Troubleshooting

This page helps solve some common Duolingo problems.

Important note!

Duolingo runs many experiments. In some cases these features alter the default behaviour for some users but not others. Third party tools (e.g. userscripts or Extensions) may also cause unpredictable effects on Duolingo. Disable them before using Duolingo, and before reporting a bug.

These are not bugs.

The correct way to report bugs is by submitting a Bug Report.  Make sure to first search the official help, duolingo forums, or unofficial faq before reporting a bug.

Bug (definition) : "A software bug is an error, flaw, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended ways".

General troubleshooting

A lot of issues can be solved by refreshing your browser. If that doesn't work, then try logging out, then logging in. If none of these two ways work, then take a look at this page.

Cannot advance through lessons

Try restarting the application or browser (or use a different browser), also try removing all the cache, history and log-on again. If that fails contact support.

Cannot change profile picture

• Choose picture that is less than 1MB
• Save picture as .PNG
• Dimensions between 400x400px and 800x800px
• Save when finished
• Sign out then sign back in

See: Settings: Profile picture for where to change your picture.

Coach

See page: Troubleshooting/Coach

Strengthen skill not working

Main article: Strengthen skills

Skill won't strengthen or become gold

Sometimes a bad state or bug may prevent a skill from strengthening normally. Try redoing some or all the lessons in the skill. A skill does not always become fully strengthened (e.g. golden) after practice , this is generally not a bug, as it may sometimes take several practice sessions to do so.

Cannot hear audio

This is generally a problem on the user's side. If users are experiencing connectivity issues this may happen. Also make sure the volume setting on the operating system is high enough to be audible. Duolingo also supports HTML5 audio in compatible browsers .

Microphone is not working

Check if microphone works in a regular application, also try signing out then back in. If that doesn't work, try using a different browser, and make sure that there isn't too much ambient noise. The speaking exercises must also be enabled in the settings to work. Web browsers may also require Adobe Flash Player.

Microphone is not recognizing my voice

Voice recognition software isn't perfect. You can improve its effectiveness by using it in a quiet room, with a good quality external microphone. You may also disable the spoken lessons.

No speaking exercises

Speaking exercises may not be available for all courses or may be undergoing A/B testing  , on the PC or Mobile or both. Sometimes speaking exercises may be available on the website but not on mobile. Make sure to enable the exercises in the settings.

Can't access course

Not all courses are available in all platforms and it takes some time (possibly months) before Duolingo deems them good enough to be deployed on other platforms . Only courses in incubator Phase 2 or  3 are available for learning. 

Words tab vanished

Not all courses have words tab enabled (beta courses often don't).

Timed practice gives infinite time

This is a known bug. This often happens when someone loses connectivity or there is a problem communicating with the servers. Simply restart the practice or refresh the page.

Cannot access a feature someone else has

See Experimental feature.

Error 404

"The web site hosting server will typically generate a "404 Not Found" web page when a user attempts to follow a broken or dead link". It may also indicate that a page was deleted by a moderator or admin because it broke the guidelines.

Forgot password

See this.

Progress got deleted when changing courses

Switching to a different base language may  temporarily prevent users from seeing their progress in the previous courses . All the progress is still there though. Switch back to the previous language course to see the previous progress. See  FAQ to learn how to switch back.

Not credited for completing unit

Some possible causes for this include  connectivity issues, plugins blocking traffic, adware, viruses, or Duolingo servers. If on the website try clearing the cache, disabling browser plugins, and running anti-adware or antivirus. If on mobile, try restarting the device, or re-installing the application. If the problem persists contact the official Duolingo support.

Streak ended despite practicing

Main article: Streak

Streak is only maintained if  XP   is gained before midnight in the time zone the account was originally set up in. Note that the coach requires a minimum amount of XP before continuing the streak.

Note that some timezones are processed incorrectly. To check your timezone, open your profile's page, look into source code (ctrl+U in Firefox) and search for "timezone" and "timezone_offset". Then, find your timezone at list of timezones and check if offset there matches your "timezone_offset". If it does not, some parts of your day may be attributed to a day before or after.

For example, "timezone": "Europe/Moscow" goes with "timezone_offset": "+0400". Searching here for Moscow we'll see that it's actually UTC+3. Thus, we should expect Duolingo to start a new day at 11pm, not at midnight.

Duolingo accepting completely wrong answers

Sometimes wrong (microphone) input is detected due to ambient noise (or errors), connectivity issues prevent retrieval of the answers, or the wrong answer was entered in the course. Try using a quiet place, make sure the internet connection is working properly, restart the application or browser, or submit a report if the sentence is inaccurate.

Activity stream is not working

This is generally caused by a lack of internet connection or by some problems contacting Duolingo servers. One has to patiently wait until the functionality is eventually restored.

Website troubleshooting

If the website seems to be down, you can check it yourself at the page status.duolingo.com. This page also gives the status of Tinycards, Duolingo for Schools and the Test Center.

Website is in wrong language

Change default language. Duolingo 2014

Click the website's language settings arrow. It will be in the same place no matter what language the sign-up page is in. See this for more information.

Mobile troubleshooting

Main article: Troubleshooting/Mobile

See also

• Settings