Side Panel or Check Button Not Showing? Troubleshooting

Updated September 26, 2026

Short answer

Most problems are fixed by updating Chrome™ to version 116 or later and reloading the page after installing. The in-page buttons don’t run on chrome:// pages, the Chrome Web Store or docs.google.com, and they only appear once text reaches 50 words. Also check you haven’t hidden them for that site, and sign in again if checks fail with an account error.

The side panel doesn’t open

Update Chrome. The side panel needs Chrome 116 or later. Go to Settings › About Chrome to check and update, then relaunch.
Click the toolbar icon. If you can’t see it, click the puzzle-piece Extensions icon and pin Plagiarism Checker Plus.
Make sure the extension is on. Visit chrome://extensions and check that its toggle is enabled.

The Check button or check bar doesn’t appear

Get the in-page buttons back

Reload the page. Tabs that were open before you installed (or updated) the extension don’t have the buttons until they’re reloaded.
Reach 50 words. The text-box button appears at 50 words; the bar needs 50 or more highlighted words.
Check the page type. The buttons can’t run on chrome:// pages, the Chrome Web Store, local files, or docs.google.com. For Google Docs™, use the Google Docs add-on.
Check it isn’t hidden for this site. In the side panel account menu, look for Show buttons on N hidden sites and click it if it’s there.
Check the settings. In the same menu, make sure Check button in text boxes and Check buttons on selected text are ticked.
Try the right-click menu or Alt+Shift+P. These work even where the buttons don’t show, as long as the page is a normal website.

The text-box button appears on multi-line text boxes and rich editors, not on single-line fields such as search boxes. For those, right-click inside the field and choose Check this text box for AI & plagiarism. The bar also hides itself after a few seconds — highlight the text again to bring it back.

The keyboard shortcut does nothing

Another extension may be using Alt+Shift+P. Open the side panel account menu and click Keyboard shortcut (or visit chrome://extensions/shortcuts) to check it or choose a different one. Select text on the page before pressing it.

Sign-in or account problems

Signed out unexpectedly? Sign-in expires after 90 days without use, or if the browser was disconnected from your account. Click Sign in in the side panel.
The sign-in page didn’t connect. Make sure you’re signed in on the website in the same Chrome profile, then click Sign in in the side panel again.
“You’ve used your free checks.” Guests get one check per tool. Sign in or create a free account to continue — see Word limits.

A check fails or takes a long time

Plagiarism checks on long text can take a few minutes. You can close the panel — Chrome notifies you when results are ready, and they appear under History.
If a check fails, unused words are refunded automatically. Try again after a minute.
Check that you’re online and that no network filter blocks app.plagiarismcheckerplus.com.

Cite says “Nothing to cite here”

Cite reads the page in the active tab of your browser window, and only works on web pages (http or https). Switch to the page you want to cite and open Cite again. See How to cite a website.

Still stuck? Contact us with your Chrome version and the site where it happens, and we’ll take a look.