Troubleshooting and Contact

Fixes by symptom, and how to reach us

Each entry below starts with likely causes, then a few checks to try, then where to go if none of them help. Search by symptom rather than the exact wording of an error.

A chapter is still in Chinese#

Usually means the chapter hasn't been translated yet (chapters translate automatically over time, and members with the Reader membership or higher can also trigger it on the spot; see AI translation past chapter 50), or the source page needs to be fetched again.

  1. If it says "This chapter is being translated" with a Check again button, the novel is new and one of its first 50 chapters is still being translated. It is free and usually ready within a few minutes: wait a little, then select Check again. Nothing else is needed, and no membership is involved.
  2. If it says "This chapter isn't translated yet" or "Not translated yet", sign in, upgrade, or choose Retranslate in the Repair menu above the chapter if you're with the Reader membership or higher. See What's Free and What's Paid.
  3. If the chapter looks cut off or like the wrong chapter, choose Rescrape in the Repair menu to fetch it again from the source.
  4. If it says "This chapter is not available here", the source site sells that chapter (for example, a paid chapter on QQ Reading). We only take free chapters, so it can't be fetched, and there is no Rescrape. The line under the heading gives the reason.

The chapter title translates separately and retries automatically if it's slow; no action needed there.

Still stuck? Use the Still in Chinese option in the novel's report dialog, or ask on Discord.

The chapter won't load#

Usually a temporary load or streaming failure, not a broken chapter. You may see:

  • "We couldn't load this chapter right now. Try again, or return to the novel."
  • A toast reading "Failed to load translation" or "The chapter translation could not be loaded. Please try again."
  • During high demand: "Translator busy", then "High demand right now — retrying automatically…", followed by "The translator is at capacity. Please try again in a moment." if it happens again.
  1. Select Try again, or wait a moment: the busy state retries on its own.
  2. Refresh the page.
  3. Check your connection.
  4. If it keeps happening across different chapters, it's likely a brief issue on our end; try again in a few minutes.

Still stuck? Tell us on Discord with the chapter link and what the error said.

Read aloud stops or won't start#

Usually a tier limit, a background-tab pause, or one paragraph's audio failing quietly. Read aloud has three engines, chosen in Display Settings → Speech: Browser and AI Device are free for everyone, and AI Cloud needs the Reader membership or higher.

  1. If you see "AI Cloud voices need the Reader membership or higher", switch to Browser or AI Device from Display Settings → Speech, or upgrade.
  2. If playback just stops, tap play again. Mobile browsers can pause background tabs, and a paragraph that fails to generate audio is retried, then skipped, rather than freezing playback.
  3. Confirm a device voice is selected in Display Settings → Speech (Browser engine only).
  4. AI Device runs on computers only, in Chrome or Edge with WebGPU; on phones and tablets it's greyed out. If it can't start, read aloud switches to Browser voices for the rest of your visit and tells you.
  5. Try switching engines if one is behaving oddly.

See Read Aloud. Still stuck? Tell us on Discord with the novel, chapter, and which engine (Browser, AI Device or AI Cloud) you were using.

I was logged out#

Your session is a cookie that lasts up to 30 days and renews while you're active. It isn't tied to your account, so clearing cookies, blocking site data, or switching browsers signs you out.

  1. Sign back in with Sign in with Patreon.
  2. Check your browser isn't set to block or auto-clear cookies for the site.
  3. If you're on a paid tier and this keeps happening, confirm you're signing in with the same Patreon account each time.
  4. If you used Sign out everywhere on another device, every session was ended on purpose; sign in again.

See Staying signed in. Still stuck? Ask on Discord.

