When something is wrong.

Something missing? Repair the library

The repair checks whether the files at your storage location and the documents in PaperPeace fit together. On iPhone and iPad you find it under Settings › Storage › Maintenance › “Repair Library” (a sheet), on the Mac under Settings › Storage location › Maintenance (a window). Two notices in the library lead there as well: “Some original files could not be found” and “This library still has the old layout”, each with the button “Repair Library”.

1. Check

   The check starts only when you choose “Check Now”. It looks at the storage location to see whether all files and documents fit together, and changes nothing by itself: whatever you do not confirm stays as it is. If everything fits, it says “Nothing to repair”.

2. Look at what it found

   The repair knows three cases:

   • “Old Layout”: these documents still sit in the old layout and are not visible in the app. “Convert” moves them to the new layout; all files and details are kept. “Remove Leftovers” clears away leftovers of an earlier conversion.
   • “Files Without a Document”: the file lies in your folders but belongs to no document. “Add” creates a document for it. The file stays where it is.
   • “Documents Without a File”: the file for this document is missing at the storage location. If the repair finds a matching file, you take it with “Use File”; if it finds several, you first pick one with “Choose File”. If it finds none, you move the document to the trash with “Move to Trash” and can restore it from there.

   If files could not be read, for example because they have not been downloaded yet, they are listed under “Not Checked”. As long as that is so, the check is incomplete. Each file says what you can do; a damaged file you put aside with “Set Aside” when the app offers it. Files that are only offered after that are listed under “Held Back”; they stay where they are.

3. Confirm

   Every entry has a button, and every case has one that confirms all its entries at once (for example “Confirm All”). If a confirmation is refused, the entry stays with its reason.

If the storage location does not answer, the repair says “The storage location did not answer” and not “nothing found”. In that case nothing was checked. Check the connection and choose “Check Again”.

Why is a file missing on the other device? The sync journal

The sync journal shows what your devices plan to do and what this device has done. You open it on the iPad and the Mac in the sidebar under “More” › “Sync journal”, on the iPhone in the title menu of the library under “More”. At the top you choose the device. Below it shows what the device announced: with number, the times (“Created”, “Started”, “Ended”), action, source, target and status; on the iPhone one below the other instead of in columns. Common statuses are “Planned”, “Running”, “Done”, “Deferred” and “Failed”. If the missing file says “Planned” or “Running”, the other device is still at it; “Deferred” and “Failed” show that it is not moving on.

What has this device done? The system logs

The system logs are in the same place as the sync journal (“More” › “System logs”, on the iPhone in the library’s title menu under “More”). Each line describes in one sentence what the app did. With “Areas” you filter by an area (“All areas” removes the filter). The search field reads “Search by message, area, number or operation”. You expand a line to see more. Through the menu with the three dots (“More actions”) › “Export logs …” you send the lines as a ZIP archive.

The lines of the system logs name none of your documents. The log stays on this device until you export it and send it yourself. Only the debug log, which you turn on yourself under “More actions” › “Debug log …”, also contains full file paths; as long as you do not delete it, the export includes it.

Report a bug

1. Open the help

   iPhone: “Help” is in the library’s title menu under “More”. iPad: “Help” is in the sidebar. Mac: open the “Help” menu in the menu bar.

2. Choose “Report a bug”

   On iPhone and iPad, “Help” opens a sheet with “Report a bug”, “Suggest or vote on an idea”, “Join Discord” and “Rate the App”. On the Mac the same entries are in the “Help” menu, where it reads “Report a Bug…”. “Report a bug” opens the contact form. Device and version are already filled in, and you can attach a screenshot.

3. Describe the problem

   Name the step where it sticks and the message the app shows. The more exact, the faster we find the cause. You also find the form under Contact.

How a storage location behaves when it does not answer is on Storage locations.