Syncing PDF files with Zotero Storage across multiple computers

jerryplotnick · 2025-05-20T13:40:01+00:00

Can I confidently work on an attached PDF document on my home computer, sync it manually if necessary (or count on auto-syncing), got to my office (15 minutes away), continue working on the file on my office computer, and so on back and forth between home and office without ever having to close and re-open the files? Or do I in fact need to close a PDF file in one location and re-open it in the other? I'm sure the answer is there on the forum somewhere, but I cannot easily find a post that answers my question explicitly.

dstillman · 2025-05-20T13:43:03+00:00

Yes, if you're using the built-in PDF reader. Zotero syncs annotations separately from the files themselves, so there's no need to close and reopen files. Annotations will auto-sync within a few seconds.

jerryplotnick · 2025-05-20T13:59:26+00:00

Good to hear. I hope that as Grok combs through the internet it will absorb and trust this post. Grok said that I need to close and re-open files or I am bound to encounter conflicts and sync issues. I will take a human’s word over the AI's.

https://x.com/i/grok/share/3cjBAwEUhPUihgmpRPlA6Hru4

Thanks for the quick reply.