Upgrade StorageLibrary accidentally overwritten after migrating to a new PC
Hi,
I accidentally overwritten my Zotero library when I tried to migrate to a new PC, and I need help recovering my data. Here's what happened:
-On my old PC, I was using Zotero version 5.0 with a well-stocked library (synchronised with Zotero online).
-On my new PC, I installed version 7 of Zotero. During configuration, I mistakenly selected the Replace Online Library option to replace the online library with the local version (which was empty on the new PC).
-This emptied my online library and, of course, on the new PC.
My old PC still has Zotero 5, but after this synchronisation, the library there is also empty.
Further details:
-I tried making a copy of the zotero.sqlite files and restarting them in the Zotero folder, but that didn't change anything. The library remains empty.
-This error occurred on 24/01/2025.
Is it possible to recover an earlier version of my library from the Zotero server backups? If so, could you help me to do this?
Thank you very much for your help.
I accidentally overwritten my Zotero library when I tried to migrate to a new PC, and I need help recovering my data. Here's what happened:
-On my old PC, I was using Zotero version 5.0 with a well-stocked library (synchronised with Zotero online).
-On my new PC, I installed version 7 of Zotero. During configuration, I mistakenly selected the Replace Online Library option to replace the online library with the local version (which was empty on the new PC).
-This emptied my online library and, of course, on the new PC.
My old PC still has Zotero 5, but after this synchronisation, the library there is also empty.
Further details:
-I tried making a copy of the zotero.sqlite files and restarting them in the Zotero folder, but that didn't change anything. The library remains empty.
-This error occurred on 24/01/2025.
Is it possible to recover an earlier version of my library from the Zotero server backups? If so, could you help me to do this?
Thank you very much for your help.
If you do manage to restore your data from an automatic backup, any files would be missing, but if you were using Zotero Storage we may be able to relink any that had previously been uploaded to Zotero servers. Just to be very clear, Replace Online Library didn't empty the library on your new PC. As you noted, it was already empty. That's why running Replace Online Library wiped out the online library and your old PC as well.
I assume you realize this now, but all you need to do to set up syncing on a new computer is to put in your username and password.
Thanks again!