Troubleshooting

Numbers look wrong or stopped

Work through these checks first. Most questions end here.

Is Deskathon open? It counts only while it’s open. Look for its item in the menu bar. If it isn’t there, open Deskathon again. Nothing is counted while it’s closed, and it doesn’t fill in the gap.
Is counting paused? A paused menu bar item looks dimmed, and the panel says Paused until tomorrow, Paused until you resume or Paused until a time. Click Resume. See Counting is paused.
Was the Mac asleep or locked? Nothing is counted while the Mac sleeps, while the screen is locked or while another user’s session is in front. It picks up again on its own.
Is the number in the menu bar a little behind? The menu bar shows digits cut off, never rounded up, so it only counts forward. See Distance looks wrong.

I can’t see the menu bar icon

On a crowded menu bar, the notch or other items can hide Deskathon’s item, or push it off the edge. Deskathon checks for this a couple of seconds after it opens and when your screens change. If it finds the item hidden, it shows this alert once, after you finish the welcome.

Can’t see the Deskathon icon? The notch or other menu bar items may be hiding it. Hold ⌘ and drag icons in the menu bar to make room.

The alert has two buttons: OK, and Show Icon Only, which sets Menu bar text to None (icon only) so the item takes less room. Show Icon Only doesn’t appear if the text is already off.

Hold ⌘ and drag other icons in the menu bar, to make room.
Quit menu bar apps you don’t need.
In Deskathon, open Settings › General and set Menu bar text to None (icon only).

The alert shows only once. If you missed it, the steps above still work.

Counting is paused

While counting is paused, nothing is counted, the menu bar item is dimmed and widgets show Paused. A pause survives quitting and reopening Deskathon. To resume, use any of these:

Click Resume in the panel.
Right-click the menu bar item and choose Resume.
Open Settings › Privacy & Data, click Pause… and choose Resume.
Choose Counting › Resume Counting in the main window’s menus.

Pause for 1 Hour and Pause Until Tomorrow end by themselves. Pause Until I Resume doesn’t. See Privacy and your data.

Notices in the panel

A notice appears in the panel only while its condition holds.

Counts can’t be saved right now. Deskathon keeps them in memory and keeps trying.

Why: Deskathon couldn’t write its data file for 5 minutes in a row. Your counts are held in memory in the meantime.

What to do: If your Mac is low on disk space, free some up. Keep Deskathon open, because counts held in memory are lost if you quit. If the notice stays, write to us at support@vpolabs.com before you quit.

Saved by a newer version. Read-only, nothing is counted.

Why: The data file was written by a newer version of Deskathon than the one that’s open. Deskathon shows it read-only and doesn’t change it. At launch it also shows the alert Your data was saved by a newer version: “Deskathon is showing it read-only and won’t change it. Update Deskathon to keep counting.”

What to do: Update Deskathon in the Mac App Store, then open it again.

Your data can’t be saved. Counts are lost when you quit.

Why: Deskathon couldn’t open its data file or repair it, so it counts in memory only.

What to do: Write to us at support@vpolabs.com with your Deskathon version (Settings › About) and your macOS version. Counts are lost when you quit, so keep Deskathon open until you’ve heard back.

Deskathon counts only while it’s open. Open it at login to keep counting after a restart.

Why: This is a one-time hint. It shows from the second time you open Deskathon, after the welcome, while Open at login is off.

What to do: Click Open at Login to turn the login item on, or ignore the hint. Nothing else turns it on. See Open at login isn’t working.

Keyboard counting is paused: Input Monitoring is off

Input Monitoring was turned off in macOS after you turned keyboard counting on. See Key presses aren’t counted.

Secure Input is on, keys aren’t counted right now

macOS is hiding key presses from every app. See Key presses aren’t counted.

Alerts

Each alert is listed with the text you see.

Your data was repaired

Message: Deskathon found a damaged data file and restored yesterday’s backup. Counts from up to one day may be missing.

What to do: Click OK. Deskathon keeps the three newest daily backups and shows this alert once, when it opens.

Your data file was damaged

Message: Deskathon couldn’t restore it, so it started a new one. The damaged file is kept in Deskathon’s data folder.

What to do: Click OK. Counting continues in the new file. If you want the old file looked at, write to support@vpolabs.com.

Your data was saved by a newer version

Message: Deskathon is showing it read-only and won’t change it. Update Deskathon to keep counting.

What to do: Update Deskathon in the Mac App Store. See the panel notice Saved by a newer version above.

Deskathon can’t open its data folder

Message: Deskathon needs to quit. Reinstall it from the App Store, then open it again.

What to do: Click OK. Deskathon quits. Reinstall it from the Mac App Store and open it again.

Open at login isn’t on yet

Message: macOS needs your approval first. Allow Deskathon in System Settings › General › Login Items.

What to do: Click Open System Settings and allow Deskathon. See Open at login isn’t working.

Couldn’t export your data

Message: Deskathon couldn’t write the file. Nothing was changed. Choose another location and try again.

What to do: Click OK, then run Export CSV… again and save to a different folder, such as your Desktop.

Couldn’t erase your data

Message: Deskathon couldn’t remove the data file. Nothing was changed.

What to do: Click OK. Your counts are still there. Try Erase All Data… again, and write to us if it keeps failing.

The crash report window

If Deskathon quits unexpectedly and Auto-send crash reports is off, a window titled Deskathon quit unexpectedly (or Deskathon quit unexpectedly N times when several reports are waiting) asks after each crash whether to send a report. It lists what would go (Crash report and This Mac). Click Send Report or Don’t Send. Nothing is sent unless you click Send Report. See Privacy and your data.

