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Troubleshooting: Proxy connection

By · Updated Oct 21, 2025

If you're having trouble retrieving references via your institution’s proxy connection, Paperpile has a built-in tool to help you run diagnostic tests and automatically send debug logs to our support team.

Step-by-step Instructions

1. Sign in to Your Proxy

Sign in to your institution’s proxy service if you haven’t already

2. Open the Paperpile debug logs page

Right-click on any webpage and choose: Paperpile > Send debug logs...

This will open the Debug Logs interface in a new tab.

A red heading reading “Right-click anywhere on the page” above the Chrome context menu, with a red arrow pointing to the Paperpile submenu open on “Open Paperpile” and a highlighted “Send debug logs…”.

3. Open the Proxy debug Page

Once the debug logs page loads, under the Fix problems tab, click the Test proxy connection button. You should then see a list of your proxy configurations. Select the desired proxy from the list to debug.

The Paperpile debug logs page showing a diagnostic dump of extension, browser and database details, with a red arrow pointing to the “Test proxy connections” button beside Send logs, Download logs, Sync now and Reset database.

4. Run Proxy Tests

Click Run proxy tests button to begin diagnostics.

The results and logs will be uploaded to Paperpile support automatically.

A “Test your proxy connection” page listing two configured proxies with Sign in buttons, ticked test URLs for ScienceDirect, Wiley Online Library and Springer Link, a Custom URL field, and a red arrow pointing to “Run proxy tests”.

5. (Optional) Test a Specific URL

If you're encountering issues with a specific site or reference, paste the URL into the Custom URL field and run the test again.

This helps us troubleshoot more accurately.