Reflect Not Working? Common Errors & Fixes

In Reflect Classic your password is the encryption key, so it can't simply be reset by email. If any device is still logged in, change the password there or generate a recovery kit on iOS. Otherwise look for the password in Chrome or macOS Keychain, or find the reflect-recovery-kit file from sign-up.

Importing a Reflect Classic export into Reflect Open can fail when the export has more than 1000 images with the same file name (like image.png). The importer runs out of numbered names. Export with the 'Reflect Open' format, import into a fresh graph, and ask on Discord if a large graph still fails.

This is by design: Reflect Open and Reflect Classic are separate apps, and importing creates a one-time copy. Edits made after the import don't sync between them. Re-export and re-import to bring later Classic changes over, then work in one app only.

Early Reflect Open builds (around 0.10.0) made macOS fileproviderd use about 200% CPU while an iCloud-backed graph was open. The bug was fixed in September 2026, so updating Reflect Open is the fix. Restarting fileproviderd helps only temporarily.

Reflect Open's iOS GitHub sync is a known weak spot. The 'Syncing' badge can hang for about 30 seconds, and a 'Needs attention' warning appears without details. The team is still working on it, so iCloud Drive is the more reliable option on iPhone.

When you enable semantic search in Reflect Open, it downloads a model file (model.onnx). The error 'invalid peer certificate: unknown issuer' usually means a corporate proxy or security tool such as Zscaler is intercepting HTTPS. Try a home network or ask IT to allow the download.

If events don't appear next to your daily note, the account usually wasn't fully authorised (Google's permission checkboxes are easy to miss), the calendar isn't selected in preferences, or iCloud was added without an app-specific password. Reconnect the account under Preferences > Connections.

Reflect's Kindle sync runs through its Chrome extension every five hours and works only with US Amazon stores. If highlights don't arrive, make sure the extension is installed and you're logged in to Amazon in Chrome. Users report that reinstalling the extension fixed it.

Reflect transcribes audio memos with Whisper in the background, and the text appears in your daily note after a few minutes. If it doesn't, update the desktop app to version 2.0.5 or later and restart your computer, which Reflect says clears a permission issue. On Mac, raw recordings are cached so you can recover them.

Reflect Classic's Markdown export keeps images as remote links instead of bundling the files, and hashed file names can break internal links. To get a clean copy with attachments, export in the 'Reflect Open' format, import it into Reflect Open, and use the resulting folder of Markdown files.

In Reflect Classic, AI stops when you hit the daily cap (10k tokens on free accounts, 100k on paid ones). Adding your own OpenAI or Anthropic API key removes the cap, but it needs separate API billing. In Reflect Open, AI only works with your own key, entered on every device.

Reflect Open shows a blank window on macOS 12 because older WebKit (before Safari 16.4) can't render the app. The App Store lists macOS 13 or later as a requirement. Update macOS, or keep using Reflect Classic on older Macs.