If the image can’t be saved or made, a line under the options reads Couldn’t save the image. Choose another location and click Save Image… again. If it fails in every location, write to us (see Still stuck). See Share cards.

Key presses aren’t counted

Keyboard counting is optional and off until you turn it on. It needs the macOS Input Monitoring permission. Find the state you see below.

The Keys row says Off

Keyboard counting isn’t on. Click Open Settings in the row, or open Settings › Keyboard, and turn on Count key presses. Deskathon explains what is counted first, and macOS asks for Input Monitoring only after you agree.

Waiting for Input Monitoring

macOS is waiting for you. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Input Monitoring and allow Deskathon. Counting starts as soon as you do. While it waits, Deskathon checks every 2 seconds for up to 2 minutes, and again each time you switch back to it. Click Open System Settings to go there, or Cancel to open Settings › Keyboard instead.

Input Monitoring is off

You said no to the macOS prompt, or the permission isn’t on. Click Open System Settings and turn Deskathon on in the Input Monitoring list. If you just allowed it and nothing changes, quit and reopen Deskathon. If you’d rather not count keys, choose Turn Off Keyboard Counting, which opens Settings › Keyboard.

Deskathon doesn’t ask again on its own. Everything else works without this permission.

Keyboard counting is paused: Input Monitoring is off

Input Monitoring was turned off after counting was on. Your earlier counts are kept and shown dimmed. Click Open System Settings and turn Deskathon back on, or turn keyboard counting off in Settings › Keyboard.

Secure Input is on, keys aren’t counted right now

macOS hides key presses while you type in a password field, and some apps keep Secure Input on. Counting resumes on its own when Secure Input ends. The notice shows after about 10 seconds. If it stays on for a long time, a password field in another app may still be active.

Deskathon isn’t in the Input Monitoring list

Click Open System Settings in Deskathon. When Input Monitoring is off or was turned off, Deskathon asks macOS again first, so it shows up in the list.

See Keyboard counting for the full story.

Widgets

My widget shows older numbers

Widgets refresh every few minutes, not continuously, and macOS limits refreshes while Deskathon is in the background. When a widget’s numbers are more than 15 minutes old, it says so, for example “Updated 20 min ago”. Open Deskathon and your widgets catch up within a minute.

My widget says Open Deskathon to start counting.

The widget has no numbers to show yet. Open Deskathon and let it count for a moment.

My widget shows an empty layout and Unlock with Pro in Deskathon

Medium and Large widgets need Deskathon Pro. Click the widget to open the Pro sheet. The Small widget is free. See Widgets.

I can’t find Deskathon in the widget gallery

Control-click an empty part of the desktop, choose Edit Widgets, and type Deskathon in the search field. The steps for Notification Center are on the Widgets page.

Open Settings › General and turn on Open at login.
If macOS needs your approval, Deskathon shows Open at login isn’t on yet. Click Open System Settings.
In System Settings › General › Login Items, allow Deskathon.

Until you approve it, the Open at login row in Settings shows the same message with an Open System Settings button.

Distance looks wrong

The distance on one display is off

Deskathon turns pointer movement into distance using the physical size each display reports to macOS. Some TVs, projectors and docks report the wrong size. To correct it:

Open Settings and choose Displays.
Find the display and turn off Use detected size.
Enter the Diagonal, measured corner to corner without the bezel. The field is in inches and takes 5 to 120.

The correction applies from then on. Distance already counted stays as measured. Turn Use detected size back on to undo it.

The menu bar item cuts digits off instead of rounding them, so the number only grows. With Short numbers on, a distance shows as 2.3 km instead of 2.31 km. Turn it off in Settings › General › Menu bar to see the full number.

A big pointer jump didn’t count

Deskathon ignores a sudden jump of more than a third of the longer side of your larger display, because it isn’t movement you made. See How counting works.

Pro and purchases

Deskathon Pro is a one-time in-app purchase. These messages appear on the Pro sheet; Settings › Pro shows only the Restore Purchases results and the notice that Pro is no longer active.

Message	What to do
The App Store can’t be reached, so the price isn’t available. Try again later.	Check your connection and open the sheet again. The Buy Pro button stays dimmed until the App Store answers.
Waiting for approval from your family organizer.	Pro unlocks on this Mac as soon as it’s approved.
The purchase didn’t complete. You can try again, or choose Restore Purchases if you were already charged.	Try again, or click Restore Purchases.
The App Store couldn’t verify this purchase. Choose Restore Purchases to try again.	Click Restore Purchases.
Couldn’t restore purchases. Check your connection and try again.	Check your connection, then click Restore Purchases again.
No purchase to restore. This Apple Account hasn’t bought Pro.	Sign in to the Mac App Store with the Apple Account that bought Pro, then try again.
Pro is no longer active on this Mac. Your data is still here, and counting continues.	This follows a refund or a revoked purchase. Pro features lock again. Nothing you recorded is deleted.

If the App Store can’t confirm Pro, for example when you’re offline, Deskathon keeps Pro on for up to 7 days after the last time it was confirmed. A refund locks it at once. Questions about a payment or a refund go to Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. See Deskathon Pro.

Still stuck

Write to support@vpolabs.com, or choose Feedback in the sidebar of the main window. Tell us your Deskathon version (Settings › About), your macOS version and what happened. The Support page has more ways to reach us.