Troubleshooting

Screen capture not working

Symptom: No new screen content appears in search, thumbnails stay empty, or the app reports capture errors.

Likely cause: macOS Screen Recording (and related) permissions not granted, or capture paused.

What to do:

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and confirm Overshow is allowed under Screen Recording (and Screen & System Audio Recording if shown).
2. Remove and re-add Overshow if the toggle is stuck, then restart the app.
3. In Overshow, check that capture is not paused (menu bar or tray state).

Still stuck? See Permissions and Screen capture.

Screen recording is on but capture still looks blank

Quit Overshow fully (not only closing the window), wait a few seconds, then reopen. macOS sometimes applies screen-recording permission only after a cold start. If the problem persists, toggle Screen Recording off and on for Overshow, then restart the Mac once.

Audio not transcribing

Symptom: Meetings or microphone audio produce no transcript lines, or levels show silence.

Likely cause: Microphone permission denied, wrong input device, or capture paused.

What to do:

1. In System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone, enable Overshow.
2. In Overshow Settings, pick the correct microphone or aggregate device you actually use.
3. Confirm capture is running and the app is not paused.

If transcription is slow but not zero, leave the app in the foreground long enough for the on-device model to finish. Very quiet audio may produce sparse text.

Search returns no results

Symptom: Queries show an empty list even though you expect history.

Likely cause: Time range filter too narrow, wrong query mode, or no captures in the selected period because capture was paused or not yet indexed.

What to do:

1. Widen or clear the date range filter.
2. Try a few distinctive keywords that appeared in the source.
3. Confirm capture ran during the period you are searching.

See Search for full-text matching and query tips.

App will not start

Symptom: Overshow quits immediately, fails to open, or shows an incompatibility message.

Likely cause: macOS version below requirement, or unsupported chip (for example an Intel Mac).

What to do:

1. Check System requirements against your macOS version and chip.
2. Install on a supported Apple Silicon Mac using the official download.
3. If the app is damaged, re-download and replace it. On macOS, clear quarantine only when you trust the source.

Old or duplicate copies

Symptom: A permission you granted still shows as missing, macOS asks for it again, or an older version of Overshow opens.

Likely cause: More than one copy of Overshow on the Mac: one left in Downloads, a renamed copy such as Overshow 2.app, or an older copy in your home folder's Applications folder. A copy opened straight from Downloads also runs from a temporary location that macOS chooses.

What to do:

1. Quit Overshow from the menu bar.
2. In Finder, search This Mac for Overshow and look at each app it finds.
3. Keep Overshow.app in the main Applications folder and drag the other copies to the Bin. Your history and settings live in your user folder, so removing a copy leaves them alone. Do not use the uninstaller for this, because it removes Overshow completely.
4. Open Overshow from Applications, then check Permissions if a grant still shows as missing.

If the copy in Applications is an older one that will not open or cannot update itself, download the installer from your account again and run it over that copy.

Quick Ask not appearing

Symptom: The Quick Ask overlay or shortcut does nothing, or another app steals the shortcut.

Likely cause: Keyboard shortcut conflict with another app, or Quick Ask disabled in settings.

What to do:

1. Open Keyboard shortcuts in Overshow Settings and assign an unused combination.
2. In System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts, look for clashes with services or other apps.
3. Read Quick Ask for behaviour and prerequisites (for example local AI availability on supported Macs).

Still need help?

Gather your macOS version, Overshow version, and a short description of what you tried, then contact support through the channel provided on the website or in the app.