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This is the discussion page for the AutoWikiBrowser (AWB) project. It is also the place to discuss using the AWB program (for help, questions, or general inquiries about AWB). Specific guidelines on where to make particular reports or requests are provided in the § Before you post section below. Before asking a question, please refer to the read the § Frequently asked questions below.

Archives

Index 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
31, 32, 33, 34, 35

This page has archives. Topics inactive for 30 days are automatically archived by .

Before you post

Do you want to ...

Please use

Report a bug or request a feature in AWB?

Check reported bugs on Phabricator before filing a new bug report. You do not need to create another account there; just log in with your global Wikimedia account. See this MediaWiki wiki page on how to report bugs and request features on Phabricator.

Report a bug

Try to report bugs in the current version of the software. Update to the most recent version and check to make sure your bug has not already been reported on Phabricator. See How to Report Bugs Effectively for advice on how to write bug reports.

Before posting anything related to non-Wikimedia Foundation wikis, verify that the site is running a recent version of MediaWiki with enabled Bot API. Older versions of MediaWiki or without the Bot API are not supported. Be sure to mention the exact URL of your wiki.

Request a feature details

Please use the feature request button to submit new feature requests. This format helps the developers track and manage requests efficiently. Before submitting, take a moment to search the archives—both on-wiki and on Phabricator—to see if a similar request has already been discussed.

Report an incorrectly fixed typo?

Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Typos

Request approval to use AWB?

Wikipedia:Requests for permissions/AutoWikiBrowser

Ask a question about AWB or ask for help?

This page

Frequently asked questions

When I start it up I get one of the following errors:
"The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on OK to terminate the application.", or

"To run this application, you must first install one of the following versions of the .NET Framework..."

This error means your computer does not have the .NET framework version 2 installed properly. You can choose from various versions for download here, or you can run Windows Update and select version 2 of the .Net framework from the "Optional Updates" section, if you want the choice made for you.
Does AWB run on Linux or Mac?
- AWB runs reasonably under Wine. See details here
  AWB might also run under Mono.
- AWB (Windows) with Unix scripts can be done with Cygwin or Virtualbox
- On the Mac, AWB is not natively available, but an option is to use virtualisation with Parallels Desktop for Mac (subject to meeting supported operating systems requirements) and then run Microsoft Windows virtually with AWB as the Windows instructions above. Note this option is not free, as a license is required for both Parallels Desktop for Mac and Microsoft Windows. An alternative visualization method is to use the free VirtualBox, see also Comparison of platform virtual machines.
- You can use the JavaScript Wiki Browser instead.
Does AWB work on other projects and languages?
Many Wikimedia projects and languages are supported, see the "User and project preferences" option in the general menu. Other languages will be added on request, though at the moment the interface is always in English. You are also able to use AWB with third-party wikis: Options > Preferences > Site, you can change the wiki there. The wiki must support the Bot API required by AWB. This means that it should have latest HEAD version of MediaWiki or something close to that. The wmf-deployment branch is also recommended, as this is what is currently live on WMF sites.
Under Windows Vista (and newer), AWB is using wrong font size, which results in clipped text and lost buttons and options, (see example here). How to fix it?
Tracked in Phabricator
Task T103506
- Solution #1: Go to "Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Display" and switch resizing of the fonts to 100%.
- Solution #2: Right click on AutoWikiBrowser.exe --> Properties -> Compatibility (tab) --> enable the "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" option or for Windows 10, if available, select System (Enhanced).
AWB puts stubs after categories, though categories are always rendered the last by MediaWiki?
According to WP:STUB#Categorizing stubs, by convention they are placed at the end of the article, after the External links section, any navigation templates, and the category tags, so that the stub category will appear last. If your wiki uses another order, please let us know here.
I don't like or use Internet Explorer; please use Firefox instead.
AWB does not use Internet Explorer per se. It does, however, use the same web browser control (MSHTML) as Internet Explorer; the equivalent Firefox component does not provide the needed functionality.
How do I open the page in another browser if I can't use the one in AWB?
Right click on the edit box in the bottom right side of your screen. Select "Open page in browser".
How do I edit a page that doesn't exist?
Uncheck "Ignore non existing pages" in the "Skip articles" box.
How do I skip certain articles?
Use the "Skip if contains" and "Skip if doesn't contain" on the "Skip" tab
Can't you leave up a "stable" version, so I don't have to download new versions?
It is important to keep people up to date with the latest versions, because their use of the software doesn't just affect them, but the whole of Wikipedia. As any bugs that remain will be trivial, hopefully releases won't be too frequent.
How can I stop AWB clicking when it changes pages?
This is a Windows sound theme setting. This page explains how to turn off the clicking sound.

