changed the custom location of files

lovodkin93
For a year now, I have been saving the downloaded pdf files to a folder on Google Drive desktop.
However, I have recently noticed that this app has been slowing down the overall performance of my computer, so I decided to remove it.
I have moved the folder with the pdf files to a local location, and have changed the Custom Location on the ZotFile preferences to the new location.
However, I cannot seem to redirect the paper I have already had on my Zotero to the new location, and whenever I try to open them I get a message saying they cannot be found at their old path (in the Google Drive directory).
I have tried right clicking them --> manage attachments --> rename and move (prior to removing the Google Drive desktop app), but this did not help.
Could anyone please let me know how I can redirect the path of the already downloaded pdfs?
  • claude70
    If you change the location of the folder your PDF files are in, then Zotfile can’t see them anymore, because the link is pointing to a different folder. Changing the Custom Location in Zotfile will only affect new PDF files that you move. To get the PDF links working again you either need to rename the folder they are in to the same name as the old Google Drive folder so that the link points to the right place. Alternatively you could right-click on each broken link, choose the Show File option, and when it says that it can’t find the file, click the “Locate” button and navigate to the new folder. Zotero will then update the link to the right address.

    If there are too many broken links this can be tedious, so you could use the Zutilo utility to rename the links in groups, or even all in one go. Zutilo lets you add extra options to the right-click menu (you have to dive into it’s preferences and enable the ones you want). The ones you want are “Show attachment paths” and “Modify attachment paths”. Once you find the exact address of the Google Drive folder path with "Show attachment paths" you can use “Modify attachment paths” to fix the links. Select any items with broken links, right-click, go to “Zutilo > Modify attachment paths”, paste in the part of the folder address that is broken, tick the “Replace all instances” checkbox, and then in the next screen add the corresponding path to the new folder.

    For example, if your old folder had the name
    C:/Users/lovodkin/Google Drive/ZoteroFiles
    and your new folder is C:/Users/lovodkin/Documents/ZoteroFiles
    you need to replace “GoogleDrive” with “Documents”.

    Enter GoogleDrive in the first Zutilo “Modify attachment paths” window, tick the “Replace all …” checkbox, and type Documents into the second window. Then all the links in the selected items will now point to the Documents/ZoteroFiles folder.
  • tim820
    Zotero still thinks your linked files are at their old location because you haven't done anything to change their location information in its database. You moved your linked files in your OS - outside of Zotero - and that's why Zotero is telling you it can't find them.

    Zotfile's Custom Location only sets where linked files are saved - that is, where *future* linked files will be stored when downloaded. The Custom Location does not affect where Zotero *looks* for existing linked files (when you try to open them).

    When the linked files were still at their old location, had you simply changed Zotfile's Custom Location setting, then right-clicking Zotfile's Manage Attachments\Rename&Move would have worked ... because Zotero/Zotfile still knew where the linked files were, and Zotfile knew where you wanted to move them to (your new Custom Location).

    You best option now may be to set Zotero's Linked Attachment Base Directory to the new folder location of your linked files. That only sets where Zotero *looks* for linked files. It is normally only needed when you have linked files set up on different computers and their parent folder paths on those computers are slightly different. Ideally it shouldn't need to find your existing PDFs first ... and if not, then you should be fine.
  • JavierHerRe
    I find a similar problem. I have 3 computers in which my LABD is in GDrive, for the "main" PC is C:\Users\javie\Documents\Beca Río Hortega\Bibliografía\Zotero PDFs but for to the other 2 computers the folder is the same but with different path because it's not G:\Otros ordenadores\Beca Río Hortega\Bibliografía\Zotero PDFs.
    I don't know why but seems not work properly, with some articles looks like it works, but others fail. I'm not sure it has to be with the local folder where the articles are saved, obviously are different in the 3 PCs but once I create the linked files, this should be solved
  • tim820
    edited May 30, 2024
    When you try to open a linked PDF and Zotero can't find it with the information it has, the error message should tell you where it *thinks* the linked PDF should be.

    That's often the clue to what's not quite right with a linked file setup: either where Zotero *thinks* the linked PDF file should be is wrong, or that is right but the file is not actually at that location on that computer.

    It helps to understand how Zotero uses the LABD setting "under the hood". If you have a LABD set, Zotero has replaced each linked PDF's explicit full-path location in its database (from when the linked PDF was stored) with a prefix 'attachments:' (the user obviously never sees that prefix, unless they look inside the sqlite database). That database then syncs across all data-synced computers. The actual LABD location is obviously specifically set on each computer.

    When you try to open a linked PDF in Zotero, that prefix tells Zotero to insert the LABD set on that computer in place of the prefix, which should make up the full path to where the linked PDF is on that computer.

    The OP's problem was a bit different.
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