Troubleshooting & FAQ
Sync messages explained
visualOS talks to you when something around the folder needs attention — always after protecting your data first. Here’s the dictionary.
More in Troubleshooting & FAQ
Folder availability
| Message (gist) | Meaning & what to do |
|---|---|
| “The folder can’t be read right now (offline, iCloud still loading, or the file is damaged). Nothing was changed.” | The folder exists but isn’t safely readable — typically a cloud placeholder still downloading or a disconnected drive. visualOS blocks all writes so nothing stale overwrites anything, and retries by itself. Fix the availability (Keep Downloaded, reconnect the drive) and it resolves on its own. |
| “Folder temporarily unreadable — changes are saved on this device and will be written to the folder again shortly.” | Same situation mid-session. Keep working; your edits are safe locally and flow into the folder once it’s back. |
| “Saving into the folder failed — retrying automatically. Your changes are safe on this device.” | A write didn’t go through (cloud hiccup, full disk). visualOS retries; check disk space if it persists. |
| “Grant access again” (folder button) | Browser security asks you to re-confirm folder access after a restart — one click, done. |
Versions of your data
| Message (gist) | Meaning & what to do |
|---|---|
| “Newer state loaded from the folder.” | Another device saved more recently; this device adopted it. Your previous state went into version history first. |
| “Changes from two devices were merged automatically — nothing was lost.” | Parallel edits, merged item by item. How merging works. |
| “…{n} element(s) were edited on both devices — both versions now sit side by side.” | The same element changed on both sides; the other version was placed next to yours as a conflict copy. Compare, keep one, delete the other. |
| “Warning: much less data in the folder…” | The folder suddenly holds far fewer elements than this device has ever seen — could be your intentional deletion, could be a sync accident. You choose which state to keep; the other is snapshotted either way. |
| “This folder already contains visualOS data” | Appears when connecting a non-empty folder: load the folder’s data (the usual choice on a second device) or consciously overwrite it — with an automatic backup first. |
| “An iCloud conflict file was stored as a backup…” / “changes … merged automatically” | iCloud created a duplicate (like canvas-data 2.json); visualOS secured it and merged its changes back in. Nothing to do. |
App & storage health
| Message (gist) | Meaning & what to do |
|---|---|
| “visualOS is already open in another tab/window.” | Two live instances could overwrite each other’s in-memory state. Close one. |
| “This browser’s local storage is unavailable (e.g. private mode)…” | Nothing can be saved on-device. Leave private mode, or connect a folder / export a backup before closing. |
| “This device/browser storage is full…” | The device is out of space for new changes. Free up disk space; consider a connected folder so bulky files live on disk. |
The pattern
Every message follows the same philosophy: protect first, inform second, never guess. If visualOS wasn’t sure your data was safe, it stopped and told you — the fix is always about restoring access, never about racing to save something.