🛠 Troubleshooting

Why didn't BillSensor detect my subscription?

Most detection issues come down to one of a handful of reasons. Find the one that matches what you're seeing below.

Gmail detection Outlook detection Accuracy issues Account & alerts
Gmail detection
I just installed BillSensor and it's not detecting anything in Gmail

If you already had Gmail open, on u/0, u/1, u/2, or any account tab, before installing BillSensor, that tab won't detect anything until it's reloaded. This is a Chrome platform limitation, not a BillSensor bug: Chrome only injects an extension's code into tabs that load after the extension is installed, not into tabs that were already open at install time.

✓ Fix

Reload each open Gmail tab (or close and reopen them) after installing, then open a billing email. Detection will work immediately after that, and you won't need to repeat this step again.

A billing email arrived but nothing got detected

Gmail detection only runs when you actually open the email yourself. BillSensor doesn't scan your inbox in the background for Gmail, so an email that arrives but never gets opened won't trigger detection, even if it's sitting right there in your inbox.

✓ Fix

Open the email once. Detection happens the moment you click into it, not before. If you'd rather not wait or the email has already been archived or deleted, use + Add Subscription Manually in the popup instead.

I opened the email and it still wasn't detected

BillSensor matches against a list of 61 known SaaS tools. If the tool isn't on that list, or the email comes from an unusual sending domain the tool doesn't normally use, detection can miss it.

✓ Fix

Check the supported tools list to confirm the tool is tracked. If it's not, or detection still misses it, add the subscription with + Add Subscription Manually in the popup instead.

Outlook detection
I connected Outlook but no subscriptions showed up

A few possibilities: the scan may still be running (a 12-month scan takes a minute or two, not instant), there may genuinely be no billing emails from tracked tools in your last 12 months, or the connection didn't fully complete.

✓ Fix

Wait a couple of minutes and reopen the popup. If nothing appears after that, try clicking Connect Outlook / Microsoft 365 again to confirm the connection went through.

A new billing email isn't showing up after the scan

Free users need to trigger a re-scan manually, Outlook doesn't re-check automatically on the free plan. Pro and Business accounts re-scan daily in the background, but that's once every 24 hours, not instant.

✓ Fix

Free plan: click Scan Now in the popup. Pro or Business: give it up to 24 hours, the next daily scan will pick it up.

The Microsoft consent screen won't let me approve access

If you're using a work or school Microsoft 365 account, your organization's IT admin may require approval before any third-party app can request even read-only access. This is a Microsoft policy setting, not something BillSensor controls.

✓ Fix

Ask your IT admin to approve BillSensor's Mail.Read permission request, or to pre-approve it at the organization level if multiple team members need to connect.

Accuracy issues
The amount or renewal date shown looks wrong

BillSensor reads the amount and date directly from the billing email's content. If the email doesn't state either one clearly, uses an unusual format, or shows a prorated or partial charge instead of the standard renewal amount, the extracted value can be off.

✓ Fix

Remove the incorrect entry and re-add it manually with the correct amount and date using + Add Subscription Manually.

Something got flagged as a subscription that isn't one

This usually happens when a marketing or promotional email from a tracked tool's domain looks similar enough to a billing email to match. It's a false positive from the sender-matching step, not a sign anything is actually wrong with your account.

✓ Fix

Use Remove on that entry in the popup or dashboard. It won't affect detection of your other subscriptions.

A subscription has no dark pattern score

Dark pattern scores exist only for the 61 tools BillSensor actively tracks and researches. Manually added subscriptions, or tools outside that list, won't show a score since there's no verified complaint data behind one yet.

Account & alerts
I never got a Chrome notification for a renewal

Chrome notifications only fire if your browser is open at the moment the alert is scheduled. If your device was off or Chrome wasn't running, the notification has nothing to reach.

✓ Fix

Create a free account to also receive email alerts, which arrive regardless of whether your browser is open at the time.

I upgraded to Pro but still see locked subscriptions

This is usually a sync delay between your purchase and the extension recognizing the new plan.

✓ Fix

Log out and back in from the popup's Account menu. If locked subscriptions are still showing after that, reach out through the contact page and we'll sort it out directly.

💡
Still stuck?

If none of the above matches what you're seeing, the fastest path is reaching out directly through the contact page with a short description of what you expected versus what happened.

Related resources
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