Frequently Asked Questions

Read this first before posting your question to the forums or filing a bug – it may already be answered here.

I just installed Clippings. How do I use it?

Read the Quick Start Guide. The Quick Start Guide is a short tutorial aimed at first-time users, and describes how to perform basic tasks in Clippings.

When installing Clippings for Firefox, I am asked to confirm several add-on permissions. Why does Clippings need all these permissions?

See the Add-on Permissions page for an explanation of the add-on permissions requested by Clippings.

On some websites, Clippings doesn't work when I try to paste a clipping into a textbox or text area. Why?

Some websites have blocked mass copying and pasting to protect against spamming. As a result, pasting a clipping from the Clippings context menu or keyboard shortcut may have no effect.

To work around this, copy and paste the clipping from Clippings Manager.

When I try to paste a clipping into the Zendesk message editor, the "@" symbol is inserted instead of line breaks.

This is an issue with newer versions of CKEditor, which is used by Zendesk and other web apps for editing HTML content. See this Clippings Help article for workaround instructions.

Where is my Clippings data stored?

Your clippings are stored in a database file in your Firefox or Thunderbird user profile. Use Sync Clippings to sync your clippings across your other devices.

Does Clippings perform automatic backups?

Because Clippings is a WebExtension, it is unable to save backups automatically. It is highly recommended that you backup your clippings from Clippings Manager on a regular basis. Turn on backup reminders from Clippings preferences so that you get a recurring reminder notification; you can choose how often you want to be reminded (every day, or every 2, 3, 5, 7, 14 or 30 days).

Clippings has suddenly stopped working in Firefox. I get an error saying that it doesn't work in Private Browsing mode, but I didn't change my privacy settings.

If you didn't recently change the privacy settings in Firefox, then it is likely that the database used by Clippings for storing its data has become corrupted. To resolve this issue, Refresh Firefox, then reinstall Clippings.

Does Clippings work in Private Browsing mode?

Yes it does, but you'll need to change the "Run in Private Windows" setting from Add-ons Manager. For instructions, see the help topic Clippings in Private Browsing Windows.

Does Clippings work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history"?

No. Setting this Firefox privacy setting to the most restrictive selection will disable Clippings. To enable Clippings, open the Firefox options page, click Privacy and Security, and change the history setting to Remember history or Use custom settings for history.

If I uninstall Clippings, will I lose my Clippings data?

Yes, unfortunately. If you plan on reinstalling Clippings in the future, back up your data before uninstalling. This can be done from Clippings Manager.

How do I transfer my clippings to a different computer?

Follow these steps:

  1. Use the Export command in Clippings Manager (ToolsExport) to export your clippings data to a file. Select Clippings in the list of available export formats.
  2. On the computer where you want to transfer your clippings data, install Clippings in the desired host application (Firefox and/or Thunderbird).
  3. Copy the file exported in step 1 and note the location where you copied the file to.
  4. Start the host application, then open Clippings Manager, select ToolsImport, and locate the exported file.

I upgraded Firefox or Thunderbird, and Clippings doesn't work anymore!

You may have an older version of Clippings that wasn't updated. Click the Firefox or Thunderbird menu , then click Add-ons and Themes, select Clippings in the list of installed extensions, and right-click and select Find Updates. If that doesn't work, download a fresh copy from the install page.

Please note that nightly builds and alpha releases of Firefox and Thunderbird are not supported. Beta releases may be supported once Clippings has been tested on them and is confirmed to be working without significant regressions.

The Clippings Manager window is gone! How do I bring it back?

This may happen if there was a recent change to the display settings on your system (for example, the primary and secondary displays were swapped) and the option to save the Clippings Manager window size and position is turned on. To bring back Clippings Manager, the window size and position needs to be reset from Clippings preferences:

  1. First, make sure that Clippings Manager is closed before proceeding. To do this, click the Clippings button (this will open Clippings Manager, but the window may be hidden or partially off-screen), then press CTRL+W (or Command+W on macOS) to close the hidden window.
  2. Open Add-ons Manager (from the Firefox menu , select Add-ons and Themes)
  3. Locate Clippings in the list of installed extensions, then click the ... button on the right-hand side and then select Options to open the extension preferences page
  4. In the General Options section, click Windows and Dialogs
  5. In the Windows and Dialogs settings dialog, click Reset, and then click OK.

I don't like the default keyboard shortcut for invoking Clippings keyboard paste mode. Can I change it?

If you're using Clippings for Firefox, yes you can! The keyboard paste key can be changed from Clippings preferences.


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