Help
Troubleshooting
Fixes for the things that most often go wrong — failed imports, a missing share-sheet entry, and content that looks wrong.
An import failed or came back incomplete
Most failures come from the source rather than the app: a site blocking automated requests, a private or geo-restricted post, or a video with no recipe stated anywhere in it.
In order, try: 1. Copy whatever recipe text you can see and use the paste-text option. This works when scraping is blocked, which is the most common cause. 2. Check the post is public. 3. Screenshot it and import the screenshot as a photo.
If a recipe imported but is missing ingredients or steps, open it and use the pencil to fix it, or, with A La Carte Plus, 'Edit with AI' and describe what's missing.
Failed imports are logged on our side, and a report with the link genuinely helps — Profile → Request a Feature.
A La Carte isn't in the share sheet
The first time, you may need to add it. Open Share in any app: Instagram, TikTok, Safari or wherever you found the recipe. On iOS, scroll the row of apps to the end and tap More, then tap Edit, tap + next to A La Carte and drag it to the top of the list, so it's first in every share sheet. On Android, swipe up on the share sheet to see all apps, then press and hold A La Carte and pin it to the top row.
The app shows you these steps in pictures made for your phone: Profile → Get started → Set up sharing. If you've hidden that card, it's in Profile → Help → Set up sharing. Every import guide also has 'First time? Find A La Carte' under its pictures: the same steps, starting in that app (Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, a website, Photos or Files). In Pinterest on Android, tap More first to reach the share sheet.
If it's still missing, restart the phone. iOS is sometimes slow to register a new share extension.
A recipe, ingredient or category looks wrong
Recipes are yours to edit — open one and tap the pencil, or with A La Carte Plus use 'Edit with AI' to describe the fix in plain language.
If an ingredient is filed under an odd category, that's our catalog rather than anything you can change. It improves as we curate it.
Estimated values — a time, a temperature, an expiry date — can be edited directly wherever they appear.
My recipes are missing after signing in
If you sign in and your cookbook is empty, you are almost certainly in a different account from the one that holds your recipes — nothing is deleted by signing out or reinstalling. It happens when you sign in with a different method from the one you signed up with (Apple instead of Google, or email), and it can also happen with Apple's Hide My Email: after a reinstall Apple may hand the app a fresh relay address, which creates a fresh, empty account.
To get back to them, sign out (Logout at the bottom of Profile) and sign back in with the method you used before. Try each of your sign-in methods before assuming anything is lost. If you still can't find them, Profile → Request a Feature reaches us and we can look up which account has the recipes.
Signing up: no code arrived, or the password was rejected
After you choose Continue with Email to create your account you're taken to a screen asking for the code we emailed you. It usually arrives within 15 seconds; if nothing shows up after a minute, check your Junk or Spam folder.
If the address already has an A La Carte account, the app says so before sending anything and offers to sign you in to it instead. 'Use a different email' takes you back to try another address.
The link in that email and the 8-digit code in it are the same one-time token, so opening the link anywhere — on a computer, or by a scanner that follows links in your mail — confirms your address and uses the code up at the same time. The code on the phone can then only come back as incorrect or expired, and Resend email can't help either, because nothing is sent to an address that is already confirmed. A La Carte checks for exactly that on its own: when you come back to the app, when a code is rejected, when you tap Resend email, and when you open a link that has already been used. If your address really was confirmed, it says "You're verified" and carries on into the app with no further typing. If it can't tell, the messages point you the same way — 'Sign in' on the sign-in screen is the way through.
Passwords need at least 8 characters — the app tells you before it sends anything.
Sending feedback, suggesting improvements, or reporting a bug
There are three ways to tell us what would make the app better, and they suit different things.
Profile → Request a Feature opens a form for bugs, feature requests, or just telling us what's working. You can paste a screenshot into it. We read everything.
Profile → Contact Support is the route for anything about your account, billing, or a problem that's blocking you. Under your message it asks 'How should we reach you?': pick Email or Phone call, then type the address or number you want us to use (nothing is filled in for you). Only the one you picked is sent. If you tap Send without picking one, a note asks you to add an email or phone so we can reply, and if the email or number doesn't look right, a note under the box says so. Nothing is sent until it's fixed. Once it's sent, the confirmation says which email address or number we'll use to get back to you. If you delete your account, the contact details on your support messages are erased with it.
If something the AI made (a recipe, a cover picture, or an Ask Capy reply) was offensive, unsafe or wrong, tap 'Report AI content' at the bottom of Contact Support. Pick what was wrong, describe the AI's response (you can add a screenshot), and send. Leaving an email or phone is optional there. We review every report and use it to make the AI safer.
Profile → Help Shape A La Carte is the deeper one: opt in there and we may email you to set up a short video call about how you actually use the app. If you have thoughts that are bigger than one form — how the app fits your cooking, what you wish it did — that conversation is the best way to share them. It is optional and you can opt out at any time.