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This page walks through the most common problems users encounter in 1Archive and the steps most likely to resolve each one. Work through the steps in order, later steps are less common but cover edge cases the earlier ones might miss.

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Drive not detected

If you plug in a drive and it does not appear in the 1Archive source list, work through the following checks:
1

Confirm the drive is physically connected

Check that the cable is fully seated at both ends. Try unplugging and replugging the drive.
2

Try a different USB port or cable

Faulty ports and cables are a common cause of intermittent detection. Swap the cable or port and wait a few seconds for the operating system to remount the drive.
3

Verify the drive is readable by your operating system

Open Finder (macOS) or File Explorer (Windows) and confirm the drive appears there. If it does not, the issue is at the OS level, the drive may need reformatting or have a hardware fault.
4

Check whether the drive has been scanned before

A connected but previously unscanned drive appears in the source list with a Scan button rather than as a full source. If you see this, click Scan to index it. Once scanning completes, the drive will appear as a full source.
A drive that was scanned previously will continue to appear in your catalog even when disconnected. If you are looking for an already-indexed drive, it should already be visible, check for a “disconnected” label on the source card.

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Scan stopped or is taking a long time

Scans on large drives can take anywhere from several minutes to a few hours depending on the number of files and drive speed.
1

Wait and monitor progress

1Archive shows scan progress on the source card. Let the scan run to completion before concluding something is wrong.
2

Check drive health

Slow scans on older drives sometimes indicate sectors being re-read due to errors. On macOS, you can check drive health in Disk Utility. On Windows, use the drive manufacturer’s diagnostic tool or chkdsk.
3

Try restarting the scan

If the scan appears to have stopped entirely (no progress for an extended period), quit 1Archive, relaunch it, and start the scan again from the source card.

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Search returning no results

1

Check which search mode is active

1Archive has three search modes: AI Image Search, File Name, and Transcript. Make sure the mode you are using matches what you are looking for.
2

Check your filters

Look at the chips under the search bar. A Source, Collection, or Date filter narrows every search in the modes that use it. Remove a chip, or click Clear all, to search everything again. When no filters are set, the row reads Searching all sources.
3

Verify your internet connection

Search needs an internet connection in every mode. If you are offline, browse your sources directly until you reconnect.
4

Make sure the source has been scanned

Files only appear in search results after their source has been scanned. AI Image Search also needs AI image indexing turned on for that source, and a file shows up only once its import has finished. If a drive was recently connected and not yet scanned, its files will not be searchable.
5

Searching a Collection? Give new files a moment

Files you add to a Collection can take a little while to become searchable inside it while 1Archive catches up in the background. Results also stay as they are until you search again, so press Enter to run the search once more. Collection search covers photos and video frames only.
6

Try broader or different search terms

File Name search needs at least three characters and returns up to 100 files, so a short or common term can crowd out the file you want. For AI Image Search, try a simpler or differently worded description. For transcript search, the video must have been transcribed, and not all videos are transcribed automatically.
If a Collection search shows Unable to search this collection, check that you’re online and that you still have access to the Collection. See Collection permissions.

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Face clustering not working

1

Check your internet connection

Face clustering requires an active internet connection. If you are offline, the clustering operation will fail immediately. Reconnect to the internet and try again.
2

Run Detect People on each source first

Clustering groups together faces that have already been detected. If you have not run face detection on a source, there are no faces for clustering to work with. Right-click a source in the sidebar and choose Detect People, then wait for detection to complete before running Cluster Faces.
3

Confirm you have enough faces per person

Clusters with fewer than 4 detected instances of the same face will not appear. If your library has only a few photos of a given person, they will not form a cluster. Add more photos featuring that person to your sources and re-run clustering.
4

Re-run clustering after adding new sources

After detecting people on a new source, click Cluster Faces again. Clustering is incremental, new faces are grouped with existing clusters where possible.
The Re-cluster All Faces option deletes all existing face clusters and rebuilds them from scratch. Any manual person names and groupings you have set will be lost. Use this only when you want to start fresh.

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Can’t delete a source folder

If the Delete option for a source folder is unavailable or returns an error, the folder is not empty.
1

Open the folder and review its contents

Navigate into the folder to see which sources it contains.
2

Move or remove each source

Drag each source out of the folder to the root level, or remove sources from your catalog if they are no longer needed.
3

Delete the now-empty folder

Once all sources have been removed, right-click the folder and select Delete.

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Can’t add a member to a restricted source folder

Adding members to a restricted source folder requires the Admin role in your organization. Editor and Viewer roles cannot modify folder membership. If you need to add a member and do not have admin access, ask an organization admin to make the change or to update your role.
If a recipient reports that a share link is showing an error or is no longer accessible:
1

Check that the link still exists

Right-click the collection, choose Share Collection, and look under Active Links. If the link isn’t there, it was deleted. When an Owner or Admin turns off public or password-protected links for the organization, existing links of that type are deleted too.
2

Check the expiry date

Each link shows its Expires date. New links expire after one week unless you chose another time. Expired links stay in the list, and recipients see Collection link not found or expired.
3

Check what the recipient sees

A Password Protected link asks for the password first and shows Invalid password. Please try again. after a wrong one. A Private link shows Private Collection with a sign-in button. After signing in, anyone who doesn’t have access to the collection sees You do not have access to this collection. Add them to the collection, or send a public or password-protected link instead.
4

Generate a new share link

If the link was deleted or has expired, click Generate Link in the same dialog and send the new URL.

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App crashes on startup

1

Relaunch the app

If 1Archive displays an error dialog with a Restart button, close the dialog and relaunch the app manually from your Applications folder or taskbar. The restart button closes the app entirely.
2

Check system requirements

Confirm your Mac meets the minimum requirements: macOS 14 Sonoma or later on Apple Silicon.
3

Reinstall 1Archive

Download the latest version from the 1Archive website and reinstall it. Reinstalling preserves your local catalog and settings.
4

Contact support

If the app continues to crash after reinstalling, reach out to support with a description of when the crash occurs. Including any error messages you saw before the crash will help us diagnose the issue faster.