Issues with Zotero in Large Word Document (PhD Thesis)

mariannaespi
Dear Zotero Support Team,
I am reaching out for assistance with using Zotero in my PhD thesis document. I have completed the first draft, which is approximately 74,000 words, and consolidated all chapters into a single Word document. However, I am currently experiencing issues with Zotero integration (I have a Macbook Pro).
The main issues are as follows:
- Unable to Refresh Document: When I attempt to refresh the citations within the document, Zotero does not complete the action. I have waited over 10 minutes without any result, so it appears to be unresponsive.
- Unable to Add New Citations: Similarly, I am unable to add any new citations. I have attempted to insert citations multiple times, but no citation fields appear in the document.
- Bibliography doesn't work
I have checked various troubleshooting resources and attempted a few solutions, such as:
- Confirming that my Zotero software is up to date.
- Ensuring that the Word plugin is installed and enabled.
- Checking to see if the issue was due to document size by testing with smaller files (which worked).
- Restarting the laptop
Despite these efforts, the problem persists with the main document. Could it be due to the document’s length or citation volume? If there are any specific steps, settings adjustments, or optimizations that I could try, I would appreciate your guidance.
Thank you very much for your assistance with this matter.

Best regards,
  • mariannaespi
    I have also paid to have 2 GB as it was 103% over 300mb. It still doesn't work.
  • dstillman
    Mac Word integration is currently pretty slow, so with a document of that size, you might have to wait much longer than 10 minutes — potentially hours or overnight. If you have access to a Windows computer, you could also do the final refresh there.

    For inserting citations, make sure that "Automatically update citations" is disabled in the plugin's Document Preferences window. That should make inserting citations much faster (after the first one in a session, which might still be slow). You'll need to do a single refresh at the end before submitting the document (though you might want to test one before your deadline just to make sure it's working).
  • mariannaespi
    Hi, many thanks for your message.

    I’m could work on a Windows computer at the library, but I won’t be able to install any apps on it. Is it possible to work effectively in this setup?

    Also, I need to create a bibliography, but I’ve run into an issue where it says it’s currently not possible to complete it. How can I solve this? Or is not possible on the Mac?
  • dstillman
    Zotero would need to be installed on the computer, yes.

    You really shouldn't need to do that, though. Zotero has millions of users, and plenty of people use it with Mac Word.

    Again, you want to make sure "Automatically update citations" is disabled, and then you can work normally and refresh the document at the end — when you're able to let it go for a little while —  to finalize the citations and generate the bibliography.
    I need to create a bibliography, but I’ve run into an issue where it says it’s currently not possible to complete it
    What do you mean by that? What's the exact message you're referring to?
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