Troubleshooting

The usual problems, and how to fix them.

Discord

Nothing shows on my Discord profile

• The Discord desktop app must be running on the same PC (not Discord in a browser). The Discord dot in the app turns green once it's connected.
• In Discord: User Settings → Activity Privacy → Share your detected activities with others must be on.
• Check the Discord preview on the Now reading page. If nothing is shared, it says why: paused, idle in the background, or the game's privacy is set to Off.
• If you set your own Application ID, click Test next to it in Settings. If it fails, paste back the app's default ID, 1466261523889393892.
• Started Discord after the app? Give it a few seconds: the app reconnects by itself.

My status shows a generic image instead of the cover

That's the fallback image. It's used when there's no cover to show: no match on VNDB, an NSFW-flagged cover (not sent unless you allow it), or the game set to Private. Pick a VNDB entry or an image link in Change VN / cover…. See Covers.

My status stays after I close the game

Turn on Clear presence when the VN closes in Settings → Presence.

I don't see the “View on VNDB” button on my profile

That's normal: Discord doesn't show your own status buttons to you. Your friends see it.

Detection

My VN isn't detected

Its engine probably isn't one the app knows. Switch the Detection bar to Manual and pick the game's window (Refresh if it isn't in the list). Check also that its .exe isn't in Settings → Never detect.

Another program is detected as a VN

Click Not a VN in the Detection bar, next to the detected program. It's added to Never detect and won't be detected again.

Wrong VN, wrong cover or wrong VNDB page

The VNDB search picked the wrong match. Click ? on the Now reading card, or open Change VN / cover… (Now reading) or Change VN / cover… (the VN's page in the Library), search the right title (the Japanese title often works best) and click Use. Turning on Use Steam library names helps for Steam games.

No chapter or route is shown

The game doesn't put it in its window title, so there's nothing to read. Type it yourself with + Route / chapter on the Now reading page. If it does but in an unusual format, add a title rule.

Time read

Time keeps counting while the game is in the background

Turn on Go idle when the VN isn't the active window in Settings. Already counted too much? Click the ✎ next to Total read on the VN's page in the Library.

Library

The same VN shows up twice

Open one of the two: if the app sees they're the same game, a banner offers Merge them, which adds up their time read and keeps one entry. If there's no banner, pick the same VNDB entry for both with Change VN / cover… and it shows up. See Library → The same VN twice.

All my emulator games count as one

Known emulators (Ryujinx, yuzu, PPSSPP, RetroArch…) give each game its own entry by themselves. For another one, switch the Detection bar to Manual, pick its window and turn on Separate games by window title. See Now reading → Emulators.

I can't remove a VN

Close the game first: a VN can't be removed (or merged) while it's running.

Updates and the new name

I have a vnrpc.new.exe file next to the app

Older versions could fail to replace the .exe when its folder name has accents or Japanese characters, so the update stayed next to it. Open that file once: since version 2.2.0, it renames itself and removes the leftovers. Later updates replace the .exe by themselves.

My Library is empty after the update to Shiori RPC

On its first launch, the app copies everything from %APPDATA%\moe.lenn.vnrpc-tauri\ to %APPDATA%\moe.lenn.shiori\. The old folder isn't changed, so nothing is lost. See Your data.

Updating to 2.0

My Library is empty after updating from 1.x

Version 2.0 copies your 1.x data from %APPDATA%\VisualNovelRPC\ on its first launch. If that folder was moved or emptied, there's nothing to copy. If you have a backup .zip from 1.x, import it with Settings → General → Your data → Import…. See Your data.

I can't find the Save button

There isn't one anymore: in 2.0, settings apply as soon as you change them.

Games

The game shows garbled text or doesn't start

It needs a Japanese locale. See Japanese locale.

Print Screen doesn't take a screenshot

The key only works while the game's window is in front, and only when a VN is detected. Check the key in Settings → General → Screenshots → Capture key (it may have been turned off with Backspace).

If the app says Couldn't watch the screenshot key: another app already uses it, another program (a screenshot tool, for example) has taken that key. Pick another key, or free it in that program.

Still stuck?

Ask on the Discord server, or use Report a bug on the app's What's new page: it opens a GitHub issue already filled with your version. Mention the VN's name and its engine (shown under the title on the Now reading page).