Alternatively, delete the following key from the Windows registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Explorer\Navigating\.Current
AWB randomly crashes upon page load on my system, and I always use a browser other than Internet Explorer when using Wikipedia.
You may have installed custom scripts incompatible with IE. Wrap the contents of your monobook.js into conditional:

               //Detect IE5.5+
               if (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE")==-1)
               {
                   // Previous contents go here
                   ....
               }

I get Just In Time Debugger Messages when loading AWB/loading pages.
In Internet Explorer, go to Tools → Options → Advanced. Make sure 'Disable Script Debugging (Internet Explorer)' and 'Disable Script Debugging (Other)' Are both checked. Press apply and close.
Why does AWB run very, very slowly if I try to make changes in the edit window on larger pages, especially pages with long lists or tables?
If running on Windows, exit the Speech Recognition software that is built into some versions of Windows; don't just turn it 'Off', you must 'Exit' the software if you have started up Speech Recognition.
When I do a clean install of AutoWikiBrowser the application seems to find old setting data somewhere. I'd like to do a really clean install. Any ideas?
Clean up your registry and remove the folder "C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\AutoWikiBrowser" (Windows XP) or "C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\AutoWikiBrowser\" (Windows 7). Note that the application data folder may be hidden.
AWB prompts that there is a newer version but won't update
Check the version number of your AWBUpdater.exe. The current version is 2.4.0.0. If you have an older version, you have to download the latest AWB version and make a clean install.
Which .NET Framework version do I have?
You can find your .NET Framework version in Help → About box.
Where are the default settings stored?
- Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\AutoWikiBrowser
- Windows Vista onwards: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\AutoWikiBrowser\Default.xml
I cannot copy text from the diff window using the Control+C keyboard shortcut.
You must have Microsoft.mshtml.dll available for AWB to use for this functionality to work. You can try downloading the file (there are a number of third-party websites offering DLL file downloads) and putting it in the same folder as AutoWikiBrowser.exe. This is reported not to work for all users, presumably due to .NET Framework problems.
Is there any way to set AWB to not use https? (GFW blocks 443 port)
In preferences, set project to "custom". Set the left box to http. In the webpage box, type en.wikipedia.org/w/ (English Wikipedia) or zh.teknopedia.teknokrat.ac.id/w/ (Chinese Wikipedia). Note that leaving off the /w/ will result in a "root element missing" error.
How do I login to AWB with accounts enabled with two-factor authentication?
You should use a bot password. Despite the name, they aren't just for bots. See Wikipedia:Using AWB with 2FA.

Discussion

Clicking Alerts does nothing

I'm processing article Świerklany Dolne when the text "Unbalanced brackets (1)" appears in the Alerts box. I thought that clicking (or double-clicking) this was supposed to navigate to the offending text in the Edit box, but this is not happening. Am I correct in expecting this? I'm sure this used to happen in the past. Thanks, Kiwipete (talk) 03:23, 15 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

What version are you using? Works OK with 6.4.0.1 (with that example (picks up debent esse XXIII) mansi)), though it's not infallible. Generally a useful tool function. Neils51 (talk) 11:49, 15 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I am using version 6.4.0.1 SVN 12992 (2025-05-09 14:46:18). But no, it is still not working for me :( Kiwipete (talk) 21:18, 15 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I tried with 12992 and seems to work. Check you haven't got Options -> 'pre-parse mode' set. Other option perhaps is to try 'reset to original default settings' in case you have an XML corruption of some sort. Neils51 (talk) 02:41, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I find it usually works, but not always, especially if there's another alert in the "Alerts" window. The alerts aren't usually central to what I'm working on, so if it's not working I move on. SchreiberBike | ⌨ 15:52, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I've tried those options - 'pre-parse mode', 'reset to original default settings' - and I have no other alerts in the Alerts window, but still no luck. Kiwipete (talk) 22:09, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm... Back to basics then. You have been using AWB since early 2023 and based on your initial comments above you have used the function occasionally (used to happen in the past..). So what's changed? Other than changes in AWB revision any changes to your operating environment? Different device? OS? (What OS are you using? When did you last reboot?). I recall in the past editors mentioning incompatibilities with some .js modules. Have you loaded any of these since it last worked? Neils51 (talk) 15:23, 17 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

