Zotero folder on new laptop

I have recently started to use linked files in Zotero and I love it. For a number of reasons (discussed here https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/101468/zotero-file-management-and-storage#latest) I am not keen on moving to Zotero storage.
I have now moved to a new laptop, installed Zotero, did not check the preferences and run the sync. Since I have kept the same file structure, Zotero smoothly retrieved the folder where I kept the linked file and all seems to work splendidly!
Yet I found a Zotero data directory larger than expected (and larger than the one in the older laptop) and including several pdfs.

1) I assume these are some files that might have been stored in Z storage years back (I guess I used it inconsistently for a while) and were now synced to the new laptop as I had left the "Sync full-text content" option flagged. Am I correct?
2) I have now unflagged it, but the pdfs file appear to remain on the laptop. Is it correct? 3) Any way to get rid of them?
4) As a partially separate request: I have noticed that my index comprises about 250 indexed and over 3k unindexed items. I'd love full text search. Yet I am concerned about the duration of the indexing. Any way to index only a subset of unindexed items? Otherwise I think I should try once overnight.

Thanks for helping!
  • edited March 26, 2023
    "Sync full-text content" has nothing to do with file syncing. You should leave that enabled.

    If you only want to use linked files and don't want any stored files, you should just delete them from your library. You can click an item and press + to expand all items, and then just look for all the attachments without a link icon.
  • Thanks dstillman for pointing up the meaning of Sync full-text content. You are right and sorry for my mistake.

    any suggestions re point 4) above?

    Thanks

    Francesco
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