Troubleshooting

Current Issues

Signing Up

• I can't see the two words I need to type, or the message "Input error, Invalid referrer" appears and I can't sign up.
• The sign-up page is saying that every username is taken. How is that possible?
• I did not receive the verification email.
• I did not receive the verification email because I mistyped my email address when I signed up.

Account Management

• How to delete your account

Borrowing/Returning Books

• Information about borrowing from Internet Archive is available here.

Reading Books

• There is something wrong with some of the pages in a book I was reading. Who do I tell?
• I am trying to read a book using the BookBrowser but all I am seeing is blank pages.
• I tried to read a book on Open Library but the book that opened in the BookReader is the wrong book.

Editing Books

• I've added a book but the record says "author unknown." I know I added the author. What's going on?
• I made a duplicate record by mistake. How can I delete it?

Back to main FAQ page

I can't see the recaptcha.

Sometimes when people are referred to Open Library from other sites they come from a referral address that the recaptcha doesn't recognize and the images are blank. Try signing up directly from our signup page.

https://openlibrary.org/account/create

Additionally if there are problems during your signup —your chosen username is taken for example— the recaptcha changes and you have to start form the beginning. We are working on this but for now, if this happens, please start over again.

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Why is every username taken?

There is a problem with how our signup page works with some browsers where once you get a "username taken" message, it doesn't clear up if you try again and you can't sign up. Try starting over at the beginning sign-up page

https://openlibrary.org/account/create

in order to clear the error and try again.

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I didn't receive the verification email.

Check your inbox and spam folder for an email from noreply@openlibrary.org with the subject line Welcome to Open Library The email should arrive within a few minutes but can sometimes take longer. If you can not find the email, contact us and we can resend the verification email.

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I didn't receive the verification email because I mistyped my email address.

You can sign up to Open Library again with the proper email address or contact us with both the mistyped email address and the correct email address you would like to replace it with and we can make the change and send you a new verification email.

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How do I delete my account?

Because the Open Library is a public wiki website, user accounts are retained in order to preserve public catalog edit history.

You can delete your Internet Archive account:

1. Go to Intenet Archive account settings page
   
2. Verify your Internet Archive password
   
3. Check the "Are you sure you want to delete your account?"
   
4. Click "Delete Account"

Careful: this process is irreversible.

You can also anonymize your Open Library account:

1. Go to your account page
   
2. Click "Edit" your Profile Page
   
3. Change your Display Name and click Save

If you need help deleting other identifiable information, please contact us and we'll be happy to help further.

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I deleted my ebook instead of returning it.

Books will automatically be returned to Open Library at the end of the loan period. If you are not sure what you have checked out, you can check your loans page.

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What do I do if I find a scanning error?

While some of the items in Open Library are scanned by us, others are scanned by various other projects.

• If the item is from Google Books you can report a scanning error here.
• For items with minor errors, you can note this in the item's Open Library record. Just click EDIT and add the information in the Edition Notes field.
• For items with major errors, please let us know via email at openlibrary@archive.org

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I am trying to read a book using the BookBrowser but all I am seeing is blank pages.

This may happen when people have tried to read a book that is not available in BookBrowser format. Sometimes this happens by following a malformed link. Go to the book's record page (here is an example) and make sure there is an eBook version of the book available to borrow. You may also be accidentally trying to read a book that is only available to the print disabled. You can see this set of frequently asked questions for more about this program.

If you cannot view the book and you can't use the pull-down menu in the upper right corner under your username, you may have to turn on Compatibility mode in Internet Explorer. Here is more information about how to turn on Compatibility Mode.

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I clicked through to read a book from the item's record page and the book that opened in the BookBrowser was the wrong book

Sometimes the items in Open Library may have bad metadata. Usually this happens because we made a link between an Internet Archive item and an Open Library record and that linkage was incorrect. You can let us know when you find instances of this, or if you are confident that you understand the problem, you can remove the Open Library/Internet Archive link and fix the problem.

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I've added a book but the record says "author unknown." I know I added the author. What's going on?

When you type in an author's name in the author box, you must wait for a drop down menu to appear. Our database checks to see if we already have the author you've entered in our database. The list will contain authors with the same (or similar) name to the one you've typed in. Once the drop down appears, you must click on an author name, even if there is only one. If you do not click on an author name, none will be entered and the record, once saved, will list no author, only "author unknown."

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I made a duplicate record by mistake. How can I delete it?

You cannot delete records. Please contact us and send us a message with the link or OL identifier.
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