Troubleshooting

Start with the tray icon: its tooltip says what state Input.Observer is in (The tray icon), and the console's System section says what went wrong (Where to look).

Nothing happens when I draw a gesture

No trail appears and the button behaves as if Input.Observer weren't there.

Cause	How to tell	Fix
Input.Observer isn't running	No tray icon (check the hidden icons too)	Start Input.Observer from the Start menu (It doesn't start)
It is switched off	Tooltip "i.o - disabled"	Tick Enabled in the tray menu
The program in front pauses everything	Tooltip "i.o - auto-disabled (…)" naming the group	That app group has Pause everything while focused on (App groups)
The window is in an ignore group	Only in some programs	Check Ignore groups (Ignore groups)
Safe Mode	Tooltip "i.o - Safe Mode (restart to resume normal operation)"	Restart Input.Observer without holding Ctrl (Safe Mode)
The stop-all hotkey was pressed, or too many actions ran at once	Everything stopped at once, hotkeys too	Choose Reload Config from the tray menu (General)
You held an ignored modifier key	Happens only while you hold Ctrl (the default)	That is what the key is for (General)
You used a button that isn't a draw button	Only the right button draws by default	Choose the buttons under Draw buttons on the General page
The pointer is in an exclusion zone	Only in one area of the screen	Check Exclusion zones (Exclusion zones)
A program running as administrator is in front	Only while such a window has the focus	See Programs running as administrator
The window belongs to no app group and Fall back to Global is off	Only in programs without their own group	Turn Fall back to Global on (General) or add a group (Scope and fallback)

The trail draws but no action runs, or the wrong one

• Watch the hint. While you draw, the hint names the action the stroke matches. No hint means no match. Hints and messages lists when it appears.
• The stroke isn't close enough to the saved gesture. Practise it, add another example of it, or make matching more forgiving on the Gestures page (Matching).
• The action doesn't apply here. It may be in another app group, limited to some screen regions, limited to a gesture profile that isn't active, or switched off (Scope, Profiles, Regions).
• The action ran but did nothing visible. Open the console: a script that failed says why in the System section. Keys an action sends go to the window in front; Activate the window under the gesture (General) brings the window you drew over to the front first. A program running as administrator may not accept them (below).
• The gesture was cancelled. If you pause with the button held for longer than the Cancel timeout (half a second by default), the gesture is cancelled and the press goes to the window (General).

A right-click feels late or doesn't work in a program

While the right button is a draw button, Input.Observer holds each right-button press until it knows whether you are drawing. If you release it without moving more than Minimum gesture movement (5 pixels), the press and release are handed to the window as an ordinary click. So:

• Context menus open when you release the button, not when you press it. This is expected.
• Right-button dragging in a program (a game, a design program, dragging files with the right button) becomes a gesture instead. Any of these fixes it:
  • hold Ctrl (an Ignored modifier key) while you press the button;
  • press the button and hold the pointer still for the Cancel timeout (half a second by default) before you drag: the press is then handed to the program;
  • put the program in an ignore group (Keep a program out), or ignore it only while it runs full screen (Ignore groups).
• Remote desktop and virtual machine windows (Remote Desktop, Hyper-V, VMware, VirtualBox, TeamViewer, AnyDesk, Parsec) are ignored by the starter set, so the computer inside gets the right button untouched.

A hotkey doesn't fire

• Another program already uses the key combination. A hotkey reserved with Windows can be held by only one program. The action shows "Windows or another program already uses these keys". Choose another combination, or close the other program and choose Reload Config from the tray menu (Hotkeys).
• The hotkey belongs to another app group. It works only in windows of its group (or everywhere, from Global, unless a group overrides it).
• The window in front is ignored or pauses everything.
• A gesture, a macro recording or gesture training is in progress. Hotkeys don't fire during them. The stop-all hotkey is the exception: it always works.
• The window in front runs as administrator (below).
• Safe Mode, or Input.Observer is switched off. No hotkeys are registered then.

Text expansion doesn't fire in a program

• Text expansion is off, or the key that should end the abbreviation (Space, Tab or Enter) isn't enabled: see the Settings tab of Text expansion (Text expansion).
• The abbreviation belongs to another app group, or the window is ignored.
• The program runs as administrator (below).
• The text comes out scrambled or with characters missing. Raise Typing delay on the Scripts page (Script settings).

