might See
| What you see | What it means, and what to do |
|---|---|
| Confirm your email address before translating. We sent you a link when you signed up — open it, or ask for a new one. | Your account exists but the address has not been confirmed yet, and an unconfirmed account cannot spend. Open the link in the email we sent when you signed up. If it never arrived, check the spam folder, then use the resend button on the notice at the top of your dashboard. |
| Your plan does not include this file type. Upgrade to translate it. | The product handles this file type — your plan does not include it. The pricing page lists which plans include which types. |
| That file is larger than your plan allows. Upgrade to translate it. | The file is fine, it is just bigger than your plan allows in one go. Either split it or move up a plan. |
| That file is over the size limit for its format. The accepted sizes are listed under the upload box. | Every format has a maximum size, listed under the upload box. Split the document, or export it smaller — a PDF saved at a lower image quality is often a fraction of the size with no visible difference. |
| This document costs more credits than your plan allows for one file. Split it into smaller files, or upgrade your plan. | There is a limit on how big a single document can be, separate from your balance. A very long file is safer and cheaper split into parts: if one part fails, only that part has to run again. |
| This file is password-protected. Remove the password and try again. | Open the file in the program that made it, save a copy without the password, and upload the copy. We never ask you for the password. |
| This PDF has no text to translate. | The pages are pictures with no text behind them, and reading them as pictures produced nothing either — usually a blank or nearly blank scan, or handwriting. A better scan, or the file it was printed from, will work. |
| We couldn't read the text in this scan. Try a clearer file. | We tried to read the text off the page and could not. Rescanning helps more than anything else: higher resolution, the page straight rather than at an angle, and no shadow across it. |
| We couldn't read this file — it may be corrupted. | The file would not open on our side. Open it yourself, save a fresh copy, and upload that. If it will not open for you either, the copy you have is damaged. |
| This file's contents do not match its name — the extension says one format and the bytes are another. Re-save it in the format the name claims, then try again. | The name says one format and the contents are another — usually a file that was renamed rather than converted. Open it and save it as the format the name claims. |
| We couldn't read this document's page count, and it's billed per page. Open it and save it again in Word or LibreOffice, then re-upload. | This kind of file is charged per page, and this copy does not record where its pages end. Open it in Word or LibreOffice, save it again, and upload the new copy. |
| That file type isn't supported yet. | We do not handle this file type at all. The formats page lists what we do take. |
| The structure check didn't pass, so we stopped and left your file unchanged. Please try again — you were not charged. | This is the safety net working. Every translated piece of text is checked against the original, and something did not come back intact, so the whole thing was stopped rather than handing you a file with a changed number in it. Your file was not altered and you were not charged. Trying again often succeeds, because it is the translation that is being rejected, not your document. |
| The translator is briefly unavailable. Please try again. | The translation service was briefly unavailable. Nothing was charged. Wait a minute and start it again. |
| This file is too complex to process right now. | The document was too heavy to process in one piece. Splitting it into smaller files is the reliable fix. |
| Something went wrong on our side, so this file was not translated. We've recorded what happened and you have not been charged for it. | Something broke on our side and we have the details. Try again in a few minutes; if it fails again on the same file, write to us and say which one. |
| We rejected this file because it appears to breach our acceptable-use policy. Nothing was translated and you were not charged. | The file was refused by our checks. Nothing was translated and nothing was charged. If you believe it was refused wrongly, write to us. |
| Your uploads are using all the storage on this account. Files are removed automatically 24 hours after you upload them — delete a translation you no longer need, or try again once the older ones clear. | The uploads sitting on your account fill its storage. They clear by themselves 24 hours after upload, so either wait for the older ones to go or remove a translation you no longer need. |
| New translations are paused right now. Nothing was translated and you were not charged — anything already running will finish, and you can start this one again once we're back. | We are not starting new translations at this moment. Nothing was translated and nothing was charged; anything already running finishes. Try again a little later. |
| Too many requests just now. Wait a minute, then try again. | Too many requests in a short time. Wait a minute and carry on; nothing was lost. |
| This translation isn't finished yet. The download appears as soon as it's done. | The translation has not finished. The download button appears by itself the moment it does — there is nothing to press in the meantime. |
| Translated files are removed 24 hours after the original was uploaded. | Files are removed 24 hours after upload, translations included. Nothing is recoverable after that, so run it again. |
Notes That Are Not Failures
These appear on a translation that finished. They are things worth knowing about the file you are about to open, not errors.
| The note | What it means |
|---|---|
| Tracked changes were accepted before translating. | The Word file had tracked changes in it. They were accepted first, so the translation is of the final text rather than a mixture of both versions. |
| Some slide text may overflow its box after translation. | Translated text is often longer than the original, and on a slide there is no room to grow into. We tell you rather than quietly resizing your deck. Open the slides listed and give the box more room. |
| The bilingual side-by-side version couldn't be generated. | The main translation is fine; only the side-by-side copy could not be built. Run it again if you need that version. |
| Some characters can't be rendered in this format and may appear as boxes. | A few characters cannot be drawn in this format and may show as empty boxes. It affects stray characters, not whole paragraphs — a paragraph we cannot draw is left in the original language instead of being replaced with boxes. |
| Right-to-left text was translated, but this file format cannot safely mirror its layout. | The text was translated, but this format cannot have its layout mirrored safely, so the arrangement of the page is unchanged. |
| The source and target were the same language, so nothing was translated and you were not charged. | The document was already in the language you asked for. Nothing was translated and nothing was charged. |
| Some cells were kept in the original language because a formula matches their exact text and translating them safely was not possible. | A formula in the workbook (a COUNTIF, a lookup, a wildcard match) counts or finds cells by their exact text. Where we could safely move the formula's text along with the cells we did; where we could not prove it safe, those cells stay in the original language so every formula still computes the same numbers. |
| Some cells were kept in the original language because their translation would have made two different values look the same to a formula. | Two different original values would have ended up with the same translation inside a range a formula counts over, which would silently change the formula's result. The affected cells keep their original text so the numbers stay right. |
| Some text that formulas display (like labels built inside a formula) was left in the original language. | Text written inside a formula purely for display — like a label glued together with & — is not translated yet. The formula still works; only that label stays in the original language. |
| This workbook uses formulas that build references or comparisons from cell text, so we can't guarantee every formula result; the affected cells were kept in the original language. | Functions like INDIRECT build cell references out of text, so a translated cell can silently break them. Cells whose text names a sheet or a defined range are kept as-is, and results that depend on computed text are not something we can verify. |
| Some cells were kept in the original language because a pivot table or slicer depends on their exact text. | Pivot tables store their own copy of the data, indexed by exact text. Translating those cells would desynchronise the pivot on its next refresh, so they keep their original text for now. |
Still Stuck
If a translation fails twice on a file you believe is fine, write to us and say which file and roughly when. Every failure is recorded on our side with the reason, so there is something concrete to look at.
support@velniq.ai