Gist

Last updated 2026-04-19 · 1 min read

No overlay appears when I click Gist

Three causes handle almost every case — wrong icon, unsupported page, wedged extension. Fix path inside.

Three causes handle almost every "Gist installed but nothing happens" report.

1. You are clicking the wrong icon

The Gist icon is a small bolt mark. The Chrome puzzle icon is not the Gist icon — that is Chrome's extensions menu. Pin the real Gist icon to your toolbar via Install Gist on Chrome.

2. The page is not supported

Gist works on articles, papers, PDFs, YouTube, and a few other content types. Homepages, timelines, and some paywalled pages are not supported. If you click Gist and see a "not supported" message, that is the extension telling you this is not a candidate page.

3. The extension is wedged

Open chrome://extensions, toggle Gist off, toggle it back on.

Step-by-step fix

  1. Confirm the Gist icon is pinned to your Chrome toolbar.
  2. Try a known-good page — a normal web article or blog post.
  3. Click the Gist icon. The overlay should open within a second.
  4. If nothing happens, reload the extension at chrome://extensions.
  5. If Gist works on one page and not another, the problem is the page. See What Gist works on.
  6. If Gist works on no page, reinstall.
  7. If reinstall does not fix it, contact support.

What to tell support

Include:

  • Chrome version (chrome://version).
  • The URL of a page where the overlay did not appear.
  • What you saw — nothing at all, an error, a brief flash.
  • Whether reinstall has been tried.

What is next

Related