Highlights are not synced in Zotero pdf viewer

JannAmos
I use Zotfile and syncthing to sync Highlights from my boox note to Zotero. Until recently this worked just fine but now the following problem has arisen: the files are synchronized by syncthing and stored in the folder that Zotero also accesses to save file attachments (zotfile source folder). When I open the PDF in the folder with an external PDF viewer, the highlights are visible, but when I access the same file via Zotero the highlights are not displayed. I would be very grateful if someone could help me with this problem.

  • JannAmos
    Okay, I found a solution: I had to import the highlights manually by opening the pdf in Zotero, click on file and then "import annotations". Before this used to happen automatically, that's why my confusion.
  • dstillman
    edited April 5, 2024
    No, there's some sort of confusion here. Annotations embedded in the PDF will always show up in the Zotero PDF reader as locked, read-only annotations. All File → "Import Annotations" does is move the annotations from the file to the Zotero database and make them editable within Zotero. This it how it has worked since the Zotero PDF reader was introduced.
  • JannAmos
    Thanks for your comment! I still don't understand why the annotations embedded in the pdf are not displayed in the zotero pdf reader. After I imported the annotations manually to the Zotero database, the Highlights were visible. But when I extracted them into a new note, they appeared twice. Is there a reason why embedded "read-only" annotations would not appear in the zotero pdf reader?
  • dstillman
    Can you send the PDF in question to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread?
  • martynas_b
    @JannAmos I can't reproduce the issue with the file. But you can try Zotero 7 beta to see if the issue persists.
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