Troubleshoot Prolific Notifications.

Use this guide when StudyChime is not detecting studies, alerts are not arriving, test messages fail, or Premium settings do not seem to apply.

Start with the basic checks first. Most issues come from the Prolific studies tab being closed, being signed out of Prolific, browser notifications being blocked, or an alert destination not being configured correctly.

Quick checks

Before changing your setup, check these first:

1. Open https://app.prolific.com/studies.
2. Confirm you are signed in to Prolific.
3. Confirm the studies page loads normally.
4. Open StudyChime from the Chrome toolbar.
5. Confirm StudyChime is enabled.
6. Click Check for studies.
7. Check the latest check time, available count, matched count, and alerted count.
8. If you use Discord, Telegram, or Pushover, use that provider’s test button in Settings → Alerts.

If Check for studies does not work, focus on the Prolific tab and monitoring sections.

If Check for studies works but alerts do not arrive, focus on notification, provider, quota, schedule, and filter sections.

Quick Start does not finish

Quick Start remains visible until StudyChime successfully reads the open Prolific studies page.

1. Open the Prolific studies page https://app.prolific.com/studies.
2. Sign in and leave the page open.
3. Use Check connection on the final Connect the Prolific studies page screen.
4. Select Enable and finish again.

If the connection or first DOM read fails, setup intentionally remains incomplete. StudyChime does not refresh Prolific or click, accept, or reserve anything while checking.

No studies are detected

StudyChime reads the rendered Prolific studies page in your browser. If the page itself is closed, signed out, stuck, blank, or filtered down to nothing, StudyChime may not detect studies.

Check the following:

1. Open https://app.prolific.com/studies.
2. Confirm you are signed in.
3. Confirm the studies page loads normally.
4. Confirm studies are visible on the page, if any are available.
5. Click Check for studies in StudyChime.
6. Check whether Prolific’s own filters are hiding studies.
7. If the page is stuck or blank, reload the Prolific tab and try again.

StudyChime cannot detect studies that are not visible on the Prolific studies page.

Prolific is open but StudyChime still shows nothing

If Prolific is open but StudyChime still does not detect anything:

1. Make sure the URL starts with https://app.prolific.com/studies.
2. Wait for the page to finish loading.
3. Reload the Prolific tab.
4. Open StudyChime and click Check for studies.
5. Disable Prolific-side filters temporarily and check again.
6. Confirm the StudyChime extension is enabled in chrome://extensions.

If the page layout has changed, StudyChime may need an extension update before it can read the studies page correctly again.

StudyChime says monitoring is inactive

Check that:

1. StudyChime is enabled in the popup or Settings → Overview.
2. The Prolific studies page is open.
3. You are signed in to Prolific.
4. Chrome has not disabled the extension.
5. The browser has not gone to sleep or suspended background activity.
6. Any required settings have been saved.

If monitoring was working earlier, open the Prolific studies page again and click Check for studies. The Monitoring confidence card shows the page, connection, last successful read, and configured alert methods, and refreshes every 15 seconds.

The Prolific tab closed

StudyChime works best when the Prolific studies page remains open.

If the tab closed:

1. Open StudyChime settings.
2. Open Overview.
3. Click Open Prolific.
4. Wait for the Prolific studies page to load.
5. Click Check for studies.

StudyChime does not automatically reopen Prolific in the background. Open Prolific manually to resume monitoring.

Browser notifications do not show

If browser notifications are not appearing:

1. Confirm browser notifications are enabled in Settings → Alerts.
2. Check Chrome notification permissions.
3. Check your operating system notification settings.
4. Confirm StudyChime is enabled in chrome://extensions.
5. Make sure Focus Assist, Do Not Disturb, or similar quiet modes are not suppressing notifications.
6. Select Send browser test.

If the test notification does not appear, the issue is likely Chrome or operating system notification permissions.

Sound alerts do not play

If sound alerts are not playing:

1. Confirm browser notifications are enabled in Settings → Alerts.
2. Confirm Play sound alert is enabled.
3. Check your computer volume.
4. Check the browser or system output device.
5. Check whether the tab, browser, or operating system is muted.
6. Try a different alert sound if available.
7. Send a browser test.

Sound cannot be enabled without browser notifications. Turning browser notifications off also turns off and disables sound.

If browser notifications work but sound does not, the issue is likely the sound setting, volume, muted output, or browser audio behaviour.

