explainedNo icon or explanation appears
- Use a normal HTML article in Chrome 114 or later. Refresh the page after installing or reloading the extension.
- Open the extension toolbar. Enable lookups and check that the current site is not paused. Finish API key setup if needed.
- Select a short phrase in reading text, then click the small icon or press Ctrl+X (⌘X on Mac). Selecting or copying alone sends nothing.
- The shortcut keeps its normal Cut behavior inside input fields and editors. It only explains supported reading selections.
The card reports an API error
- Missing or invalid key: open API settings from the extension toolbar and enter or replace your key. A website login does not configure the API.
- Insufficient balance or access denied: check your DeepSeek API account balance and permissions through the official platform.
- Too many requests, unavailable service or timeout: wait, check your connection, then choose Retry. Repeated clicks can create additional requests.
News or a longer explanation has no sources
News, time-sensitive selections and Explain a little more call DeepSeek Search before generation. If usable evidence is missing or search fails, the extension reports the problem instead of inventing live coverage.
Read dates and open the original sources. Generated explanations and summaries can be wrong. Keep it short restores the cached short answer.
Where the extension works
Use normal HTML reading pages. Browser settings pages, PDF viewers and document editors are outside the current preview. Browser site-access settings can also prevent the extension from running.
Reading research published as HTML is supported by this workflow. Opening the same paper in a PDF viewer does not make that viewer supported.
Control context and pause lookups
The toolbar lets you pause globally or for one site, change explanation language and turn nearby context on or off. With context enabled, up to 600 nearby characters accompany your selection.
Your key and preferences are saved in local extension storage. Reading-page scripts receive sanitized settings rather than the key. Local storage is not an encrypted secrets vault.
Still stuck?
Describe the extension version, Chrome version, page type, visible error and the steps to reproduce it. Remove your API key, private reading text and account details from screenshots and issue reports.