Grammarly Extension Not Working? Try These Fixes

Grammarly is one of the most popular and widely used extensions in various browsers. It is a powerful online typing assistant that catches various grammatical errors and helps improve writing.

However, Grammarly’s massive user base also means that some users are bound to face issues with the extension. Errors like Grammarly not detecting typos, not correcting mistakes, and the Grammarly G icon not showing are common in the browser extension.

If you are facing such errors, we have compiled all the possible causes and fixes for these issues in this article.

Why is My Grammarly Extension Not Working?

How to Fix Grammarly Extension Not Working?

There are various ways to fix the Grammarly extension not working issue, depending on the cause. Before you begin, make sure to restart your browser and check your computer’s internet connection.

If the issue still persists, here are the possible methods to fix it.

Reinstall Grammarly

Your Grammarly extension might not work because of corrupted extension files or improper installation. To solve this issue, you would need to reinstall the extension. It will replace the currently installed extension with a new working copy.

Here’s how you can do so in different browsers:

On Chrome & Microsoft Edge

1. Click on the puzzle piece icon in the top right.
2. Locate the Grammarly extension and click on the three vertical dots.
3. Select Remove from …
   
4. Install the extension again from the official website.

On Firefox

1. Right-click the Grammarly extension icon in the upper right.
   
2. Select Remove Extension and Remove again.

On Safari

1. Open Safari and click on the Safari option from the menu bar.
2. Select Preferences and go to the Extensions header.
3. Locate Grammarly and click on Uninstall.
   
4. Install the extension again from the official website.

Allow Third-party Cookies

Third-party cookies track you from website to website and help perform some additional features. For the Grammarly extension to work on non-writing-oriented websites like Reddit or Instagram, you need to enable this feature.

Here’s how you can do so:

1. Click on the menu option (⋮) in Chrome.
2. Navigate to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
3. In General settings, enable Allow all cookies.
   

For most other browsers, this setting is enabled by default and you may not be able to configure it.

If the Grammarly extension is still not showing on some websites, the website owner may have disabled extensions for that website.

Disable Other Extensions

Another key reason for extensions not working is due to two extensions with similar functions overlapping and interfering with each other. Grammarly is known to glitch and bug around with a few specific typing extensions.

While most of these interference errors will get ironed out with updates, you can try disabling other extensions for now.

Follow the steps below to do so:

On Chrome & Microsoft Edge

1. Tap on Extensions (puzzle piece icon) in the upper right.
2. Select Manage extensions option.
   
3. Disable all other extensions except Grammarly.
   

On Firefox

1. Click on the menu option (three horizontal lines) in Firefox.
2. Navigate to Settings > Extensions & Themes > Extensions.
3.  Disable all other extensions except Grammarly.
   

On Safari

1. Select Safari from the menu bar.
2. Navigate to Preferences > Extensions header.
3. Deselect the extensions to disable them.
4. Except Grammarly, disable all the other extensions.
   

You can also try to enable the other extensions one by one to determine which one is causing Grammarly to not work. You can then remove that extension using the above method.

Clear Browser Cache

Corrupted cache and old site cookies in your browser also prevent the Grammarly extension from working properly. You can try clearing your browser’s cache files, cookies, and other temporary data to see if it fixes the issue.

Here’s how you can do it in different browsers:

On Chrome & Firefox

1. Click on the menu option in the top right.
2. Navigate to Settings > Privacy and security.
3. Click on Clear browsing data. (Clear History for Firefox.)
4. Make sure cookies and cache are selected. (If you also want to delete browsing history and other data, select them. If not, make sure to deselect them.)
   
5. Select a time frame. (It would be best to delete cache and cookies from all times.)
6. Tap on Clear data or OK.

On Microsoft Edge

1. Click on the three horizontal dots (…) in the top right.
2. Select History and click on the three horizontal dots in History.
3. Click on Clear browsing data.
   
4. Make sure cookies and cache are selected.
5. If you want to delete browsing and other data, select them as well.
6. Select a time frame.
   
7. Tap on Clear now.

On Safari

1. Click on the Safari header in the menu bar.
2. Navigate to Preferences > Privacy.
3. Select Manage Website Data and click on Remove all.
   

Update Browser

You can also face this issue if there are any bugs or glitches in specific versions of your browsers. However, updating will resolve most of these issues, as they carry bug fixes along with new features.

Here’s how you can check and update different browsers.

On Chrome, Firefox & Microsoft Edge

1. Tap on the menu option (three dots) in your browser.
2. Navigate to:
   • Help and feedback > About Microsoft Edge. (For Edge.)
   • Help > About Firefox. (For Firefox)
   • Help > About Google Chrome. (For Chrome)
     
3. Your browser will automatically look for updates and download them.
4. Click on Relaunch or Restart to finish the update.
   

On Safari

1. Launch System Preferences from the dock.
2. Select Software Update and install any updates if available.
   
3. The latest version of Safari will be included in the Software update.

Switch to Stable Build

Lastly, if you are using the beta version of any browser, you should switch back to its stable build. While beta versions include newly added features, they are much more error-prone due to their short time in development.

You may experience various errors in beta versions, including issues like the Grammarly extension not working. To switch to a stable build, you can simply download and install the latest stable version of the browser from the official website.

Additionally, if you are using Chrome and have experimental flags enabled, reset those as well. You can go to chrome://flags and click reset all to do so.