Troubleshooting

Find your symptom below. If it isn’t here, send a report or write to support.

That’s Windows SmartScreen, which warns about installers it hasn’t seen many times. Choose More info, then Run anyway. Only do that for a copy downloaded from usethoth.app: its checksum (SHA-512, in base64) is published at downloads.usethoth.app/latest.yml so you can compare. Install Thoth shows how.

Thoth watches your clicks in every program, so it knows which control you clicked, and takes screenshots. Some security tools treat that as suspicious, most often for new programs. Text entered in supported fields can become instructions. Thoth does not save a raw keystroke log, and recognized password fields are excluded from typing steps. Allow the Thoth program folder and its data folder (%APPDATA%\Thoth) in your security tool. IT teams that need a hash or a vendor submission can ask support.

Windows doesn’t let a normal program see clicks in a program running as administrator. Run Thoth as administrator for those (right-click Thoth, then Run as administrator). Windows’ own secure screens (the sign-in screen and permission prompts) can’t be captured at all. See Record inside remote sessions and admin windows.

Some windows block screenshots, such as protected video and a few programs that draw with the graphics card directly. Capture the full screen or draw a region instead of capturing the window.

Thoth names a step from the control Windows reports. Some programs, remote sessions and web pages drawn on a canvas don’t report any. Rename the steps, or let AI write them from the screenshots. See Step titles and typing.

Another program is probably using the same keys. Change them under Settings → Hotkeys, which marks a combination that is taken. Ctrl+Alt+R starts and stops by default, and starts only when a guide is open in Thoth.

Copy the whole key (it starts with CT1-). If it says it expired or isn’t valid, the key is old or incomplete. If it says the license is already in use on three computers, see Licenses and computers. If you were given the key by someone, ask them to check that it hasn’t been revoked.

Thoth tells you why, on Settings → Plan & license. The usual reasons are that the license is already on three computers, or that it was taken back by your team’s admin, ended by Thoth, or revoked. Thoth checks at every start, so it shows the message the next time it opens with a connection. The message names what to do.

It opens your default browser. Check that one is set, and that you choose Connect on the page that opens. If your computer’s security software blocks the short-lived local connection the sign-in comes back to, use a token instead: Sign in to Thoth.

Each service has its own page of setup steps: NinjaOne, Confluence, Notion, WordPress.

Make sure the screen with that control is open and in front. Thoth looks in the foreground window first, never in its own windows. Steps recorded without a recognized control can’t be ringed; they wait for Next. If an app redesign moved things, Refresh screenshots lists which controls it didn’t find.

On your PC, in %APPDATA%\Thoth. Uninstalling Thoth leaves them there, so reinstalling finds them. Settings → Backups makes backups of the whole library. See Back up your guides and move to a new computer.

It checks for updates by itself and installs them when you restart. Settings → Data & about has a Check for updates button. Organizations that push updates themselves can turn this off for every computer (see Deploy to many computers).

If Thoth shows a recovery screen, choose Retry or Reload. Give it a moment to reopen your library. If the window stays blank, close and reopen the app. Avoid deleting its data folder. If the problem repeats, open Settings → Submit error report and include what you were doing, how long the app had been open, and whether the computer had locked or slept. You can save a report ZIP if online submission is unavailable.

Keep the draft and use the retry action when available. The recovery flow preserves failed edits so you can retry without retyping. If a newer version of the field is detected, review it before replacing anything. Copy important text somewhere safe before clearing application data or reinstalling.

At start Thoth looks the library over. If it finds damage it offers to restore the newest backup or to start fresh, and it keeps the damaged file either way. A library made by a newer Thoth is never touched; update Thoth instead.