Zip entire Zotero folder as backup

carson.matt

Is it unwise (i.e., could it corrupt the files) to zip the entire Zotero folder to back up my files and store it on OneDrive?

I'm a bit low on hard drive space, and I am trying to minimize how much space my backup is taking.

Apologies if this has already been answered; I couldn't find another thread addressing this question, nor could I find it in the documentation.

adamsmith

To be 100% safe you should make sure Zotero isn't running when you zip the folder, but then that's perfectly safe, yes. (If Zotero is running, the backup might not work correctly if you're very unlucky, you won't corrupt your actual database).

carson.matt

Got it. Thanks.

I've actually set it up as a script that automatically zips the folder in PowerShell at system startup to avoid, as much as possible, the issue you described.