Troubleshooting

Something not working the way you expect? Find the message you’re seeing, or the thing that’s going wrong, and follow the fix. Most problems take a minute to sort out, and none of the fixes on this page change your notes.

If you’re still stuck, contact support and include your Varlig version from Varlig › About Varlig. If Varlig quit unexpectedly or stopped responding, send a crash or hang report as well.

Calculations

A line shows no answer

Check it’s inside a calc block. Calculations only work between a ```calc line and a closing ```. Press ⌘Y to insert a block.
Check it isn’t a comment. A # followed by a space, and anything after //, is a comment. A tag written straight on to the hash, such as #food, is not: it labels the line, and the line still shows its answer.
Finish the line. Something like total =, or a name you haven’t defined yet, shows nothing until it’s complete.

A line shows an error

An error on one line doesn’t stop the rest of the note from working. Look up the exact message in Errors, diagnostics and limits, which explains every message with an example of what causes it.

Error: missing rate

Varlig doesn’t have exchange rates for that currency yet. It needs to download them once:

Make sure your Mac is online.
Open Settings › Calculations and scroll to Exchange rates.
Click Refresh Now, or turn on Refresh currency and crypto rates hourly.

If a download fails, the reason appears in red under the status lines, and Varlig tries again after a few minutes. After one successful download, conversions keep working offline with the last rates Varlig saved.

“Income tax in Australia is worked out in AUD, not USD”

Each country’s tax schedule works in that country’s own money, and Varlig won’t convert your amount behind your back, because the answer would be wrong by however much the exchange rate has moved. Write the salary in the country’s currency:

income tax on A$55,000 in Australia rather than $55,000.
A plain number with no currency is taken as the country’s own, so income tax on 55000 in Australia works too.
Starting from another currency? Convert it on its own line first, as in $55,000 in AUD, then ask about that figure.

“No income tax country” or “no holiday calendar”

The line is a short form that leans on a setting you haven’t chosen yet. Either name the country in the line, or choose it once in Settings › Calculations:

income tax on £55k needs an Income tax country. Write income tax on £55k in the UK instead, or choose the country and the short form works everywhere.
holidays in 2027, next public holiday, last bank holiday and is 25 December 2026 a holiday need a Public holiday calendar. Write public holidays in the UK in 2027 or is 25 December 2026 a holiday in the UK instead, or choose a calendar.

Varlig never guesses the country from your Mac’s region, because a wrong guess would give a confident wrong answer. Remember to click Apply after changing either setting. See Income tax and Public holidays.

“Income tax schedule: Denmark”

Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Switzerland have no built-in schedule, and that’s deliberate: income tax there is mostly municipal or cantonal, so a national-only figure would be misleading. Work from the rate your own kommun or canton charges, as in kr500,000 after 32% tax. These countries do have public holiday calendars, so the holiday phrases work as normal.

A calculation setting didn’t change anything

Most options in Settings › Calculations take effect only after you click Apply at the bottom of the pane. The exchange-rate switch applies straight away.

Numbers with commas aren’t read the way I expect

Varlig reads numbers using the Number format in Settings › Calculations. With English (United States), a comma separates thousands and 12,50 isn’t a number. Choose the format you write in, click Apply, and the note updates.

Inside brackets, a comma followed by three digits groups thousands and a comma followed by a space separates values, so max(1,000, 2,000) compares two numbers. When commas could be read either way, as in sum(10,100), the error shows you both ways to write the line.

A total left something out, or added something twice

A total, sum, subtotal, average, max or min line covers its own section, back to the previous total, a --- divider or a # heading. It adds only like amounts, and counts each amount once, so a named price that a later line multiplies is counted in that line rather than both. Hover over the total to see its hint, which names every line it left out, such as “Leaves out line 3 (people = 2)” or “Leaves out line 2 (an error)”. A tag total such as total of #food follows exactly the same rules. See Adding up the lines above.

“No amounts above to add up”

The total is there but its section is empty, so there is nothing to add. Almost always a # heading or a --- divider sits between the figures and the total, and the total only looks back as far as that line. Move the total up, or take the heading out.

