Changing the Linked Attachment Base: Zotero is looking in the old/wrong folder

gvdbroek

I use a local folder to store my pdfs and the "link attachment" function in preferences/Files and folders/Base directory.
After re-installing the computer, I moved the folder with the pdfs on the computer, and filled in the folder location under preferences. New attachments are linked to this folder fine, but for old entries, Zotero still links to the previous folder.
I would like to update all attachments to link to the new pdf folder.

What could I be missing why this is not updating/working? I used links previously successfully (also to sync across computers where the link to the (same) pdf folder was different; the zotero database is synched online)

I basically just want Zotero to look in a different folder but it maintains the old file location. What can I do?

tim820

If Zotero can't open a linked PDF on any computer, it usually just means that you have not set a Linked Attachment Base Directory (LABD) for that computer, or you have not set it correctly, or you haven't put that PDF in the right location where it should be. The Zotero error message usually gives you enough information to figure out which problem it is.

Each computer's LABD can be different**. And once you have set a LABD on *one* computer, the Zotero database is changed (each linked PDF's explicit path in the database is replaced with an 'attachments:' placeholder for the LABD). So you need to set the LABD on *every* computer, even if they are the same. The database change of course also has to sync successfully to all computers.

**Note that you don't actually need a LABD setting if linked PDFs are at exactly the same path on each computer. But once you have set a LABD on one synced computer, you have to set it on all.