Troubleshooting

Find the message you saw below, by area, and what to do about it. If it isn’t here, ask Help or write to us.

Confirming your email

“Verify your email to sign in. We’ve sent a new link.” Your address isn’t confirmed yet. Open the new email and use the link, or type the 6-digit code in the box. See Confirm your email.

A “Verify your email” box opens. What you tried needs a confirmed email address: saving a story or a word, a PDF, a unit, a word list, or a link. Type the 6-digit code from the email Stichos sent you, or open the link in it, then try again. If the code is too old, choose Send a new code. If you were starting a plan, you don’t need to pick it again: Continue to checkout? offers the plan you chose.

“That code didn’t work. Check it and try again.” Check the digits. Where the box has Send a new code, choose it for a new email. Otherwise close the box and sign in again with your email and password.

“This verification link has expired. Send yourself a new one.” Sign in again with your email and password, and we send a new link and code.

“Too many code attempts from this network today. Use the link in the email instead.” Open the link in the email rather than typing the code.

Signing in

“Incorrect email or password.” Check both, then try again. Forgot your password? Choose Forgot password? in the sign-in box, and we email you a link that works for one hour.

“Too many failed sign-in attempts. Please try again later.” Five wrong passwords within 15 minutes pause sign-in for that email. Wait up to 15 minutes, or reset your password with Forgot password?.

“Too many wrong codes. Try again in 12 minutes.” Too many wrong two-factor codes lock further tries for a while, whichever method you use. Wait for the time shown. Lost your app, passkeys, and recovery codes? See If you’ve lost every way to sign in.

“This account is scheduled for deletion on November 3, 2026. Cancel the deletion to keep it and sign in.” Choose Cancel deletion to keep your account. With Google, Microsoft, or Apple you can’t cancel it: use your password or the link in our email. See Change your mind within 7 days.

“An account already uses this email. Sign in the way you did before, or reset your password from the sign-in screen.” The provider didn’t confirm that address, so Stichos won’t link it. This can happen with some work or school Microsoft accounts. Sign in with your email and password, or choose Forgot password? to set one. See Sign-in methods.

“An account already uses this email inbox. Sign in instead?” One inbox holds one account. An address with a +tag, or a Gmail address with extra dots, counts as the same inbox. Sign in to the account you have.

“Your session has ended. Please sign in again.” Sign in again with your email and password, or with Google, Microsoft, or Apple.

Making stories

“That’s today’s 2 stories done. Nice reading!” or “That’s this month’s stories done. Nice reading!” You’ve used your plan’s stories for now. The message says when more arrive. Meanwhile, Keep reading and Discover don’t use any. See What happens when I run out of stories? and Plans and limits.

“Your last story is still being written. Give it a moment to finish, then try again.” You can make one story at a time. Wait for the first one, then try again.

A message that says “your generation wasn’t used”: the story failed and didn’t count. Choose Generate to try again. If it says “The story generator is very busy today”, try again in a few hours.

“Several stories couldn’t be finished today, so new ones are paused on your account until tomorrow. Failed attempts never use up your stories.” Try again after 00:00 UTC.

Pauses for the day

“Stichos is getting very high traffic right now. New stories and new word lookups are paused until 5:00 PM. Everything you’ve already read still works.” Stichos has paused new stories and new lookups for a while. Your stories, saved words, and lookups already made still open. Come back after the time shown (midnight UTC, in your own time).

“Something looks unusual on your account today, so new stories and new word lookups are paused until 5:00 PM. We’ve been notified. Everything you’ve already read still works.” This is a safety limit for that account only. It lifts at the time shown. If you think it’s a mistake, write to us.

“You’ve reached today’s limit for your free trial. It resets at 5:00 PM, and everything you’ve already read still works. If you’d rather not wait, you can start your plan early from Plan & billing.” A free trial has a lower daily safety limit until the first payment. It lifts at the time shown, or when you start your plan from Plan & billing.

“You’ve reached today’s limit on the Free plan. New stories and new word lookups are paused until 5:00 PM, and everything you’ve already read still works. Learner Plus has a higher daily limit.” The Free plan has a daily fair-use safety limit. It lifts at the time shown (midnight UTC, in your own time). Learner Plus allows more each day; see Plans and limits.

Looking up words

“You’ve looked up a lot of new words today. More tomorrow, or no daily limit with Learner Plus.” You’ve reached Free’s daily word lookups in stories. Words already looked up still open. More arrive after 00:00 UTC. See How many words can I look up?

“You’ve looked up a lot of new words today. More tomorrow, or more with Learner Plus. Words already in your Word Bank still work.” On a paid plan: “You’ve looked up a lot of new words today. More tomorrow. Words already in your Word Bank still work.” You’ve reached your daily dictionary searches in the Word Bank. More arrive after 00:00 UTC. See Word Bank.

Audio

“You’ve used this month’s audio minutes. More on November 3, 2026.” Your new audio for the month is used up. Replays are still free. See How minutes work.

“You’ve used today’s audio minutes. More arrive with the daily refresh.” You’ve reached the daily limit on new audio (20 minutes on Learner Plus, 40 on Educator Studio). More arrive at 00:00 UTC. Replays are still free.

If Audio this month under Usage in the account menu isn’t full, you’ve reached the daily limit instead (20 minutes on Learner Plus, 40 on Educator Studio). It resets at 00:00 UTC, whatever date the message gives. The Studio may also show “Audio for today is used up. Back at 5:00 PM.”

“Available with Premium Audio” Story audio needs a paid plan with the Premium Audio add-on. See Get Premium Audio.

“Audio is busy. Try again in a moment.” Wait a minute and play again.

A shared link says “This link isn’t available”

“This link isn’t available. It may have been turned off or deleted. Ask your tutor for a new one.” The tutor turned the link off or deleted it, or the story was deleted. Ask your tutor for a new link. Tutors: see Turn a link off or delete it.

Plan, billing, and your data

Payment overdue, with “Your last payment didn’t go through. Update your card in Manage subscription to keep your plan.” Your plan stays on for now. Choose Manage subscription and update your card. See If a payment didn’t go through.

“You can download your data once every 24 hours. Try again later.” The wait is 24 hours from your last download, not midnight. See Download your data.

Related: Ask Help · Contact us · Plans and limits · Two-factor sign-in