Troubleshooting

We’ve worked hard to make iA Writer stable and reliable, but sometimes problems occur. Here are some things you can do if you have problems with iA Writer.

Common Fixes

Try making a new document and seeing if the problem persists
Try restarting Writer for Mac
If you’re having problems with iCloud, please read our knowledge base article “iCloud Troubleshooting” for more information
Have a look in the specific issues section to see if there’s already a solution.
Try reinstalling iA Writer for Mac

If you do not use iCloud Drive, back up the contents of ~/Library/Containers/pro.writer.mac/Data/Documents to your Desktop
Backup any custom templates you’ve added here: ~/Library/Containers/pro.writer.mac/Data/Library/Application Support/iA Writer/Templates
Delete iA Writer + preferences with AppCleaner
Restart computer
Install iA Writer from the App Store (Purchases section)

If you have problems even after reinstalling iA Writer, try creating a new User account (System Preferences → Users & Groups), logging in as this user, and testing if the problem continues. (This will check if the problem is due to other software or system conflicts.)
If you’re still having problems, please contact us at [email protected]. Please write:

What you did, step by step
What you expected to happen
What actually happened

Recover Earlier Document Versions

If some of your changes are lost, a file is overwritten with an outdated version, or you accidentally delete a file, you may still be able to recover an earlier version of your document.

iCloud

iCloud Drive keeps versions of your documents. With the file open in iA Writer, select the File menu then Revert to… to browse iCloud versions.

In addition, files can be recovered from deletion at icloud.com. Sign in with your Apple ID and then:

Click Settings → Advanced → Restore Files
or;
Click iCloud Drive → Recently Deleted (lower right corner)

Other Cloud Storage

Many cloud storage providers (including Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive) preserve multiple versions of your documents for up to 30 days. Please try logging into your cloud storage provider’s web console and searching for Trash or other recovery options.

Specific Issues

iCloud files do not appear in the Library, but I can see them in Finder

The library stores the document listing in an index file. If no documents appear in the Library when they should, this file ought to be rebuilt. To do so, first close iA Writer. Then, open Finder and from the menu choose Go → Go To Folder… and copy/type in the following folder path:

~/Library/Containers/pro.writer.mac/Data/Library/Application Support/iA Writer

Within this folder there exists a file named index.db. Move this file to the Trash and then relaunch iA Writer. The index will be rebuilt and your files should show in the Library.

Files don’t open when double-clicked in Finder

Writer should open documents with the extension “.txt” by default. If .txt documents don’t open in Writer when double-clicked, please follow these steps:

Browse to a “.txt” file in Finder
Right-click the file and choose “Get Info” (alternatively highlight the file and issue ⌘I)
Under the section “Opens with:” select iA Writer from the dropdown list
Click the “Change All…” button

All “.txt” files will now open with iA Writer upon a double-click in Finder. You can do the same to switch any other file extension (such as .md) to Writer too.

I cannot save my documents

This is probably caused by the App Store’s copy protection when moving Writer to another computer (or whenever the computer’s MAC address has changed). To fix it just delete the app and reinstall from the App Store’s “Purchased” section.

Why is my CPU usage so high?

Any folders added as locations to the Library must be indexed, which is CPU intensive. As such, we discourage adding extremely large folders such as entire system partitions. If a large folder has been added and you find the app unresponsive, we’d recommend reinstalling iA Writer for Mac in the following way:

If you aren’t using iCloud, backup your files contained in ~/Library/Containers/pro.writer.mac/Data/Documents (should be empty when using iCloud)
Backup any custom templates you’ve added here: ~/Library/Containers/pro.writer.mac/Data/Library/Application Support/iA Writer/Templates
Uninstall iA Writer for Mac with AppCleaner
Restart your computer
Reinstall iA Writer from the App Store

Trouble­shoot­ing