This page is organised by the error message that Excerpt shows on screen. Find the message you are seeing below, and it explains what caused it and what to do next.
Importing audio
Unsupported Format
The message names the type of file, for example “.mp4 files can’t be imported. Use an audio file or a ZIP of audio files.” Excerpt can import almost any audio file, but not .mp4 video files or a few rare formats. Convert the file to m4b, m4a or mp3, then choose Import File. If the book is split into chapter tracks, put them in a ZIP and choose Import ZIP.
See which files work for the full list of formats.
The file still will not import
An Import Error names the file and gives the reason (damaged, empty, video only, or unreadable). Try playing the file in another audio app. If it does not play there either then the file itself is the problem, so download or export it again. Files from streaming services and some library apps (such as Libby) may be DRM protected, even when the filename looks like an ordinary audio file.
If the file is inside a ZIP, convert the track that the error names, to mp3 or m4a on a computer, put it back in the ZIP and import the ZIP again.
The exception is This import needs about … free and there is …, which is about storage, not the file. A ZIP, or a file that has to be converted, needs free space of about two and a half times its size while it imports. Free up some storage and import again.
See fix common ZIP problems for the other errors.
Chapters Skipped
“Book title” has damaged chapter marks, so they were skipped.
The chapter times stored in the audio file cannot be used (for example they are all at the same time, or after the end of the book), so the book was added without chapters. It still plays. Reset Chapters reads the same file and gives the same result, so add the chapters yourself with Add Chapter. See Manage Chapters.
Audiobookshelf cannot find the server
What to do depends on what the scan says:
- Excerpt can’t reach your local network. iOS has blocked the scan. Open the iOS Settings app, choose Privacy & Security → Local Network, and turn Excerpt on, then scan again.
- Nothing found on the usual port. The scan ran, but no server answered on port 13378. Tap Try Other Ports to check 80, 8080, 8000 and 3000 as well.
- Still nothing on this network. Type the address yourself. The scan only finds a server on the same Wi‑Fi that answers over plain http on one of those ports, so it cannot find one on another port, one that only answers over https, or one you reach through a VPN or a reverse proxy.
Taking a highlight
A highlight has no text
A new highlight can wait in a queue for a short while before it is transcribed. If it stays empty, the model might have struggled on that audio clip. Check the book language is set correctly, and try a different transcription model.
Then open the highlight and tap Transcribe, or Realign if the book has an ebook linked.
Transcription Error: the model only supports English
base.en only supports English, but this book is in French. Select Apple Speech or a large Whisper model in Settings > Transcription, then transcribe the highlight again.
base.en and small.en cannot transcribe any language other than English. Switch to another model, then open the highlight and tap Transcribe. If the book is actually in English, then its Book Language is set to a different language. See Listen to Books in Other Languages to change it.
Linking an ebook
EPUB may not match
The ebook may be a different edition or translation, or a different length from the audiobook. Choose Keep EPUB to try it anyway, or Remove EPUB and choose another edition.
If the message says that the EPUB does not match, Excerpt has already removed it. The audiobook is not changed.
Ebook Not Linked after a LibriVox import
No ebook was available for “Book title”. You can add one from the book’s edit screen.
Only the automatic download of the ebook failed, and the audiobook is already in your library. Open Edit Book and tap Add EPUB to add an ebook you download yourself.
See how LibriVox books link their ebook.
Read Along says Aligning ebook…
Excerpt is still aligning the ebook to the audiobook. You can keep listening and come back to it later, as the button becomes enabled once this has completed.
Start by tapping the badge on the book’s cover in the Library tab. It will explain in an alert what the alignment is doing, or what it is waiting for if it is not actively running at that moment. See the badge on the cover.
If it seems stuck on Aligning ebook… for a long time, check these:
- The audio is on this device. The alignment reads the audio file, so a book that is still in iCloud waits until it has been downloaded, and the badge reads Downloading the audio. Alignment follows. Tap the book in the Library to download it.
- Something else is using the processor. Transcribing a highlight, enhancing audio and importing a book all come first, and the alignment continues on its own once these blockers are completed. The badge will explain what its stuck behind on tapping it.
- Background App Refresh is on. Alignment continues after you background the app, but iOS will not wake the app to resume one while the phone is idle if this toggle is turned off. You can check the toggle in the iOS Settings app under General → Background App Refresh.
- It has not failed. If the alignment fails, Excerpt tries again after one minute, then five, then thirty. After the third failure it shows Forced Alignment Failed with Tap the map badge in your library to retry. Tap the badge and choose Try Again or more realistically, if its failed that many times the epub is probably a poor match.
A Lock Screen card reading Task Failed is not a failure of this kind. It is iOS saying the background time ran out; dismiss it, and re-open the app for alignment to resume where it left off. See it carries on when you leave the app.
Read-Along Unavailable
“Book title” can’t read along: too little audio matches the ebook.
Excerpt finished preparing the ebook but could not line it up with the audio well enough to follow the narration. The end of the message says why:
| The message ends | What to do |
|---|---|
| too little audio matches the ebook or the audio and ebook match too loosely | The ebook is probably a different edition or translation, or the recording is abridged. Use Replace EPUB in Edit Book to try another edition, and check that Book Language is the language the narrator speaks. |
| the ebook text is unreadable | Excerpt could not read the text of the epub. Use Replace EPUB with another copy of the file. |
| the recording is too short | The audio is too short to be aligned, so Read Along is not available for it. |
The audiobook and its highlights are not affected.
Opening a highlight link
Highlight Not Found
The highlight that the link points to has been deleted.
Before you reinstall
Deleting Excerpt removes the library that is stored on that device. Reinstalling does not fix a damaged audio file, an ebook that does not match, or a missing permission, so try the steps above first.
If you still need to reinstall, first make sure a backup exists outside the app, because the internal backups are deleted with it. In Settings › Backup, set a backup folder. Excerpt copies its latest backup there straight away, so check in Files that excerpt_backup.json.gz in that folder has a recent date. For a backup of the library as it is right now, run the Create Library Backup action in Shortcuts and save the file it returns. See Back Up and Restore Your Library.
Known limitations
A few problems do not have a fix inside the app yet:
- Read Along may stay unavailable for a book that is made up of unusually short chapters or with large parts of the ebook that are not spoken in the audiobook. See Read-Along Unavailable.
- Read Along may not recover in the same session if preparing the ebook took too long. Force quit the app and try again later.
Neither of these removes the audiobook or its highlights.
If the problem is not here
The quickest way is Settings › About Excerpt › Report a Bug, which attaches diagnostic information from the app. Add a sentence on what you expected to happen.
If you cannot open the app, use Contact Us below and include:
- The exact wording of the error message.
- The book and screen you were using.
- Whether an EPUB is linked.
- What you had already tried.
These details usually help me find the problem more quickly than a screenshot on its own.