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Hypothesis in the Public Web

Help with using our public Hypothesis web app

Quick Start Guide

1. Sign up for a Hypothesis account Visit hypothes.is/signup Choose a username, enter your email address, and create a password...

Annotations Not Syncing Across Copies of a PDF

Hypothesis unifies annotations across copies of PDFs based on a “fingerprint” (unique ID) that is created by authoring tools. The...

Hosting PDFs for Annotation

You can provide Hypothesis annotation ability on top of PDFs you host online using our PDF.js + Hypothesis project to...

Annotating Locally-saved PDFs

Hypothesis allows you to annotate PDFs even if they are saved locally on your computer. Because Hypothesis identifies a PDF...

Atom & RSS Feeds for Annotations

The Hypothesis stream is available in the Atom feed format. It can be used with RSS/feed readers such as NewsBlur...

How long do I remain logged-in to Hypothesis?

Note: if you are using our LMS app, you will remain logged in to Hypothesis as long as you are...

How do I navigate to the search and profile pages?

The search page Go to https://hypothes.is/search to access the search page. Your profile page There are a few ways to navigate...

Installing the Chrome Extension

While using Google Chrome, follow this link to the Hypothesis extension in the Chrome Web Store, and click the button...

Where’s my activation email?

Please check your email spam folder. If the Hypothesis activation email is there, please move it to your inbox, since...

Installing the Bookmarklet

The contents of a web page I annotated changed and my annotations are gone. What can I do?

How do I change my username?

Please send a request to support@hypothes.is with the username you want (along with a backup in case your desired username...

The web page I annotated has moved to a different URL and my annotations are gone. What can I do?

Your annotations are safely stored in Hypothesis’ servers. Users: Your annotations are safely stored in Hypothesis’ servers. To view them,...

Who can see my annotations?

Annotating with Groups

Note: This article describes using groups in the Hypothesis public web app. If you are looking for information about using...

Why can’t I log in to a website using Via?

It would be against best practices for a website to allow you to login through the Via proxy, since your...

How do I delete my account?

We’re sad to see you go! Send a message to support@hypothes.is from the email address associated with your Hypothesis account. When...

Where can I find Hypothesis policies?

Here are a few links that may be useful: Terms of Service Privacy Policy Community Guidelines If you have questions...

Can I see annotations on articles behind a paywall?

Yes, if you have permission to access the content. Otherwise, you can see public page notes for the article, and...

Can I annotate Google Docs?

Google Docs that have been published to the web can be annotated in the published view. If you plan to...

How does Hypothesis use permissions in the Chrome extension?

When you install the Hypothesis Chrome extension, you will receive a notification from the Chrome browser asking for the following...

What is the license on annotations?

Public annotations are published under the Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain Dedication. The CC0 Public Domain Dedication allows free copying,...

How do I report abuse?

Hypothesis moderates annotations flagged by users in our Public layer, ensuring that they meet our community guidelines and terms of service....

Hypothesis Proxy Service

The Hypothesis proxy service, also known as “via”, enables the use of Hypothesis in circumstances or environments where that would...

How do I export my annotations?

At any time, you can see your Hypothesis annotations by navigating to your profile page. If you would like to...

Making an Annotation Private

If you’ve created an annotation in the Public layer or within a group, you can make the annotation private at...

Changing Your Email Address or Password

Open the Hypothesis sidebar and click on the user icon in the top right corner. Select Account settings from the drop-down...

How to Create a Private Group

Private Groups allow you to annotate privately with a group of Hypothesis users. Only group members can see annotations created...

How to Invite Members to a Private Group

To invite others to join your private group, go to the group’s activity page and copy the link to the...

How to Join a Private Group

To join a private group, you need to have a Hypothesis account and you must be invited by the creator...

How to Activate Hypothesis on a Web Page

Note: users of our LMS app will not need to activate Hypothesis when launching assignments or readings. This article is...

How to Use Domain-level Search

Note: Domain-level search is available when searching for annotations (not on the search bars on our public-facing website, which you’re...

Annotation Basics

If you don’t have a free Hypothesis account yet or need to equip your browser with our extension or bookmarklet,...

Moderation for groups

The creator of a Hypothesis group will have moderation privileges for that group. The workflow is as follows: A user...

Why can’t I find my PDF annotations?

How can I see my PDF annotations in context? When you add annotations to a PDF, you’re able to go...

How Hypothesis Search Works

How to Use Hypothesis on Mobile Devices

Installing the Hypothesis Chrome Extension in Microsoft Edge

On January 15th, 2020, Microsoft released a new version of their Edge web browser that is based off of Chromium,...