My request failed#

Most request failures are quota or tier messages, not bugs. You may see:

  • "Requesting novels needs the Reader membership or higher": a free account gets 1 preview a month, but full requests and Upgrade start at the Reader membership.
  • "Monthly novel request limit exceeded (… requests used)…": you've used your monthly novel requests.
  • "Monthly preview request limit exceeded (… requests used)…": you've used your monthly previews.
  • "Monthly search limit reached (…/…). Your limit resets at the start of next month.": you've used your monthly name searches (free accounts get 5 a month, at most 5 a day).
  • "Automatic search is unavailable right now. Try Google and paste a URL above." or "No supported source found for '…'. Try Google and paste a URL above.": the search couldn't find a match.
  1. Read the on-screen message: it usually tells you exactly what's blocking the request.
  2. If it's a tier message, check Limits for what's required.
  3. If it's a quota message, wait for the monthly reset, on the first day of the month at 00:00 UTC.
  4. If search fails, paste the source URL directly instead of searching, and check the source on the status page.
  5. If a pasted link turned into a search, that is expected for DaoSearch, Qidian, Faloo and Zongheng links, a JJWXC novel that sells chapters, and a Fanqie novel Fanqie took down. Nothing was charged. See Links that become a search.
  6. Check for an "Already on RandomTranslator" card: it means the novel already exists and links straight to it instead of creating a new request.

See Find or Request a Novel. Still stuck? Tell us on Discord with the URL or search term you used.

A name is wrong#

Usually the glossary's initial extraction picked a bad name, or the name changed partway through the novel.

  1. Tap the highlighted name to open its glossary dialog and see its current translation.
  2. If it's just not to your taste, type your own name in the Your Translation field, which applies instantly and only for you.
  3. If it's factually wrong, suggest a correction (this needs the Reader membership or higher). A moderator's edit applies immediately; anyone else's goes through Discord review, where a moderator, or RandomLord (Bot) if no moderator gets to it first, decides it, and you'll get a notification either way.
  4. An approved rename is substituted into chapters that are already translated, so there's nothing more to do. Only if the grammar around the new name reads wrong, or a variant spelling of the old name remains, choose Force retranslate on the term.

See Editing Terms for what retranslate and force retranslate each cover, and Your own names. Still stuck? Ask on Discord.

The page looks broken after an update#

Usually your browser is holding onto cached files from before a site update.

  1. Hard refresh the page (Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+R on Mac).
  2. If that doesn't help, clear the site's cookies and cache and reload.
  3. Try a private/incognito window. If it looks fine there, it confirms a caching issue on your regular browser.

Still stuck? Tell us on Discord with what looked wrong and which browser you're using.

I can't find a novel I requested#

  1. Check Uploads (your profile → Uploads): every novel you've requested or uploaded is listed there with its current stats.
  2. Check the bottom of the Request page, which shows what is being fetched and translated right now: a new request takes time to fetch and translate before it appears.
  3. If you requested a novel that already existed, you were shown an "Already on RandomTranslator" card linking to it rather than creating a new entry. Look there instead of Browse.
  4. Search Browse by title. Duplicate novels are merged into the original, so an old link should still redirect you.

Still stuck? Tell us on Discord with the novel's name or the URL you requested it from.

Contact us#

Discord is the fastest way to reach us: bug reports, source requests, glossary questions, and general feedback all go there. Search the server before posting: most reader-facing bugs (a stuck chapter, a wrong name, a source that stopped working) have already been reported.

For anything that doesn't fit Discord, email randomtranslator2@gmail.com. We're a small team and aim to respond to email and Discord within 48 hours; Discord is usually faster for urgent issues. There's no self-serve option for data deletion requests: email or Discord is the only way (see Deleting your account).

For a problem with a specific novel, comment or review, use its Report option instead of Discord: it routes straight to the moderation team, and you'll get a notification when it's resolved. See Reporting a novel.

What to put in a bug report#

Whichever channel you use, include:

  • The novel and chapter (a link is best)
  • What you expected to happen, and what happened instead
  • The exact on-screen message, if there was one
  • Your browser and device (desktop/mobile)
  • Whether you were logged in, and your Patreon tier if relevant
  • DMCA: how to file a takedown notice, what a valid notice needs, and the counter-notification process
  • Contact Us: Discord and email, for anything not covered elsewhere
  • Terms of Use: the rules for using the site and posting content
  • Privacy Policy: what data we collect, what's public, and how to request access, correction or deletion

For copyright specifically, email randomtranslator2@gmail.com with your notice, or use the Contact page.