Grammarly Suggestions Not Showing in Google Docs or Gmail
You open a Google Doc or start composing an email in Gmail, and the Grammarly sidebar or underline suggestions are just gone. The Grammarly extension icon is still in your browser toolbar and shows as active (green checkmark), but no suggestions appear in the document. You click the green Grammarly icon at the bottom right of the text field and nothing happens. You're typing full paragraphs with obvious errors and Grammarly isn't catching any of them. This happens to both free and Premium subscribers, and because Grammarly shows as "active" in the extension icon, the failure is confusing. The tool looks like it's running. It just isn't doing anything.
What this error actually means
Grammarly works by injecting a JavaScript overlay into the active text editor element on a webpage. For Google Docs and Gmail, this injection has to happen against Google's editor framework, which Google updates frequently. When Google pushes an update to Docs or Gmail's editor architecture (which happens several times per year), Grammarly's injection method may target the wrong DOM element or fail to attach to the new editor structure entirely. The extension "runs" in the sense that it's loaded and active, but its actual editor hook fails silently because the injection target changed.
Quick fix (when you need it working in 60 seconds)
- Click the Grammarly extension icon in your browser toolbar. Look for a toggle that says "Check writing on this site." If it's off, toggle it on and refresh the page.
- If the toggle is on but Grammarly isn't showing, go to
chrome://extensions(orabout:addonsin Firefox), find Grammarly, and click the toggle to disable it, wait 5 seconds, then re-enable it. - Hard-refresh the Google Doc or Gmail tab: Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac). This clears cached page data and forces a fresh load of the editor framework.
- If you're in Google Docs, click inside the document body (not just the page area), then click outside the document and back in. This re-triggers Grammarly's editor detection.
- If suggestions still don't appear, try the Grammarly icon in the bottom-right corner of the text area. If the icon is there but doesn't open the sidebar, that's a different failure mode covered in the permanent fix section.
Why this happens
Google Docs and Gmail use a custom rich-text editor framework that doesn't follow standard HTML contenteditable patterns. Grammarly relies on detecting contenteditable elements or specific editor class names to know where to inject its overlay. When Google modifies their editor's HTML structure or class names, Grammarly's detection logic points to the wrong element or finds nothing at all. This causes the extension to load on the page but not attach to the editor.
Chrome extension conflicts are the second major cause. If you have other writing-related extensions installed (LanguageTool, ProWritingAid, Hemingway App extension, or certain password managers that manipulate form fields), they can register event listeners on the same DOM elements Grammarly targets. This creates a conflict where both extensions are trying to control the same text field, and one or both end up non-functional.
Grammarly's own extension update mechanism sometimes causes temporary failures. When Chrome silently updates the Grammarly extension in the background, the old version's content scripts are still running in open tabs while the new version's scripts are loaded in new tabs. This version mismatch can cause suggestions to stop working in tabs that were open before the update.
Google Workspace enterprise configurations can block Grammarly's extension scripts through Content Security Policy (CSP) headers. If your organization uses Google Workspace with custom CSP settings, your IT administrator may have applied policies that prevent third-party script injection. This affects Grammarly on Google properties for the entire organization.
Grammarly Premium's device limit is another less-obvious cause. Premium accounts have a limit on simultaneous active devices. If you've exceeded this limit (using Grammarly on a phone, tablet, and two computers simultaneously), the extension on the oldest-authenticated device may be downgraded to non-functional status without an explicit notification.
Permanent fix
- Update the Grammarly extension to the latest version. In Chrome:
chrome://extensions> Find Grammarly > Enable "Developer mode" (top right toggle) > Click "Update" button at the top left. In Firefox:about:addons> Grammarly > Check for updates. - Completely disable any competing writing extensions while using Grammarly. LanguageTool, ProWritingAid, and similar tools conflict with Grammarly's editor injection. You can use them alternately but not simultaneously.
- Remove the Grammarly extension entirely and reinstall it fresh. In Chrome:
chrome://extensions> Grammarly > Remove. Then go to the Chrome Web Store and reinstall. Fresh installs resolve version mismatch issues that updates don't always fix. - After reinstalling, grant Grammarly the specific permissions it needs. When you visit Google Docs for the first time after reinstalling, a Grammarly permission prompt should appear asking to access the site. Click Allow. If no prompt appears, click the Grammarly icon in the toolbar and look for a "Grant access" or "Enable on this site" option.
- Check Google Docs' compatibility mode. Open a document, go to Tools > Compatibility mode. If compatibility mode is on, turn it off. Compatibility mode changes the editor framework in ways that can prevent Grammarly from attaching correctly.
- In Gmail, check whether you're using the Standard or Basic HTML view. Go to Gmail Settings (gear icon) > See all settings > General > Default reply behavior. Ensure you're not accidentally in Gmail's Basic HTML view, which has very limited extension support.
- For Grammarly Premium subscribers: go to grammarly.com > Account > Devices and revoke access from any devices you no longer use. This clears the device limit count and ensures your current device has an active authenticated session.
- Create a dedicated Chrome profile for writing work. A separate profile with only Grammarly installed (no other extensions) eliminates extension conflicts and gives you a reliable baseline for Grammarly's functionality.
Prevention
Don't install multiple writing assistance extensions at the same time. If you want to trial a competing tool like LanguageTool, disable Grammarly first. Running two grammar tools simultaneously is the single most reliable way to break both of them on Google Docs.
After any Chrome update or major Grammarly extension update, test Grammarly on a Google Doc before your next writing session. Updates are the most common trigger for the silent editor injection failure. A 30-second test at the start of your day prevents a mid-session surprise.
Keep your Grammarly account signed in on only the devices you actually use daily. Every device you're signed into consumes a device slot and increases the chance of authentication conflicts. Log out of Grammarly on phones and tablets you don't regularly use for writing.
Check Grammarly's status page (status.grammarly.com) and their support account (@GrammarlyHelp on X) when suggestions stop working across all sites simultaneously. Platform-wide outages do happen and a quick check can save you 30 minutes of unnecessary troubleshooting.
When the fix doesn't work
If you've reinstalled the extension, cleared all conflicts, and Grammarly still doesn't appear in Google Docs or Gmail after all of the above steps, your organization's IT policies may be blocking extension scripts. This is common on managed corporate Chromebooks or Chrome browsers managed through Google Admin. Ask your IT administrator whether Grammarly is on the approved extension list for your organization.
If you're on a personal device and nothing works, try the Grammarly web editor at grammarly.com/editor. You can paste your Google Doc content there, get suggestions, and paste the corrected text back. It's not integrated, but it's a working workaround while you troubleshoot the extension.
Contact Grammarly support at support.grammarly.com with your browser version, the Grammarly extension version number, and a screen recording of the behavior if possible. The support team has access to extension telemetry that can identify why the editor injection is failing for your specific configuration.