Import from Endnote overwrote entire library

George Darroch

Hi, I just imported an old library from Endnote into my Zotero library, and it overwrote it. I was confused about what was going on, and pressed sync - with the result that the back-up on the server has been overwritten.

I have to hand in this thesis in 36 hours. I'm about to cry. Any suggestions that will save me would be gladly appreciated.

dstillman

If it makes you feel any better, you're at least partially—and possibly completely—mistaken.

First, we've never had any reports of a library being overwritten by an import, so it's pretty unlikely that that happened. Are you sure you're looking in the right place? Are you sure you're looking in "My Library" in Zotero? Have you tried sorting by Date Added?

Second, your server data has many items from today, but it has many more items dating back to March 2009. So you haven't lost anything.

Try to find the data locally first. If you really don't see it in your local copy of Zotero, close Firefox and make a backup of your entire Zotero data directory. Then restart Firefox. See if it's still missing. If so, do a Full Sync from the Sync->Reset pane of the Zotero preferences.

dstillman

(And whatever you do, don't do a Restore to Zotero Server.)

George Darroch

Thanks Dan - I have found it all again.

After the import I was taken to the sublibrary, rather than My Library. And then flicking through the sublibraries which were themselves imports, I couldn't find the references since my last major import, hence the confused panic.

As always, I'm thankful for Zotero and the high level of support you provide. It is really very much appreciated.