Programs running as administrator

Windows keeps ordinary programs from watching or controlling a program that runs as administrator. Installed with its setup program and started from its installation folder, Input.Observer is allowed to work with such programs. A copy started from anywhere else is not: while a program running as administrator has the keyboard focus, gestures don't start, keys you type there don't reach Input.Observer (so text expansion and some hotkeys don't fire), and actions can't send keys or clicks into it. The tray icon's menu may not open either.

• Click the taskbar or any ordinary window, and Input.Observer works again.
• To work with administrator programs, install Input.Observer with its setup program and start it from the Start menu.

Input.Observer doesn't start

What you see	Cause	Fix
"Input.Observer is already running."	Another copy runs in your session.	Look for its icon in the notification area.
The password prompt, then nothing after Cancel	Your configuration is protected; it can't start without the password.	Start it again and enter the password (Security).
"Input.Observer can't load your configuration"	The configuration file is broken or missing.	Choose one of the dialog's options (Recovery).
The license agreement, then nothing after Decline	The agreement must be accepted.	Start again and choose I accept (About and license).
"Your 30-day trial has ended."	The trial is over.	Enter a license key, or choose Exit (About and license).
A message naming a Windows version	Input.Observer needs Windows 10 version 1809 or later.	Update Windows.
It starts, then something in your configuration hangs or misbehaves at once	A Config loaded event or an action	Start in Safe Mode and fix it (Safe Mode).

The configuration window can't connect

The configuration window needs Input.Observer running.

• "Input.Observer isn't running" when you open it: start Input.Observer, then open the window from its tray icon.
• "The configuration window couldn't connect to Input.Observer": Input.Observer didn't answer. Choose Try again once it runs.
• "Engine not reachable — retrying" in the window's status bar: Input.Observer stopped answering while the window was open. Your edits stay; saving is unavailable until it answers again, and the window keeps trying. If you close the window meanwhile with unsaved changes, Save to file… keeps them in a file you can refer to later; it can't be imported.
• A configuration file larger than 8 MB can't be opened in the window; Input.Observer warns about it at startup.

A plugin doesn't start, or the trail looks plain

• The Appearance page says at the top when the renderer isn't drawing and why, with Restart when it stopped (Appearance). Meanwhile the classic trail, hint and message window draw.
• On the Plugins page (Advanced mode), check the plugin's status. Not in use is normal for a drawing plugin that isn't the renderer. Auto-disabled -- failed to start and Closed by the plugin need Retry (Plugins).
• No plugin runs in Safe Mode.
• A style you chose draws Neon glow instead: the style is locked, for example because the license changed (Appearance).

Drawing makes a full-screen game or video stutter

Turn on Keep the drawing layer behind windows between gestures — in Customize… for the Styles plugin, or on the Trail options tab for the classic line — or put the game in an ignore group that applies only while it runs full screen (Keeping trails light).

Safe Mode

Safe Mode starts Input.Observer with nothing that could cause trouble running, so you can fix your configuration.

1. Exit Input.Observer (tray menu, Exit).
2. Hold Ctrl while you start it, and keep holding until "Start Input.Observer in Safe Mode?" appears.
3. Choose Yes.

In Safe Mode there are no gestures, hotkeys or text expansion, no plugins, and none of your actions or Config loaded / Engine shutting down scripts run. You are still asked for your password and license as usual. The tray icon shows Safe Mode, and the configuration window works normally, so you can change whatever caused the problem and save it. Scripts you run yourself in the console's Script section do run.

Safe Mode lasts until Input.Observer restarts; holding Ctrl at startup is the only way in.

Recovering from a bad change

• Still in the configuration window: Discard puts back everything since the window opened, including changes you already applied.
• An action is running wild: press the stop-all hotkey, Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F9 by default (General). Then fix the action and choose Reload Config.
• It misbehaves as soon as it starts: use Safe Mode.
• Go back to an earlier configuration: restore a copy from the Backup folder (Backups).
• You edited config.toml by hand and Reload Config shows Configuration Not Reloaded: the previous configuration is still in effect. The message says why: a mistake at a given line and column, a file that can't be opened, a file protected with a password, or a pointer to a file that doesn't exist (Reload Config, Editing the file by hand).

Where to look

• The console's System section (tray menu, Show Console) lists what the engine noticed: problems in your configuration, actions and scripts that failed and why, the renderer being unavailable. Lines that arrived while the console was closed are shown when you open it (Console).
• The configuration window shows "n notes from the engine about this configuration" above the save bar, with Show, whenever Input.Observer repaired or has advice about your configuration.
• What your scripts print with UtilityPrint is in the console's User section.
• Input.Observer writes no log files. For a bug report, copy the version from the About page (Copy) and the console's text.