Troubleshooting

This page covers the most common issues people run into with Poly and how to fix them.

Sync is stuck or not updating

Symptom: Files you uploaded on one device aren't appearing on another, or the sync indicator is spinning indefinitely.

Steps to resolve:

1. Check your internet connection on both devices.
2. On the device that's not updating, look for any error banners in the Poly window.
3. In the desktop app, click the sync status indicator in the status bar — it will show any errors in the sync queue.
4. Try signing out and back in: Menu → Account → Sign out, then sign in again.
5. If the issue persists, force a sync refresh: Menu → Help → Force sync.

If sync remains stuck after these steps, contact [email protected] with your account email and a description of the issue.

File upload failed

Symptom: An upload shows as failed in the jobs panel.

Steps to resolve:

1. Check your internet connection. Uploads require a stable connection.
2. Click the failed upload in the jobs panel and choose Retry.
3. If the file is very large (over 1 GB), try uploading it from the desktop app instead of the web browser.
4. Check that your storage quota isn't full: Settings → Storage. If you're at the limit, free up space or upgrade your plan.
5. Make sure the filename doesn't contain special characters that might cause issues (e.g., / \ : * ? " < > |). Rename the file and try again.

Search isn't finding a file I just uploaded

Symptom: A recently uploaded file doesn't appear in search results.

Explanation: After uploading, Poly indexes files in the background. Most files are indexed within 30 seconds, but large documents, high-resolution images, and long audio or video files may take a few minutes.

Steps to resolve:

1. Wait a moment and try the search again.
2. Check that the file successfully finished uploading (no error in the jobs panel).
3. Try searching by the file's exact name — if it appears by name but not by content, indexing may still be in progress.
4. For PDF files specifically: if the PDF is scanned (image-only, no embedded text), Poly will use OCR to extract text. This takes longer than text-based PDFs.
5. Select the file and open the Details panel (⌘i / Ctrl+i). Scroll to the Intelligence Features section to see exactly which pipeline stages have completed, are in progress, or have failed. See Intelligence Features for a full explanation of each stage.

A file is permanently missing from search

Symptom: A file never appears in search results, regardless of the query, and the issue persists after refreshing.

Steps to resolve:

1. Check the Hidden toggle. Select the file, open the Details panel (⌘i), and scroll to Intelligence Features. If the Hidden toggle is on, the file is intentionally excluded from all search results. Toggle it off to re-enable indexing. Also check the file's parent folders — if an ancestor folder is hidden, all files inside it are hidden too.
2. Check for a red ✗ on Metadata. A failed Metadata stage means the file isn't indexed at all. Refresh the page to prompt a re-check. If the error persists, try re-uploading the file.
3. Check for a red ✗ on Content. A failed Content stage blocks all downstream processing. Re-uploading is the most reliable fix.

If all stages show green checkmarks and Hidden is off, contact support.

Intelligence Features show errors (red ✗)

Symptom: One or more stages in the Intelligence Features section of the Details panel show a red ✗.

What it means: Poly was unable to complete that processing stage for the file. Depending on which stage failed, the file may be missing from some or all search results, or the AI agent may not be able to read it. See the search impact table for specifics.

Steps to resolve:

1. Refresh the page. Poly verifies file integrity on load and re-queues failed stages automatically. On the desktop app, try opening the containing folder in the web app to trigger a fresh sync.
2. Wait a few minutes. Some failures self-resolve after a short delay, especially right after upload.
3. Check whether the file is corrupted. Open it in its native application to confirm it works correctly.
4. Check whether the file format is supported. See supported file types. Unsupported formats or very new codec versions may fail extraction or transcoding.
5. Re-upload the file. If the errors persist and the file opens correctly on your device, re-uploading usually resolves pipeline failures caused by interrupted uploads or storage anomalies.
6. Ask the AI agent. Describe the file and ask the agent why it might not be processing — it can often identify format or content issues.

For further help, contact support with the file's name and the exact stage(s) showing a red ✗.

Indexing is stuck (spinner won't resolve)

Symptom: One or more stages in the Intelligence Features section show a spinner that hasn't changed after many minutes.

Steps to resolve:

1. Refresh the page — a stuck spinner sometimes reflects a stale UI state rather than a genuinely stalled pipeline.
2. On the desktop app, close and reopen the app.
3. If the spinner persists for more than 15–20 minutes after upload, re-upload the file. If the issue continues, contact support.

macOS Finder integration isn't showing up

Symptom: Poly doesn't appear in the Finder sidebar after installing the desktop app.

Steps to resolve:

1. Make sure you're signed in to the Poly desktop app.
2. Open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions.
3. Scroll down to File Provider Extensions and confirm Poly is listed and enabled.
4. If it's listed but not enabled, toggle it on.
5. If it's not listed, try signing out and back in to the Poly desktop app.
6. Restart Finder: hold Option and right-click the Finder icon in the Dock → Relaunch.

If the extension still doesn't appear, try reinstalling the desktop app.

The desktop app won't open

Symptom: Clicking the Poly app icon does nothing, or the app immediately crashes.

Steps to resolve:

1. Check if another instance of Poly is already running. Poly is a single-instance app — if it's already open in the background, clicking the icon brings it to focus. Look for the Poly icon in your menu bar (macOS) or system tray (Windows).
2. Force quit the existing instance and relaunch: on macOS, right-click the menu bar icon and choose Quit; on Windows, right-click the tray icon and choose Exit.
3. If the app still won't open, try restarting your computer.
4. If it crashes immediately, check for pending system updates — a macOS or Windows update may be required.

Can't sign in

Symptom: Login fails, you're stuck in a loop, or you're not receiving the verification email.

Steps to resolve:

1. Check your spam/junk folder for the verification email.
2. Make sure you're using the correct email address.
3. Try signing in with Google if you originally registered with Google.
4. Try a different browser or device.
5. If you've lost access to your account, contact [email protected] with your email address.

AI agent isn't responding or gives unexpected results

Symptom: The agent takes very long to respond, gives errors, or seems confused about your files.

Steps to resolve:

1. Check poly.app/status for any ongoing service incidents.
2. Refresh the Poly window and try again.
3. Be more specific in your request — very broad queries (e.g., "summarize all my files") may time out.
4. If the agent says it can't find a file you know exists, try searching for it directly first to confirm it's in your storage and indexed.

The AI agent can't read a specific file

Symptom: The agent says a file is empty, unreadable, or returns no content when asked to read it.

Steps to resolve:

1. Check the Structure stage. Select the file, open the Details panel (⌘i), and look at the Intelligence Features section. A red ✗ on Structure means Poly was unable to extract readable content from the file. The agent has nothing to read. See the Structure stage for troubleshooting steps.
2. Check the Hidden toggle. If Hidden is on in Intelligence Features, the agent is blocked from accessing the file entirely. Toggle it off if the file should be readable.
3. Check which tools are enabled. In the Agent panel, open the Options menu and confirm that Reading Files is enabled under Tools.
4. Verify the context folder. If the file is in a different folder than the agent's current context, the agent may not see it unless you insert the file directly into your message using the Insert button. See Agent panel for details on context and file insertion.

Getting more help

If you can't find a solution here, reach out to Poly support:

• Email: [email protected]
• In-app: click Menu → Help → Contact Support

When reporting an issue, include: your operating system and version, which Poly client you're using (web/desktop/mobile), and a description of what you expected vs. what happened.