Troubleshooting

Find the message the extension shows, then apply the fix. For proxy issues that are not specific to the extension, see the general Troubleshooting page.

”That doesn’t look like a Shifter API key”

Message: That doesn't look like a Shifter API key. Copy it again from your profile.

Cause: The text you pasted is not a Shifter API key. Usually part of the key was missed when copying, extra characters came along, or a different credential such as a proxy password was pasted.

Fix: Open your Shifter profile, copy the API key again in full and paste it into the extension.

”No active memberships”

Message: No active memberships, with Get a Residential or ISP plan on Shifter and it will show up here instantly.

Cause: Your account has no active plan the extension can use. It only lists Residential Proxies and ISP Proxies plans; legacy backconnect plans, the Web Scraping API and the SERP API do not appear.

Fix: Get a Residential Proxies or ISP Proxies plan on Shifter. It appears in the extension as soon as it is active. If you just bought one and it is still missing, reopen the extension.

”Shifter rejected the proxy login”

Message: Shifter rejected the proxy login. Check your plan is active and has traffic left.

Cause: The gateway refused the plan’s credentials. The plan has expired or been cancelled, or it has no traffic left.

Fix: Check the plan in the panel. Renew it, or pick another active plan with Switch membership, then connect again.

”This plan is not active on the gateway yet”

Message: This plan is not active on the gateway yet.

Cause: The plan exists on your account, but the gateway has not finished activating it. This can happen right after a purchase or a plan change.

Fix: Wait a moment and connect again. If the message stays, contact support with the plan name.

”No IP is available for this location right now”

Message: No IP is available for this location right now. Try a wider area.

Cause: No free IP matches the location you picked. It is most common with Strict location turned on and a narrow target such as a small city or a specific ASN, because the extension then never falls back to a wider area.

Fix: Pick a wider area: drop the ASN or the city and keep the state or country. Or turn off Strict location so the gateway can fall back to a wider area.

”Another extension controls your proxy settings”

Message: Another extension controls your proxy settings. Turn it off and try again.

Cause: A browser lets only one extension control its proxy settings at a time. Another proxy or VPN extension has that control.

Fix: Open the extensions page (chrome://extensions or about:addons in Firefox), turn off the other proxy or VPN extension, then connect again in Shifter.

”Your browser policy does not allow extensions to change the proxy”

Message: Your browser policy does not allow extensions to change the proxy.

Cause: The browser is managed by your organization, as work and school browsers often are, and a policy locks the proxy settings. Extensions cannot override it.

Fix: Ask your IT administrator to allow it, or use the extension in a personal browser or browser profile that is not managed. In Chrome, chrome://policy lists the policies that apply.

WebRTC protection shows “Not active”

Message: Not active: another extension or a browser policy controls WebRTC. Turn that off to use this protection.

Cause: Another extension (often a privacy or VPN extension) or a browser policy already controls the browser’s WebRTC setting, so WebRTC leak protection cannot apply. Your proxy connection still works.

Fix: Turn off the other extension’s WebRTC feature, or the extension itself, and reopen Shifter. On a managed browser, ask your IT administrator.

”Too many requests”

Message: Too many requests. Wait a minute and try again.

Cause: The extension made too many calls to the Shifter API in a short time, for example after many reconnects or plan switches in a row.

Fix: Wait a minute, then try again.

”You’re offline” or “Couldn’t reach Shifter”

Message: You're offline. Check your connection and try again. or Couldn't reach Shifter. Check your connection and try again.

Cause: Your device has no internet connection, or something on your network (a firewall, a captive portal on public Wi-Fi, a filtering DNS) blocks shifter.io.

Fix: Check that you can open other sites, sign in to any Wi-Fi portal, then try again. On a filtered network, try another connection.

”The extension has no access to shifter.io”

Message: The extension has no access to shifter.io. Reload it in your browser's extensions page.

Cause: The browser has not granted, or has withdrawn, the extension’s permission to reach shifter.io, which it needs to read your plans. This can happen after an update or when its site access was limited.

Fix: Open the extension’s details on the extensions page and make sure it can access all sites, or at least shifter.io. If the message stays, turn the extension off and on again, or restart the browser.

Firefox: “Restart Firefox to fully apply this change”

Message: Restart Firefox to fully apply this change: sites you already opened may keep the previous location.

Cause: Firefox can keep connections to sites that were already open, so those sites may keep seeing the previous location after you change it.

Fix: Restart Firefox.

Check what sites see

Open ip-info.com in a tab while connected. It shows the IP, country, city and ISP that sites see. If it shows your own IP, the extension is not connected or the site is on your Bypass proxy for list.

Still stuck?

Contact support with your browser and its version, the extension version (shown on the extensions page), and the exact message the extension shows.