What are the ideal setting? On Zotero's storage and Google Drive

marcomarrero12317
Hi, Guys!

I have little technical knowledge, so I want to know if someone could helps me to 'reconfigure' my zotero (or confirms if the changes I made are the best).

In the past, I made a modification because I wanted to put all my files on Google Drive (as many here, I realized that Zotero's storage would be insufficient). But I read someone in the forum, saying that "it was not a good idea to put the entire 'base directory' in a cloud" - is that true? If it's true, I have a problem: I don't know how to reverse it and still use Google Drive to store my PDF files.

So I need some help to (1) leave PDF files stored in the Google Drive cloud and (2) put the entire base directory in a safe/better place.

can anybody help me? I leave here two images with my current settings:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dXY5KqJoS5Tlk8cAxuTc6OJRCyUyvsuM/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H_lnGxVaVGoDyjEFb1-kEGlDHd-TgUJ4/view?usp=share_link
  • adamsmith
    The base directory can be anywhere you want it to be -- the data directory can't be in GDrive (or any other sync service). I assume your G: drive is just a regular local drive? Then your settings are fine. You should, however, disable file sync for my library if you're going to use linked files anyway.
    You'll also likely want to set up ZotFile to automatically move your files to the base directory.

    Finally, be aware that linked files on an external sync service are more difficult to manage. There are more settings and more things that can go wrong, so do consider if that's really what you want to do if, as you say, you have little technical knowledge. Working either with Zotero File Storage or a WebDAV service (which can be cheaper) will be much easier.
  • marcomarrero12317
    Hi, adamsmith


    "I assume your G: drive is just a regular local drive"

    No, it's not. The "G: Drive" is Google Drive, installed on my notebook. Does that mean, then, that my settings are wrong?

    "You should, however, disable file sync for my library if you're going to use linked files"

    Why I shold do that? It is a safer opntion? and how can I do disable that option?

    Thanks for your help!
  • adamsmith
    No, it's not. The "G: Drive" is Google Drive, installed on my notebook. Does that mean, then, that my settings are wrong?
    yeah, that's absolutely going to cause problems, then. Move it back to its default location.

    Why I shold do that? It is a safer opntion? and how can I do disable that option?
    Because having two parallel sync processes is going to be confusing at best and cause issues at worst, yes. The option is in your first screenshot, you can just uncheck it.
  • marcomarrero12317
    edited February 10, 2023
    "yeah, that's absolutely going to cause problems, then. Move it back to its default location."

    I got it. But how can I store my pdf files in Google Drive if I put the data directory back to the default location? Doesn't this mean that the PDFs will be stored again on the local disk? Or will my pdf files still be stored in Google Drive?

    "The option is in your first screenshot, you can just uncheck it."

    I don't get what the option is... There are two sections: first: "Data Syncing" and the second is "File Syincing". Which one should I uncheck?

    Thanks for being so patience...
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