10.0.3 crashes when trying to add Citation style

AnnaValvanne · 2026-09-25T14:27:02+00:00

Hey, my users are reporting that when they attempt to add a citation style from file, the programm gets stuck and the settings window can only be closed from the Task manager. Edit > Cite > Add from File doesn't go anywhere and the programme freezes. It happens to everyone in our environment. I wonder if other have this too.

dstillman · 2026-09-25T14:28:22+00:00

These are institutional computers? What exact OS and OS version? Do all file pickers (e.g., Add File from the Add Attachment button in the toolbar) do the same thing?

AnnaValvanne · 2026-10-15T10:06:30+00:00

Sorry for a late response dstillman. We still have the issue with the 10.0.6 version. Yes, the programme freezes trying to open the File picker also when I do Add File from the Add Attachment. This wasn't an issue in Zotero 9 or earlier. I've done some troubleshooting now and I may have been able to narrow down the problem to the xul.dll file.

When the user tires to add a citation style from file the Event viewer records this Error:
Faulting application name: zotero.exe, version: 10.0.6.0, time stamp: 0x6ac1d5b9 Faulting module name: xul.dll, version: 140.17.0.2018, time stamp: 0x6abedb2b Exception code: 0x80000003 Fault offset: 0x00000000005c50dc Faulting process id: 0x92C8 Faulting application start time: 0x1DD5BAEA771B25E
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Zotero\zotero.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\Zotero\xul.dll
Report Id: b0a19c70-d331-4ff6-a226-a651b7b44b66
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

It might still be something specific to our setup as well. We're on Windows 11, 25H2 OS26200.9711 or on 26H2 26300.9711 now.
We have deployed Zotero with Intune as a Win32 app and our users do not have local admin rights on the devices. However the file picker fails both for standard users but also for the local admins.
We have EPM (Endpoint Privilage Management) in use as well, but creating an Rule Exception for Zotero.exe and for the xul.dll file did not solve the issue either.

Happy to provide you with any further logs if helpful. Thanks!

dstillman · 2026-10-15T14:33:40+00:00

If you set widget.windows.utility_process_file_picker to -1 in the Config Editor in the Advanced pane of the settings and restart Zotero, does that fix this?

If so, do you see the same problem in Firefox (140 or later), if you open an open/save dialog?

Firefox, which Zotero is based on, switched to opening file-picker dialogs in a separate utility process, and I'd guess that your endpoint security software is breaking that somehow. You can disable the separate process with -1, but it would be better to figure out why it's breaking. If Firefox works, there might be some exception in your security software that allows Firefox to work.