FWIW, the double-click feature works if I have loaded one of my Settings files and then added Świerklany Dolne to the list, or vice versa. But it doesn't work if the settings file is the default with a few pages added, so there must be some setting in mine that is triggering the fix. It may take a while to find that though. David Brooks (talk) 19:40, 17 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Well spotted. It seems to be the Option "Highlight errors". Check that it's checked! Neils51 (talk) 22:59, 17 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Yes! Many thanks @DavidBrooks and @Neils51, turning that option on makes it all work perfectly. Thanks for persisting with this. Kiwipete (talk) 02:14, 18 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

File pages and showing images

Hi, is there any way to use AWB to go through a list of File: pages, and have it actually show the image in question in order to assist in evaluating what should be done (e.g. tagging with a certain template, but wanting to see what it is before deciding whether to save or skip)? ~2026-41523-4 (talk) 00:37, 20 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

NTIKO. You can list the file names however to view would require you double click an entry and view in your browser. Neils51 (talk) 23:25, 24 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Protected edit request on 23 January 2026

This edit request to Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPageJSON has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Add user `Tonymetz` Tonymetz 💬 01:25, 23 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Not done. Please follow the instructions at WP:AWBCRITERIA. Kiwipete (talk) 01:32, 23 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

thanks for the guidance. Tonymetz 💬 02:15, 23 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Login failed (Aborted)

I recently turned on two factor authentication on my account and now when I try to log in to AWB it keeps showing an aborted warning. Any help? CONFUSED SPIRIT(Thilio).Talk 09:12, 29 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

If you have 2FA I believe you gotta use a bot password to log in. Check out WP:AWB2FA. Trialpears (talk) 10:04, 29 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

David Brooks' current version of 6.4.0.1 may work for you. Refer this discussion. Neils51 (talk) 12:58, 29 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Neils51 @Trialpears Thanks to you both. CONFUSED SPIRIT(Thilio).Talk 15:00, 29 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

One small clarification about https://github.com/DavidWBrooks/UnofficialAWB/releases/latest: "-64bit" version is intended for an ARM64 device. The "regular" version is intended for a X86-64 Intel (etc) device. Sorry, that's confusing and I'll fix it next time. David Brooks (talk) 21:41, 29 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Uploaded the latest to https://github.com/DavidWBrooks/UnofficialAWB/releases/latest with a less misleading name. David Brooks (talk) 22:04, 30 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Multiple login failures?

I'm not sure what is going on here, but I am not able to log into AWB. I validated that the password I put on a web browser is the same password I'm putting into AWB; however, when I logged into Wikipedia via a web browser after I made multiple "failed" attempts on AWB, I received an alert on Wikipedia stating I made multiple failed attempts to login (which only occurred with AWB). I'm not sure what is happening, but it seems that most likely, AWB is including characters I am not typing when inputting the password (like an invisible space, etc.) Is this a known issue? (For what its worth, I don't have 2FA enabled on Wikipedia and never have.) Steel1943 (talk) 02:42, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I've just successfully logged in to AWB, both while being logged in through the browser, and while not. I also don't use, and have never used, 2FA. Are you using version 6.4.0.1? Kiwipete (talk) 05:58, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Refer the discussion above for your 2FA solution which you will now need (although not the only option). Neils51 (talk) 20:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I got it to work by typing my password in a different window and then copy/pasting it into AWB's password box. Yeah, AWB is apparently adding invisible characters in the password box for some reason when typing the password manually into the password box. Steel1943 (talk) 22:22, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Why are you keying in the password? What's changed? Presumably you received a failure message before attempting to manually key your password so perhaps your XML file has been corrupted? Neils51 (talk) 18:08, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Steel1943: Just to clarify, you don't have your password saved ("No" in the "Password saved?" column in the profiles dialog), and you are entering it in the small "Enter password for Steel1943:" dialog, and you get a FAIL message? If not, did you check your email for some one-time codes? David Brooks (talk) 05:06, 14 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Long story short, the password worked being manually entered a day or so later. Steel1943 (talk) 06:12, 14 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Epstein Files Full PDF