Does Zotero automatically overwrite/delete sources in your library, if your storage runs out?

seema.patel

Hi!

I've been using the free version of Zotero for about a year. About a month ago, I noticed (though not necessarily through a Zotero warning) that I was running low on storage. But I have kept on using Zotero. Then today I noticed a "Book" reference I manually inputted into my library a week ago, now is no longer there. I've also noticed curious error messages every now and then that say, "you replaced [A] with [XCHV]" -- like, it's very erratic what the original source and replacement source were? I'm just wondering how Zotero notifies users that we are truly at storage capacity. (Out of fear, I did go in and purchase storage just now!).

Thanks,
SNP

dstillman

No, running out of storage online has no effect on your local Zotero — it just means you can't upload any more files to the online library and other devices.

If an item is no longer there, you deleted it by mistake or are looking in the wrong place — make sure you're looking in the library root, and check the trash. Or if you added it on another computer, see Changes Not Syncing.

you replaced [A] with [XCHV]

I'm not sure what you're referring to here, but if you're referring to a message from the word processor plugin, that would show up if you manually edit citations in the document instead of customizing them properly.

seema.patel

OK great--this is super helpful! I did check the library root and don't see the missing source. But for now I'll chalk it up to some user-error, that I for some reason didn't properly enter that "Book." I checked trash too, don't see it there, etc.

As for my comment -- "you replaced [A] with [XCHV]" -- yes, I see now the pop up is from the word processor plug-in. And by the example I just meant, a few different times when trying to Zotero-cite something in my paper [say, Walker, David - article], I've gotten very random/erratic pop-ups from Zotero ["Your original citation [Walker, David] has been changed to [Gulati, Prakash], would you like to continue?" -- like, I have no idea where or how such a change occurred, because I really have never manually changed a Zotero citation at all. But maybe I did once inadvertently!, I will be mindful going forward. Thanks for the note on customizing properly, I didn't even know that was a thing!