When an import is slow or fails

Most imports finish in seconds. When one does not, RecipeClip tells you why in plain words, and nothing you typed or pasted is lost. Find your message below.

It is taking a while#

After three seconds, the import card shows a counter, such as 5s, with the note that long pages take a moment. Long pages and videos can take longer. You can press Cancel at any time. The message “Import stopped. Nothing was saved.” appears and your link stays in the box, ready to try again.

If an import runs for about four minutes, RecipeClip stops it and shows That page took too long.

What the messages mean#

That site blocked the import#

The website does not let automatic readers in. The card tells you to screenshot the recipe and use the Photo tab, or type it in on the Manual tab. It has two buttons.

• Try again asks once more. This sometimes works.
• Use Photo takes you to the Photo tab. Screenshot the recipe on the page and add it on the Photo tab. See Save a recipe from photos or screenshots.

There is no box for pasting recipe text. To save text you already have, use the Manual tab, described in Type in a recipe.

We couldn’t read this link#

The link opened something RecipeClip cannot use, such as a private video, a post you need to be logged in to see, or an address that is not a recipe page. Under the title, the card shows the reason. Check that the link opens the recipe itself, or press Use Photo and add a screenshot. There is no Try again button here, because the same link would give the same answer.

Please sign in again#

Your session ended. Press Sign in, sign in, and paste the link again.

That live stream hasn’t ended#

RecipeClip can only read a video once it has finished. Press Try again when the stream is over, or import the finished video.

That video is too long#

Very long videos are not read. Use a shorter clip, or a link to the written recipe. There is no Try again button for this one.

We couldn’t check how long that video is#

Nothing was lost. Try again in a minute, or paste a link to the written recipe.

We couldn’t find a recipe there#

The link may go to a list, a video page or an article with no recipe card. Open the recipe itself and paste that link, or use the Photo tab. See No recipe found below.

That recipe is too long to read in one go#

The page holds more text than the reader can take in at once, which happens with very long posts and big roundups. Press Try again once. If it fails again, open the recipe you want, screenshot just the ingredients and method, and add the screenshot on the Photo tab. Or type it in with Type in a recipe.

That page took too long#

The same two buttons appear. Try again, or use a screenshot.

Our importer is busy#

This happens when lots of people are importing at once. The link is saved in a waiting list and retried for you. See Retrying automatically below.

Something broke on our side#

Nothing was lost. Press Try again. If it keeps happening, the Photo tab still works.

We couldn’t reach the server#

Your connection dropped. Check it, then press Try again.

We read the page but couldn’t save it#

The recipe was read but the save did not go through. Press Try again.

That isn’t a link#

This shows under the Recipe link box. The box only takes web addresses that start with https://. To save text, use Type in a recipe.

Retrying automatically#

When the reader is busy, RecipeClip does not make you wait at the screen. The import moves to a panel called Retrying automatically, below the form. It says these run on our servers, so you can close the page and they keep going.

• Each row shows the website, or Uploaded video, or Photo import, and a countdown such as Retrying in 4m 0s. Then it reads Retrying now….
• When a retry works, a message says a queued import finished, and the recipe is in your list.
• Cancel removes a row you no longer want. The small copy icon copies the link.
• A row that gave up says Failed after a number of tries, with the reason. Press Retry to start it again, or the × to remove it.

No recipe found#

Sometimes the page or video simply has no recipe that can be read. A row may say No recipe found. For TikTok, Instagram and Facebook links, RecipeClip watches the video when you are signed in. If it cannot get the video, or the video only shows the cooking without anyone saying or writing the amounts, it falls back to the caption. A message such as “We read the caption, but there’s no recipe written in it” means that fallback found nothing. Things to try:

• Paste a YouTube link to the same recipe if the creator has one. Those work far more often.
• Open the recipe on the creator’s own website, if they have one, and paste that link.
• Screenshot the caption or the on-screen text and use the Photo tab.
• Type it yourself with Type in a recipe.

On a YouTube link you may see We couldn’t check how long that video is. Try again, or use a different link to the same video.

You have used your AI imports#

Every link, photo and video counts as one AI import. Free accounts get 20 a month for all of them together. Pro and Family accounts get 100 a day. Typing a recipe on the Manual tab never uses an import.

A Free account sees what is left under the heading on the Add recipe page, such as 14 of 20 AI imports left · Resets Nov 3. At zero it reads No AI imports left this month. When a Free account runs out, a window opens titled “You’ve used this month’s AI imports”. It says when they come back, and offers Pro or Maybe later.

On Pro and Family, running out of the day’s imports shows You’ve used today’s AI imports with the time they come back. If RecipeClip itself has reached a daily AI limit, the card says AI imports are paused for now. That is not about your allowance, and you can still use the Manual tab.

More on limits in Free, Pro and Family.

When nothing works#

If a link that should work keeps failing, email support@recipeclip.app with the link and the words on the card.