Zotero will not open PDF

ltanner4

The PDF's attached to my references will no longer open. They are shown as attached, however the icon is very light in color and will not open once double clicked. I have a few PDF's that are working in a library with thousands of references. Also, the PDF's are not showing in the online version of Zotero. I have shared and non-shared libraries and it is more consistent that the PDF's won't open than not.

tim820

What exactly does the error message say when you double click on a PDF ? Are these PDFs that are currently on, or were once on, this particular computer ?

ltanner4

For full disclosure, my laptop last week started not opening PDF files, and there was no error message. Then this week I have a new desktop and have attempted to import my file from my Zotero library on my laptop into my desktop (into Zotero) and am now receiving an error message when attempting to open PDF files which states:

The attached file could not be found at the following path:

C:\Users\letan\Zotero\storage\Y49PXPNV\Eicher-Miller - 2020 - A review of the food security, diet and health out.pdf

It may have been moved or deleted outside of Zotero, or, if the file was added on another computer, it may not yet have been synced to zotero.org.

Again, the files are also not synced to my web library and I have synced my laptop and desktop multiple times.

dstillman

my laptop last week started not opening PDF files, and there was no error message

What does that mean?

Then this week I have a new desktop and have attempted to import my file from my Zotero library on my laptop into my desktop

What do you mean by "import"? If you mean you exported to a file that you then imported, you absolutely don't want to do that. See Transferring a Library.

We'll help you with your original data directory on the original computer or a library that you transferred properly to the new computer. We can't help with an import from an export from a computer that wasn't working — that's just too many levels of indirection and wouldn't be fixable.

ltanner4

I need help with the broken PDF links in my laptop (original computer with Zotero library). These broken links occured randomly last week. Once those are fixed, I can address my new computer. And yes, I did follow directions provided by my university and exported the files from my laptop and then imported them to my desktop. I see that the directions you have provided are different. Thanks for your assistance!

dstillman

You'd have to answer my question about the original computer, then. We'd also want to see a Debug ID for reproducing the problem.