“No lines tagged #food above”

No line in that section carries the tag. Check each of these:

The spelling. Capitals don’t matter, so #Food and #food are one tag, but a typo makes a new one.
A heading or divider in between. A tag phrase only looks back as far as the previous total, a --- line or a # heading, the same way a plain total does.
The space after the hash. # food is a comment. A tag is written #food, with nothing between the hash and the word.
The name itself. A tag name starts with a letter, so #1 is a number, and three, four, six or eight hex digits are a colour code, so #fee isn’t a tag.

“No amounts tagged #food above” means the tagged lines are there but none of them works out to an amount, for example a line of plain text with a tag on the end. See Tags.

That’s on purpose. A tag inside a calc block labels that line so you can total it, and a tag in the note around the block files the note under it in the sidebar. Neither one affects the other, so write the tag in both places when you want both. See Tags, links and backlinks.

A line used a phrase instead of my value

On a line that reads as a phrase, the phrase wins over a name spelled the same way, so monthly repayment on £15000 over 4 years at 6% works out the loan even when you have a monthly repayment of your own. Hover over the words to see “Part of the phrase here, not the variable …”. Anywhere else the line still reads your value. Rename the value, or reword the line, if you meant yours.

A number before a name doesn’t multiply it

After people = 5, the line split £1480 among 5 people counts five people rather than multiplying by your value, which is almost always what you mean. The same goes for any plural name or unit, such as hours or nights. Hold the pointer over the word to see which reading Varlig used, and write * when you do want to multiply: 2 * servings.

Notes and your library

“Notes need attention”

This is the title of Varlig’s alert when something went wrong. The message underneath says what happened, for example a note that couldn’t be saved or a backup that couldn’t be restored, and usually what to do next.

Varlig couldn’t open your library

Your original notes haven’t been changed, and the message shows where they are. If it mentions an unsupported format, the library was most likely last used by a newer version of Varlig, so install the latest version and open it again. Don’t delete the library folder while you sort it out.

Varlig couldn’t save your latest edit

Your edit is still held in memory, and Varlig won’t quit while it can’t save, so nothing is lost yet.

Check that your Mac has free disk space.
Keep the note open and make another small edit to try saving again.
If it keeps failing, copy the note’s text somewhere safe and contact support.

“Made with a newer Varlig — update to edit”

A newer version of Varlig can write something into a note that this version could damage by editing it. This version then shows the note read-only with this banner and keeps it exactly as it arrived: it can’t be edited, moved or deleted here. You can still read, copy and print it, and Export… in the banner exports it. Every other note stays editable. Update Varlig on this Mac to edit it.

“The note this link leads to isn’t in this library”

The link names its note by its identifier, as the links Varlig copies for a note do, and no note in this library has that identifier. Either the note was deleted, or it was made on another device and hasn’t synced to this one yet. Give sync a moment; if the note was deleted, a backup from before may still hold it.

I can’t find a note

Search everything. Press ⇧⌘F and type a word from the note. Search also finds text inside pictures and PDFs.
Check the Trash and Archive. Choose View › Go To › Trash (⌥⌘0) or Archive (⌥⌘9). Restore a trashed note with Note › Restore Note (⇧⌘R).
Is it locked? Search can’t see inside password-protected notes. Look in the Locked section of the sidebar.

Sync and your devices

My notes aren’t on my iPhone or iPad

Turn sync on on the Mac. Open Settings › Sync & Backup and turn on Sync notes with iCloud. It’s off until you do; on iPhone and iPad it’s always on.
Use the same Apple Account. Every device needs to be signed in to iCloud with the same account.
Give it a moment, or sync now. Click the iCloud button at the top of the Mac’s sidebar and choose Sync Now, or pull down on a note list on your iPhone or iPad. Waiting to upload shows how many notes the Mac still has to send.

iCloud sync and shared notes explains every status message.

A note shows up twice

When two devices change the same part of a note before they’ve synced, Varlig keeps both versions rather than choose one, and the second arrives as a conflict copy beside the first. Compare the two, keep what you want in one, and move the other to the Trash. The iCloud popover counts the Conflict copies preserved.

