Collection + items in it deleted/disappeared

A collection that I have, along with the items in it, has been deleted from my Zotero app on my computer (MacBook). However, the PDFs still exist in my computer as I found them in the Zotero storage folder in my finder. My app is up-to-date (version 4.0.25.15) and I've synched it as well. I went into my online library and the collection isn't there either (perhaps because I synched it before logging onto my online library, oops). As far as I know, the only items that are no longer in my Zotero library are the ones that lived in the collection that has disappeared, but I'm not 100% sure. I created the collection in January 2017, so when I sort by "Date Added," there's a gap between December 2016 and February 2017. It's likely that I downloaded other files in January 2017 that I didn't add to the collection, but I can't recall what they would be.

So, my question is -- how do I get the collection back into my library along with the other items that were also potentially removed, but were not in this collection? I've already added items to my library since realizing this collection has disappeared, so I hope the solution isn't to restore my library before "xx" date because that would mean losing my new files. I also hope that I don't have to reload all these files one by one manually.

Also, I'm severely technologically challenged, so a straightforward, step-by-step guide (as opposed to technological jargon and musings) would be very helpful.

I appreciate all the help!
  • edited February 20, 2017
    The latest version of Zotero is 4.0.29.x (the x number depends upon which flavor of Zotero you are using Firefox or standalone). That isn't likely to be your only issue but you should download the latest version of Zotero from Zotero.org. Particularly, it seems on a Mac, it isn't so easy to be sure that you are using the latest version of 4.0.x. In a very short time (days) 5.0 will be released and there is a guick and reliable way to be sure that you are using the most recent version.

    It is quite possible -- even likely -- that you deleted the collection but that the items in that collection are still in your library. A quick way to check is to look within your unfiled items collection (at the bottom of your list of collections and above the Zotero trash. Have you looked in your trash? Zotero forces you to confirm (sometimes more than once) that you REALLY want to issue a command that deletes a record. Zotero makes frequent backups of your data so you may not have lost as much as you might fear. Recovery will require a bit of hand-holding.

    Also, if you can possibly afford to spend abput $100 you should buy an external harddrive and use Timemachine. Especially if you consider yourself "technically challenged" using TimeMachine will save you pain and frustration when any file is lost or damaged. Using time machine is simple and straightforward. If you are using your computer for anything other than games and Facebook, if you have documents or photos that you will suffer pain if lost, you must but a 2T or 3T external harddrive, plug it in, and use TimeMachine. It _will_ eventually save you from pain.


    While Zotero's backups can help there are a limited number of them and you will need to do a bit of thinking to select the backup that has the best balance betewwn keeping recently added files and finding files that you deleted. With TimeMachine backups you can go back minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. Between TimeMachine and regular Zotero syncing experiencing a permanent loss will be next to impossible. Don't trust iCloud with your Zotero data. While iCloud is great for everything else, storing a database on a cloud drive can damage the database beyond repair.
  • Pretty sure shena means 4.0.29.15, which is the latest version. There was no 4.0.25.15.

    Assuming you're looking in your active data directory (that is, the directory that shows up when you do Show Data Directory from the Advanced → Files and Folders pane of the Zotero preferences), it shouldn't be possible to still have PDFs within the 'storage' directory that don't have corresponding items in Zotero. Your description of sorting by Date Added makes it sound like you're looking in the library root, though, so my best guess is that you accidentally did a "Delete Collection and Items…" and still have the items in the trash. From the server logs, it looks like you moved a bunch of items to the trash earlier today.
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