How to change file name in library list ('Title' field)?

nickisch
I'm fairly new to Zotero. I have saved several pdfs from web where the originals seem not to have been properly titled. So in my library list they show up as 4365.pdf, 8009-final.pdf and other such unhelpful titles!

While I can 'save as' onto my laptop with a more useful name (such as the actual report name), this doesn't show in the Zotero list. There seems to be no option for renaming. How can I change the name/title that is viewed in the library list? Many thanks
  • LiborA
    You can click on pdf and use "Rename file from parent matedata", but I am not sure, if you have filled-in the metadata
  • bwiernik
    You are first going to want to get the pdf files attached to proper Zotero items by right-clicking on them and choosing Retrieve Metadata for PDF (you can do this in batches by selecting multiple PDFs at a time, but don’t do too many at once or you may get temporarily locked out by Google Scholar, one of the sources Zotero uses to get data).

    Note that manually adding a pdf and retrieving metadata is NOT the best way to import items into Zotero. In the future, you will want to use the Zotero browser connector to add new items:
    https://www.zotero.org/support/getting_stuff_into_your_library

    If you have any PDFs where Zotero can’t automatically find metadata, right click on them and choose Create Parent Item, then change the item type to the correct one (journal article, book section, etc.), and manually enter the metadata.

    Once you have metadata for the items, right click on them and choose Rename File from Metadata.


    You can also directly change the file name of the PDF attachment by selecting it (not its parent item) and clicking on the filename in bold in the right pane. Note though, that you really do want to get the PDFs attached to parent items, as that opens up all of Zotero’s functionality.
  • nickisch
    Excellent - thanks. I had to create the parent item and it worked perfectly!

    I have the Zotero browser connector, but it doesn't always translate/save, hence the direct add as pdfs. Will keep learning on that one.

  • bwiernik
    Do you have a specific URL where it’s not working? It should always grab at least a minimum amount of information.
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