Discord test alert fails

If Discord test alerts fail:

1. Confirm Discord alerts are enabled in StudyChime.
2. Re-copy the webhook URL from Discord.
3. Check for leading or trailing spaces.
4. Confirm the webhook still exists in Discord.
5. Confirm the webhook is assigned to the correct channel.
6. Save StudyChime settings.
7. Select Send Discord test in Settings → Alerts.

If the webhook was deleted, exposed, or changed, create a new Discord webhook and paste the new URL into StudyChime.

Telegram test alert fails

If Telegram test alerts fail:

1. Confirm Telegram alerts are enabled in StudyChime.
2. Check the bot token was copied correctly.
3. Check the chat ID was copied correctly.
4. Make sure you have started a chat with the bot.
5. If using a group, confirm the bot has been added to the group.
6. Save StudyChime settings.
7. Select Send Telegram test in Settings → Alerts.

A common Telegram issue is using the wrong chat ID. The bot token identifies the bot. The chat ID identifies where the message should be sent.

Pushover test alert fails

If Pushover test alerts fail:

1. Confirm Pushover alerts are enabled in StudyChime.
2. Check the app token was copied correctly.
3. Check the user key was copied correctly.
4. Confirm your Pushover account and device are active.
5. Confirm notifications are allowed on your device.
6. Save StudyChime settings.
7. Select Send Pushover test in Settings → Alerts.

A small copy-and-paste mistake in either the app token or user key can stop delivery.

Destination test passes but live alerts do not arrive

If a test alert works but live alerts do not arrive, the provider is probably configured correctly. The issue may be with matching, filters, schedules, quota, or available studies.

Check the following:

1. StudyChime is enabled.
2. The Prolific studies page is open.
3. You are signed in to Prolific.
4. Studies are visible on the Prolific page.
5. Your filters are not too strict.
6. Your schedule allows alerts at the current time.
7. You have not reached the 15-alert limit for the current rolling 24-hour period.
8. The study actually matched your alert settings.

Use Check for studies and compare the available, matched, and alerted counts.

Webhook or external alert quota reached

Free users can send up to 15 external alerts in any rolling 24-hour period across Discord, Telegram, and Pushover. Each alert stops counting towards the quota exactly 24 hours after it was sent.

The popup and Settings → Alerts show the current quota state.

If StudyChime cannot confirm the external-alert quota with the StudyChime licence service, free Discord, Telegram, and Pushover delivery pauses. Browser notifications and local sounds can continue because they do not use this quota.

If the quota has been reached:

• Discord alerts will pause
• Telegram alerts will pause
• Pushover alerts will pause
• browser notifications will still work
• local sound alerts will still work

Premium removes the rolling 24-hour external alert limit for Discord, Telegram, and Pushover alerts.

Premium settings are ignored

Premium-only settings are ignored unless a trial or licence is active, or the licence is still within the offline grace period.

Check the following:

1. Open StudyChime settings.
2. Open Premium & trends.
3. Confirm Premium status is active.
4. If needed, re-enter your licence key and click Activate.
5. Check your internet connection.
6. Save settings.

If Premium recently expired, was refunded, was removed, or cannot be verified for too long, Premium-only settings may remain visible locally but will not be applied.

Licence activation fails

If your Premium licence does not activate:

1. Copy the licence key again from the purchase email or Lemon Squeezy portal.
2. Check for leading or trailing spaces.
3. Confirm your internet connection is working.
4. Try again.
5. Check whether the licence has been refunded, cancelled, or expired.

If activation still fails, contact support with the error message shown in StudyChime.

Do not send your Prolific password.

Trial does not start

If the free trial does not start:

1. Check your internet connection.
2. Confirm StudyChime is up to date.
3. Try again from StudyChime settings.
4. Check whether a trial has already been used.
5. Contact support if the trial still does not start.

Trials are intended to let you test Premium features before buying.

Filters are too strict

If studies are available but few or none match, your filters may be too strict.

Try temporarily clearing or lowering:

• the GBP or USD minimum reward that applies to the study
• the GBP or USD minimum hourly rate that applies to the study
• minimum places
• minimum completion time
• maximum completion time
• included or excluded keyword rules

Remember that most filters work as an AND match. A study must pass each active filter.

Check whether included keywords use Any included word or Every included word. Any excluded keyword rejects the study and takes precedence over included keywords.

