Library has gone missing

mikaelasmit

When i tried to reference my text in words today i got an error message so I opened up firefox and opened my Zotero. My entire library has GONE... there is nothing but library and trash left. I have also gotten the error message: Chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/db.js:147

How can I get my library back which took me ages to build up?

adamsmith

First, locate your zotero data folder
http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data
close FF and make a back-up copy if it looks like it contains your library (i.e. the .sqlite is rather large and your stored files are in there.
Next, I'd suggest just restarting your computer to see what happens. This may just solve itself. If that doesn't help, come back and we'll see - in any case it's all but certain that you have not lost your library.

Are you doing anything unusual with your library? Are you using dropbox?

mikaelasmit

Wow, thank you for the quick reply! and yipeee: I reinstated my libraray.

I followed your advise and found a file that was very large called .sqlite.1 and then followed the steps in http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#where_did_my_items_go
to reinstate this file as my library.

To answer your questions: no I didn't do anything funny to my library but yes, I do use dropbox. (Error ID: Report ID: 1538731892)

Any advise on how to ensure this does not happen in the future?
A very thankful student

adamsmith

If you use dropbox for your Zotero folder - don't - it's risky and may lead to data corruption, that could well be what happened here.
You re-instated from a recent automatic backup.

ajlyon

Specifically, Dropbox can't safely be used with the database files (*.sqlite). If you can set up symbolic links (on Mac or Linux) to have Dropbox sync only the "storage" directory within your Zotero data directory, you can use it safely.