When something goes wrong, the app tells you in plain words, but it is not always obvious what to do next. This page lists the messages you might see, grouped by where they appear, with what each one means and what to do. Use the help center search or your browser's find function (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) to jump to the exact wording you saw.
When starting an export
"An export is already running for this store. Please wait for it to finish before starting another one."
Only one export can run per store at a time. The running export sits at the top of your Export History with a Processing badge. Wait for it to finish, then start the new one.
If it looks stuck, you do not need to do anything. An export that stops making progress is marked Failed on its own after about ten minutes, and you can start again once that happens.
You may also see the shorter "An export is already running. Please wait for it to finish before starting another one." when the dashboard already knows about the running export. It means the same thing.
"This export has 120 images, which would bring your total to 150 (limit: 100). Upgrade to unlimited for $10/month."
Shown under the heading Upgrade required; the numbers match your own export and usage. You are on the Free plan, and the export you are about to run would take you past the 100 images included each month. Nothing was exported and nothing was counted. Narrow the export with filters so it fits within your remaining images, wait for your next billing period, or upgrade. See I Hit My Monthly Limit.
"Failed to start export. Please try again."
The request to start the export never reached the app's server, usually because of a dropped connection. Nothing was counted toward usage. Check your connection and click Export Images again.
Export failed messages
These appear in red on the export's card in Export History, and in the error banner and activity log on the export detail page.
"This export was interrupted by a server restart. Please start it again."
The app's server restarted while your export was running, usually because an update was being rolled out. The export was stopped and nothing was counted toward your usage. Set the export up again on the dashboard and start it; there is nothing to clean up.
"Shopify is rate-limiting your store right now. Please retry the export in a few minutes."
Shopify limits how quickly images can be fetched from its servers. The app slows down and retries automatically when this happens, but if too many downloads are still refused it stops rather than deliver an export with large gaps. Wait a few minutes and start the export again. If it keeps happening on a very large catalog, export one collection or vendor at a time. See Large Exports and Multi Part ZIP Files.
"ZIP service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again in a few minutes."
Your images were downloaded, but the service that packages them into a ZIP did not respond. This is on our side, not yours. Wait a few minutes and start the export again. If it happens repeatedly, contact support with the export number.
"ZIP service rejected the request: ..."
The packaging service refused the request outright, which points to a configuration problem on our side rather than anything in your store. Please contact support with the export number and the full message.
"Export timed out. Please try again."
A step in the export took too long to complete. This is normally a temporary slowdown. Start the export again; if a very large export times out more than once, split it up with filters.
"All images failed to download — no files to export"
Every image in the selection failed to download from Shopify, so there was nothing to put in a ZIP. This is almost always temporary, such as a Shopify outage or a connectivity problem, rather than anything wrong with your images. Wait a little while and try again. If the same products fail every time, open one of them in your Shopify admin and check that its images actually load there.
"Export failed: ..."
Anything that does not fit the messages above is shown as "Export failed:" followed by a short description. Open the activity log for the full picture, try once more, and if it fails again contact support with the export number.
Messages in the activity log
The activity log is on the export detail page (click View Details on any export). Most entries simply describe progress, but a few are worth understanding.
"No images found matching filters. Export completed."
Your selection matched products that have no images, or no products matched at all. The export finishes immediately with 0 images: there is nothing to download, no email is sent, and nothing is counted toward your usage. Broaden your filters, or check that the products you expected actually have images in Shopify. See What Gets Exported.
"1,180 images exported, 20 could not be included"
Your own numbers will differ. The export finished and your ZIP is ready, but some images could not be fetched from Shopify even after several retries. Earlier in the log you will find a list of the missing file names (up to 50 of them, with a count of any more). The completion email also carries a notice with the number of missing images. Shopify hiccups of this kind are usually brief, so running the same export again normally picks up the missing files.
"Throttled by Shopify CDN (12 images) — waiting 30s before retry"
Informational. Shopify asked the app to slow down, and the app is pausing before it tries those images again. No action is needed unless the export eventually fails with the rate limiting message above.
"Email notification failed (export still succeeded): ..."
Your ZIP is ready, but the completion email could not be sent. Download it from the dashboard instead with the Download ZIP button.
Downloading
"This export has expired and is no longer available for download."
Completed exports are kept for 7 days. After that the files are deleted permanently and the export shows as Expired in your history. There is no way to recover it; run the export again if you still need the images. This is different from an expired link, which is covered next. See Understanding Export History and Download Links.
"Download link has expired"
You opened a download link that is more than 24 hours old, usually from the completion email. The files themselves are still kept for 7 days after the export. Go back to the dashboard and click Re-generate Download on the export (or on the individual part) to get a fresh 24 hour link.
"Failed to generate download link."
The dashboard could not get a fresh link from the server. Check your connection and click the button again. If it keeps failing, the export may have just passed its 7 day window; refresh the page to see its current status.
Loading the app
"Missing Permissions"
A warning banner at the top of the dashboard. The app no longer has permission to read your products, so filters, counts, and exports will not work until it is restored. The fix is to reinstall the app from the Shopify App Store: remove it under Settings > Apps and sales channels in your Shopify admin, install it again, and approve the permissions when Shopify asks. If the banner is still there after reinstalling, contact support.
Reinstalling counts as an uninstall first. Read What Happens When You Uninstall the App before you do it, especially if you are on the Unlimited plan, as you will need to subscribe again afterwards.
"This app must be accessed through your Shopify Admin."
You opened the app's web address directly, for example from a bookmark or a link in an email, instead of from inside Shopify. The app only works embedded in the Shopify admin. Go to your Shopify admin, open Apps, and click Vast Product Image Exporter. If you had bookmarked the app, bookmark the admin page instead.
"Connection to your store failed"
Shown together with "We couldn't authenticate with Shopify. Please reload the app from your Shopify Admin." The app could not confirm your session with Shopify, which usually happens when the app has been open in a tab for a long time or your Shopify session has expired. Reload the page from within the Shopify admin, or go to Apps and open the app again. If it persists, sign out of Shopify and back in, then try once more.
"Couldn't load your dashboard"
The app opened but could not fetch your export history, plan, and usage. The banner reads "We couldn't load your app data. Check your connection and try again." Click Retry. If several retries fail, reload the page from the Shopify admin.
"Unable to load ticket center"
The Support page could not load the ticket center. Refresh the page first. If it still does not appear, an ad blocker or strict privacy extension may be blocking it: the ticket center is loaded from helpdesky.io, so allow that domain or try a browser without extensions.
"Something went wrong. Please refresh and try again."
A red banner at the top of the app when an unexpected error happens in the interface. The same banner may read "An unexpected error occurred. Please refresh and try again." Refresh the page. Any export that was already running is unaffected; it continues on our servers.
"Export not found"
Shown on the export detail page when the export you asked for does not exist for your store, for example after following an old link or mistyping the export number. Click ← Back to Dashboard and open the export from Export History instead.
Plans page
"Failed to start upgrade. Please try again." and "Failed to cancel subscription. Please try again."
The request to Shopify's billing system did not go through. Try again in a moment. If it keeps failing, see How to Upgrade or Downgrade Your Plan or contact support.
Still stuck?
If your message is not listed here, or the suggested fix does not help, start with Why Is My Export Failing? and then contact support. Include the export number from your Export History and the exact message you saw.