Use Preview matches to see how currently visible studies pass or fail without saving the profile or recording the preview.

GBP and USD thresholds are independent and StudyChime does not convert currencies.

Schedules are blocking alerts

If schedules are enabled, StudyChime only sends alerts during allowed schedule windows.

Check:

1. Open Settings → Filters & schedule.
2. Schedules are enabled only if you want them enabled.
3. The current day is allowed.
4. The current time is inside an allowed window.
5. The intended profile was saved with Save & activate profile.

Manual Check for studies can still help confirm that monitoring is connected, even if alerts are paused by a schedule. A paused schedule does not mean monitoring has stopped.

Alerts are too noisy

If you receive too many alerts:

1. Use snooze for short breaks.
2. Increase your minimum reward.
3. Increase your minimum hourly rate.
4. Increase your minimum places filter.
5. Add a maximum completion time.
6. Add keywords for topics you care about.
7. Use schedules to limit alerts to useful hours.
8. Disable alert destinations you do not need.

Premium filters and schedules are the best way to reduce noisy alerts while keeping important alerts active.

A settings backup did not restore credentials

This is expected. JSON backups contain profiles and non-sensitive preferences, but exclude Discord, Telegram, and Pushover credentials, licence and entitlement data, installation identifiers, browser-notification mappings, and custom sound files.

Importing a backup replaces the current profile set and included non-sensitive preferences rather than merging profiles. Existing credentials and licence details stay unchanged. See the Backups and data transfer guide before importing.

A Trends CSV imported fewer rows than expected

StudyChime avoids importing duplicate anonymised rows from the Trends CSV. Reimporting the same export should therefore add nothing.

An invalid row or incorrect CSV structure rejects the import with an error. The imported count can be lower than the file’s row count when rows are already present. Trends remain local and are retained for up to one year.

Alerts arrive too late

StudyChime passively observes changes to the open Prolific studies page and can also be checked manually.

If alerts feel delayed:

1. Keep the Prolific studies page open.
2. Make sure your computer is awake.
3. Make sure Chrome is running.
4. Check whether the browser has suspended background activity.
5. Click Check for studies when you want an immediate check.
6. Use browser notifications or sound alongside external providers.

External providers such as Discord, Telegram, and Pushover can also have their own delivery delays.

Study appears but is gone when opened

StudyChime only notifies you that a study was visible when it checked.

It does not reserve the study for you.

Prolific studies can fill quickly, especially studies with few places. If a study is gone when you open it, it may have filled before you clicked.

To reduce alerts for studies likely to fill quickly, try increasing the minimum places filter.

Chrome extension was disabled or removed

If StudyChime disappears or stops working:

1. Open chrome://extensions.
2. Search for StudyChime.
3. Confirm it is enabled.
4. If needed, reinstall StudyChime from the Chrome Web Store.
5. Open Prolific again.
6. Click Check for studies.

Local study trends look wrong or incomplete

StudyChime Trends count each unique study once and are based on what the extension can see while monitoring is active.

Trends may be incomplete if:

• the Prolific studies page was closed
• you were signed out
• StudyChime was disabled
• Chrome was closed
• your computer was asleep
• the studies page did not load
• extension data was cleared

Trends are stored locally for up to 12 months and do not retain study titles, researcher names, descriptions, or URLs. They are useful for spotting patterns, but they are not an official Prolific report.

After an extension update

After an update, if something looks wrong:

1. Reload the Prolific studies page.
2. Open StudyChime.
3. Open settings and confirm your configuration.
4. Send a test alert.
5. Click Check for studies.

If a new version changes permissions or behaviour, check the changelog for details.

When to contact support

Contact support if:

• licence activation repeatedly fails
• a paid Premium licence is not recognised
• test alerts fail even after re-copying provider details
• StudyChime cannot detect the Prolific studies page after a reload
• you see a clear error message you cannot resolve

When contacting support, include:

• what you were trying to do
• which browser you are using
• whether Prolific was open and signed in
• which alert destination failed, if any
• any error message shown in StudyChime

Do not send your Prolific password.

Important reminder

StudyChime only checks and notifies.

It does not:

• ask for your Prolific password
• bypass Prolific login
• reserve studies
• accept studies
• complete studies
• submit responses
• guarantee that a study will still be available when you open it

You remain in full control of whether to open and take a study.