Sending files from Windows File Manager Into Zotero

whybethee

Can anyone recommend a way or extension that I can send files from Windows file manager (or another file manager) directly into my specific Zotero library collections? I am not talking about "add files" from Zotero. I want to use Zotero as a way to organize the unorganized files on my Windows drive. So I want to send them directly from my file manger into Zotero library collections without having to rearrange them in Zotero or add them to a specific collection from Zotero "Add file".

dstillman

You know you can just drag files into Zotero?

whybethee

Yes. But I have hundreds of files to organize. I am looking for a way to send or upload the file to Zotero directly from Windows. And even when I set up the Zotero window and the Windows files window as side by side panes on my screen to drop and drag it is still a cumbersome process.

dstillman

You just haven’t really explained what the problem is or what you’re trying to accomplish. What exactly is cumbersome? How is dragging the file from File Explorer not doing it “directly” from Windows?

You can drag multiple files at once, or even, say, do a search for all PDFs below a certain folder and drag them all to Zotero together.

It will be possible in a future version to open PDFs via Zotero in order to add them, but that doesn’t seem particularly different for your use case as I understand it.

whybethee

I am looking for a way I can save word.docs and PDFs from the Windows file manager into the correct Zotero collection/ subcollection directly from Windows file manager (or from the opened file itself). Dropping and dragging is taking too long since there are so many different folders and subfolders Zotero and Windows files.

whybethee

Is there a plugin that can send or put files from windows into Zotero?

dstillman

As I say, in a future version it will be possible to open PDFs via Zotero to add them, but your definition of "direct" here is just a little odd. Dragging from File Explorer is one way to add "directly" from Windows. You're presumably not going to make Zotero the default handler for PDFs, so at the very least you'd be navigating the right-click → "Open With" menu, which doesn't seem all that much faster or easier than dragging, particularly when you still probably want to choose a collection. Note that you can hover over a destination app's icon in the task bar while dragging a file to bring the app to the front. You don't have to rearrange your windows.