“The iCloud account changed”

The Mac was signed in to another iCloud account, so Varlig turned sync off rather than upload your library to it. Sign back in to the original account and turn sync on again, or turn it on with the new account to use this library there.

A weather line shows no answer

Check the switches. Settings › Calculations › Live data has one for places and one for the weather. Weather needs place lookup on too.
Check the connection. These lines look something up, so they need the internet.
Wait a minute. If Apple WeatherKit doesn’t answer, Sources in the same group says so, and Varlig asks again a few minutes later.

Locked notes

I forgot a note’s password

Varlig can’t recover a forgotten password. That’s what keeps your notes private.

If you turned on Allow Touch ID or Mac password on this Mac for that note, select it and choose Unlock with Touch ID or Mac Password.
Otherwise, a copy you exported or backed up before adding the password is still readable.

“The password is incorrect or the encrypted note is damaged”

Check Caps Lock and your keyboard layout, then type the password again. Passwords are case-sensitive.

“No saved note key is available. Use this note’s password.”

Touch ID unlocking for that note isn’t set up on this Mac, for example because you set it up on a different Mac. Unlock the note with its password instead. Then choose Note › Note Password… and turn on Allow Touch ID or Mac password on this Mac to use Touch ID from now on.

My unlocked notes keep locking again

That’s on purpose: unlocked notes lock again when you switch to another app, and after your Mac has been idle for 5 minutes. Change this in Settings › Privacy, under Lock protected notes when Varlig is inactive and Lock after Mac is idle.

“Unlock this note before copying it” or “before exporting it”

Password-protected notes stay encrypted until you unlock them. Select the note, choose Unlock Note, then copy or export it. Remember that exported copies aren’t encrypted.

Importing and backups

“No local Bear library was found”

Open Bear on this Mac and wait for your notes to finish downloading, then try Settings › Import & Export › Import from Bear again.

“This library contains encrypted Bear notes”

Varlig can’t unlock notes that are encrypted in Bear. In Bear, export those notes unlocked, then bring them in with File › Import Notes….

“A Bear attachment is missing locally”

Bear hasn’t downloaded every attachment yet. Download all attachments in Bear, then import again.

“Varlig couldn’t access Bear’s library”

Give Varlig access in System Settings › Privacy & Security, then try importing again.

A file is too large to import

Varlig accepts attachments under 100 MB and Soulver files under 50 MB. Split large Evernote exports into files under 100 MB, and keep ZIP archives under 200 MB.

Restoring a backup did nothing, or made copies

Restoring adds to your library and never overwrites. Notes that haven’t changed are skipped, and notes that changed since the backup come back as separate copies. See Import, export and backups.

Look and feel

The app icon changed in the Dock but not in Finder

Varlig can only change its Finder icon when it’s in a folder it’s allowed to change. Move Varlig into your Applications folder, then choose the icon again in Settings › App Icon.

A global shortcut won’t record

Shortcuts that work from any app must include ⌘ or ⌃. If you see “That shortcut is unavailable”, Varlig can’t use that combination, so try a different one.

The demo notes are gone

On the Mac, choose Help › Add Demo Notes. On iPhone and iPad, open Settings › About Varlig and tap Add Demo Notes. Demo notes in the Trash come back, and any you’ve deleted are made again. Your own notes aren’t touched.

Send a crash or hang report

When Varlig quits unexpectedly or stops responding, your Mac, iPhone or iPad gives it a report. Varlig keeps the most recent ones on the device and never sends them by itself. Sending one to us is the quickest way to get the problem fixed:

On the Mac, open Settings › Advanced and, under Crash and Hang Reports, click Send Report…. Email… starts a message to [email protected] with the report attached, and Share… sends it another way.
On iPhone and iPad, open Settings › About Varlig and tap Send Report…. Email Support…, there when Mail is set up on the device, starts a message to support with the report attached, and Share Report… hands it to the share sheet.

Before anything leaves, you see what the report holds, down to the file itself: the Varlig and system versions, the device’s model, and what happened and where in Varlig’s code — never note text, titles or file names. Add a line about what you were doing when it happened, if you can. Delete Reports… removes the kept reports. See Crash and hang reports.