Aha never interrupts you with pop-up alerts. When something goes wrong it shows a short note near the field, and the menu bar icon changes when it needs your attention. Here’s what those notes mean and how to fix the common problems.
Aha isn’t doing anything
Check Accessibility
Aha needs Accessibility access to read and edit text. If the menu bar menu says it needs access, click the status line at the top of the menu, or open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility and switch on Aha.
If Aha says Allowed for an earlier build, the switch in System Settings belongs to a different copy of the app, so turning it off and on won’t help. Click Reset and Grant Again in Settings › General or in the menu, then allow it once more.
Check it’s not paused or turned off
- If the menu shows Resume Aha, Aha is paused. Click it to resume.
- If it shows Enable in App, Aha is off for the app you’re in. Click it, or use the switch on the Apps page.
- Check that Enable Aha is on in Settings › General, and that the site isn’t on Blocked websites in Settings › Privacy.
Some apps need Input Monitoring
A few apps only pass keystrokes to Aha with Input Monitoring. It’s optional, so only turn it on if corrections or shortcuts don’t work in a particular app. Click Grant… next to Input Monitoring in Settings › General, switch on Aha in System Settings, then choose Relaunch Aha. macOS only applies it after a restart.
Aha is quiet in one app
- Slack, Discord, VS Code and other Electron or Chrome-based apps: Aha asks these apps to share their text, and the first time you click into a field it can take a moment. Type a little more and try again.
- “App doesn’t share this field’s text”: that app doesn’t expose the text to macOS Accessibility, so Aha can’t read it there.
- Password, code and payment fields: Aha skips them on purpose, along with any field that looks like it contains a secret.
- Terminals and code editors: corrections are deliberately conservative there. See Rules and apps to change that.
Field Assist messages
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Click into a text field first | Put your cursor in an editable field, then press the shortcut again. |
| Sign in to Aha to use Field Assist | Click Sign In, or open Settings › Account. |
| You’ve used this week’s Field Assist allowance | It resets on Monday. Corrections keep working. See Account and usage. |
| Update Aha to keep using Field Assist | Choose Check for Updates… in the menu bar menu. |
| Field changed while writing | You kept typing while Aha was thinking, so it didn’t overwrite your text. Press the shortcut again. |
| Couldn’t type into App, the result is on your clipboard | The app refused the text. Press ⌘V to paste it yourself. |
| Couldn’t restore your text | The field changed since the preview. Try the app’s own undo, ⌘Z. |
| Nothing to change | Your text was already fine. |
| This field is too long for Field Assist | The field holds more text than Aha can read. Try Field Assist in a shorter field. |
| The model took too long to respond, or you appear to be offline | Check your connection and try again. |
A correction keeps changing a word
Revert it with Revert Last Edit in the menu and Aha won’t make that correction again this session. To keep the word for good, choose Add “word” to Dictionary in the menu, or add it on the Dictionary page.
The shortcut doesn’t work
Another app may already use the same keys. Open Settings › Shortcuts: Aha warns there when a shortcut clashes or couldn’t be registered. Pick a different combination and try again.
Report a problem
Open Settings › Diagnostics and click Copy Diagnostics. The report has versions, status, settings and recent log lines, with your API key, word lists and any raw text left out. Paste it into your message.