How to backup zotero files

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How to back up your library Locating data directory What's in your Zotero data directory? Research Librarians. Email Me. Contact: researchdesk middlebury. Why back up? How to back up your library In order to back up your Zotero library, follow these steps: Locate your Zotero data directory see below Making sure Zotero is closed, copy the entire "zotero" directory including all the subdirectories Put this copy in a safe storage spot that is not your laptop Good choices include your Google Drive, OneDrive, or an external hard drive For even more redundancy, put a copy in two or even three of the above locations - make sure to update them all every time you make a new backup Your back up is only as good as your back up schedule.

Locating data directory For Zotero 5. What's in your Zotero data directory? Open the Advanced pane of the Zotero preferences and make a note of the specified path under Data Directory Location. Next, copy the data directory from your backup to the original location e. Note that, if you were using Zotero syncing, any changes you made to your library since the backup and subsequently synced to your online library will be applied to your restored database as soon as you sync.

If you don't want that to happen, see the following section. If you or someone else made unwanted changes to your Zotero library and synced those changes to your online library, you may be able to restore data by using a local backup of your Zotero data directory. If you make a critical mistake while using Zotero — for example, if you accidentally delete a large set of items — you may be able to revert to the last automatic backup.

Note that automatic backups contain only data, not files. If you're happy with the results, you can re-enable auto-sync and continue working.

Keep zotero. When you upgrade to a major new version of Zotero, Zotero will automatically update your database to work with the new version. If you would like to revert to a previous version of Zotero at a later point, you will have to manually replace your database with the automatic backup Zotero made during the upgrade. It's a good idea to make a backup of your entire Zotero data directory before making any changes. Note that if you try to open an upgraded database in an earlier version, Zotero will display an error.

Just close Zotero and replace the. Zotero will then sync from the online library any changes made since you last used the older database. If you were not using syncing, you may wish to export to Zotero RDF any items added since the database upgrade and then reimport those into the earlier version. Sorting your library by Date Added may help you find such items. Bear in mind that word processor documents used with later Zotero versions may not be usable with earlier versions, and Zotero developers and community members will provide only limited support for earlier versions mostly to recommend upgrading to the current version.

If you open Zotero to find your library blank or missing lots of data, there are a few main possibilities:. If you see only 1 MB or 5 MB zotero. If you've gone through these steps and still can't find your data, post to the Zotero Forums with the following info:. Translations of this page: en. When you reopen Zotero, you should see your restored Zotero data. Temporarily disable auto-sync in the Sync pane of the Zotero preferences.

Follow the steps in the preceding section to restore from a backup of your Zotero data directory. Once you see your restored data, were you to sync again, the more recent data in the online library would replace the data you just restored, and you'll need to take steps to prevent that:.

If you're trying to restore deleted collections, you can create duplicate collections and drag items from the old collections to the new ones. When you sync, the old collections will be deleted but the new ones will remain. If many items were affected or collections were deleted, you can use Replace Online Library to force Zotero to upload the local version of the library, overwriting previously synced changes.

In the Advanced tab, change the Zotero language to English if your computer is set to another language. Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy. Toggle navigation. Zotero: Getting Started. Table of Contents. Get Zotero Why Use Zotero? Why Use Zotero? Be Organized Keep all of your research and citations in one place Save Time Format fewer citations by hand Collaborate Work with anyone in the world, anytime It's Free No cost even after you leave Harvard.

It is recommended to use Zotero with Chrome and Firefox though connectors are also available for Safari and Edge.