all the annotations of some files are gone

Hanyuhong

When I updated some annotations of two files on 19th July the software repeating reminded me to choose between the local annotation and the ones on cloud which I don't know why. I chose the local ones and closed Zotero after synchronization.
I opened the files today in Zotero and noticed all of the annotations of the two files were gone thoroughly even on the web Zotero. The old annotations of other files which I didn't update are still there. I wonder what happened. Is there a way to get them back?

dstillman

What's the zotero.org URL of the parent item when you select it in the Zotero web library?

Are these annotations you made in the Zotero PDF reader or another PDF reader?

reminded me to choose between the local annotation and the ones on cloud

Do you mean the annotation or the attachment?

That would be a conflict-resolution window, and it would happen if you made changes on two different devices between syncs.

Did you make the annotations on this computer or another computer?

If these were annotations you made in another PDF reader (i.e., annotations that were saved to the file itself, rather than annotations stored in the Zotero database), then you certainly might lose them if the files were in conflict and you chose one side or the other.

Only 6 items (which could be attachments or individual Zotero annotations) have ever been deleted in your library, and none on July 19th, so it doesn't seem like you lost any Zotero-created annotations then.

Do you have a backup of your Zotero data directory from before July 19th?

Hanyuhong

Thank you for your reply, I know the problem, I found multiple files appeared under one item. I only made annotations on one of them, when I opened the item, I didn't know the file was not the annotated one, so I found no comments. I also don't know why there are multiple files. in a word, the annotations are still there, I deleted the unnecessary ones, thank you again.