Troubleshooting

Storage unavailable

"Notebook storage could not be opened", and the status bar says Storage unavailable — changes are not saved.

Notr couldn't open or read its database at launch: the folder isn't writable, the disk is full, the file is damaged, or it was written by a newer Notr ("This database was written by a newer Notr."). Notr doesn't touch the stored data in this case. It opens the sample notebook as a recovery session that never saves.

1. Export anything you need from the recovery session with File › Export Notebook Backup….
2. Quit Notr and check ~/Library/Application Support/Notr/. Move notr.db (and notr.db-wal, notr.db-shm) aside to start fresh, or restore them from a backup.
3. To bring a backup back, start Notr and choose File › Open / Import….

"The stored notebook is invalid: …" means the database opened but its contents break a limit, usually because it was edited by hand.

Conflict

"This notebook changed in another Notr window. Export your changes, then reopen Notr before saving.", and the status bar says Conflict.

Two copies of Notr used the same database, and the other one saved first. To avoid overwriting its work, this copy stops saving.

1. Export this session with File › Export Notebook Backup….
2. Quit both copies, and open Notr again.
3. If this session had changes you need, import the backup, or copy the pages across.

Saving failed

"Your changes have not been saved" with a database error. Usually the disk is full or the folder was made read-only. Notr keeps your changes and tries again with the next edit. Free some space, then press ⌘S. Export a backup if it keeps failing.

Editing

"Resolve the current text edit before continuing." The text you were editing couldn't be committed, usually because it broke a limit (the status bar says which). Shorten the text, or press ⌘Z in the note, and try again.

Text doesn't appear where I type. Make sure the note is being edited: it has a purple frame and a cursor. Double-click it, or select it and press Return.

A note won't move when I drag it. Drag the grip along its top edge, with the Select tool. Dragging the body of a container doesn't move it, and while the note is being edited it selects text.

"Cannot indent: choose a following sibling within the two-level limit" Make subpage needs a page above at the same level, and the result can't be deeper than two levels.

"Table cells use plain text. Select a text note for formatting." Formatting commands work on text containers only.

Files

"Open a .notespace, .json, .md, or .txt file…" Notr imports only those formats; see Importing.

"The file is not valid NoteSpace JSON (…)" or "Unsupported NoteSpace schema …" The file is damaged, isn't a NoteSpace backup, or comes from a newer format. See validation.

"This workspace exceeds the 32 MiB interchange limit…" The backup would be too large for NoteSpace to read. Remove large attachments or old page versions, then export again.

"Use a PNG, JPEG, or WebP picture." / "Pictures are limited to 16 megapixels." / "Attachments are limited to 16 MiB each." Convert or shrink the file first, or attach it as a file.

"This page is too large for a 16-megapixel PNG. Export HTML instead." The page's content reaches too far. Move distant notes closer, or export HTML.

Display

A font looks different from NoteSpace. Windows fonts are shown in their nearest Mac font; see Formatting.

The PNG export's text spacing differs slightly from the screen. The export draws the system font as Helvetica Neue; see PNG.