Notion Not Working: Error Messages, App Reset and Slow Databases

When Notion shows “Something went wrong,” “Cannot save changes” or a similar error, Notion’s own fixes are to sign out and back in, restart the device, clear the browser cache and local storage, or reset the app and update to the latest version. If you see “Offline” or images that will not load, the usual cause is a VPN, firewall, proxy or DNS filter blocking Notion. Slow databases usually come from too many pages, too many visible properties or sorts and filters on formulas and rollups.

Before you change anything, look at Notion’s help page on common errors, which points to the company status page for known problems. If Notion is down for everyone, none of the steps below will help until it is fixed.

What do the general Notion errors mean?

Messages like “Something’s not right,” “Hmm… something’s not right,” “There was an issue persisting your edits,” “Storage operation did not complete” and “Notion is damaged” share one list of fixes. Notion also groups pages that will not open, or an app that will not open at all, under the same heading. Work through these in order:

1. Sign out of your Notion account and sign back in.
2. Restart your device and try again.
3. Open Notion on another device, in another browser or in an incognito tab.
4. Clear local storage and the cache in your browser, then quit and reopen the browser.
5. Reset the Notion app (steps below) and make sure you have the latest version.
6. Turn off any VPN and try again.

On a work or school network, IT may need to allowlist *.notion.com in the firewall or secure web gateway, in DNS filtering policies, in proxy allow and deny lists, and in security tools that block newly seen domains.

Check your device too. Notion does not support Chromebooks or other ChromeOS devices; on those, use Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge, or an Android or iOS phone. iPhones and iPads on iOS 15 or earlier are also unsupported. Update to iOS 16 or later if your device allows it. Older devices may still run Notion, but the app may misbehave.

Why does Notion say “Offline” or “Connect to the internet to get started”?

Either your connection dropped or something on your network or device is blocking Notion. Confirm the internet works and is stable, then check for proxy, firewall or VPN software on your computer. On a school, company or organization network, ask IT to unblock Notion. On a home network, Notion suggests switching your DNS to 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8.

Why do images show “Go online to view this image”?

A broken image icon with this message usually means your network is stopping Notion from loading pictures, even though you are online and the files are fine. Notion says a VPN is the most common cause, especially when several teammates hit the error at once. Firewalls, proxies, DNS filters, ad blockers and iCloud Private Relay can do the same. Selecting View original may still open the image.

1. Turn the VPN off for a moment and reload the page. If the images appear, the VPN was the problem.
2. Ask IT to allowlist Notion’s domains and IP addresses in the VPN or firewall.
3. Disable ad blockers, iCloud Private Relay and similar tools one by one to find the culprit.
4. Clear the browser cache and reload.

Supported image types are HEIC, ICO, JPEG, JPG, PNG, TIF, TIFF, GIF, SVG, PDF and WEBP. If nothing works, record a HAR file in your browser while the problem is happening and send it to Notion Support.

What do the limit errors mean?

• “Your file is over the 5MB limit of the Free Plan”: imports on the Free Plan are capped at 5MB. Remove imported files you no longer need, or upgrade to a paid plan, where the cap is 50MB.
• “Rate limit reached, please try again later”: you can duplicate up to 50,000 blocks per hour. Wait an hour, or make the content smaller by trimming parts of the page or splitting it into several pages.
• “Request body too large”: this HTTP 413 error appears when you paste more than 500kb of text into a page. Paste it in smaller pieces.
• “Unsaved transactions: You don’t have access to move this page to the desired location”: an integration or bot is being set up on a page where you have only guest or partial access, or the integration itself lacks access. Get proper access to the page and grant the integration access to it.

Other services have their own versions of these messages; our guide to ChatGPT errors and what to try works the same way.

How do you reset the Notion app?

Resetting can fix content that does not display correctly, according to Notion’s reset instructions. It signs you out of every Notion account, so have your login details ready. On Windows, press Alt if you cannot see the menu bar.

For the desktop app:

1. Choose View, then Force reload.
2. Choose Help, then Troubleshooting, then Reset & Erase All Local Data.
3. Close Notion. On a Mac, open Finder, choose Go, then Go To Folder, enter /Users/<USERNAME>/Library/Application Support and delete the Notion folder. On Windows, open File Explorer, go to C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming and delete Notion.
4. Download the desktop app again from notion.com/download.

If Windows or macOS refuses to delete the folder, quit Notion fully (check it is not running in the background or system tray) and make sure no Notion processes are left in Task Manager.

In Chrome and similar browsers, open Developer Tools with cmd + option + i on a Mac or ctrl + shift + i on Windows. Right-click the refresh button and choose Empty Cache and Hard Refresh. Then go to Application, expand Cookies, right-click the Notion entry and select Clear. In Safari, open Preferences, go to Privacy, select Manage Website Data, find Notion and choose Remove All. In Firefox, click the lock icon to the left of the address, then Clear Cookies and Site Data, then Remove.

On a phone, delete the app and install it again. Your notes are synced to your account, so nothing is lost. Store problems during a reinstall are covered in our guide to App Store connection and download problems.

Why are Notion pages and databases slow?

Notion’s database performance guide names three causes: a very large number of pages, many visible properties, and sorts or filters on title, text, formula or rollup properties. Many inline databases on one busy page, such as a dashboard, add load as well.

• Put each database on its own page. To show them together, type /linked on one page, pick Linked view of a database, and add views that point to each source database. Only the open view listens for updates.
• Filter on simple properties such as select, multi-select, status, number and date to cut the number of pages processed.
• Hide properties you rarely need in a view.
• Simplify formulas that depend on other formulas built on rollups.
• Remove old or duplicate pages, or filter on Created time to hide old ones in very large databases.

What happens when a database hits its limits?

Once a limit is reached, new changes are not saved. A database can hold up to 250,000 rows; you get a warning as you get close, and past the limit adding rows returns an error. Each database can have up to 500 properties, and an error when adding a property may mean you have reached that number. All property data on a single page is capped at 2.5MB in total (uploaded files, formulas, rollups and body text do not count), and the overall property structure of a database is capped at 1.5MB.

To get back under these limits, delete unused properties and options, merge select or multi-select properties that do the same job, shorten option names (Done instead of Complete) and shorten long formulas. Deleted properties can be restored: click the slider icon at the top of the database, choose Edit properties, then Deleted properties, and pick the restore arrow. The trash holds up to 1.5MB of deleted properties; after that you must delete some permanently, and those cannot be recovered. Two-way relations also stop syncing back once the same page is referenced 10,000 times from the other database.

Quick answers

Will resetting Notion delete my pages?

No. Resetting clears local data and signs you out, but your content is synced to your account and comes back when you sign in.

Does Notion work on a Chromebook?

Notion does not support ChromeOS devices. Use Notion in Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge, or on an Android or iOS phone.

Why does Notion work at home but not at work?

Company networks often block new or unknown domains. Ask IT to allowlist *.notion.com and Notion’s IP addresses. The same pattern breaks other apps too, as in our guide to EA app error messages on PC and Mac.

What should I send Notion Support?

For image problems that survive every fix, Notion asks for a HAR file recorded in your browser while the error is on screen.

Checked against official sources in November 2026. Apps, menus and error codes change: check the official help page for the current steps.