Exporting ~100 PDF files into a single folder

kellan82 · September 7, 2017

I'm trying to export ~100 PDF files attached to entries in my Zotero library...I need them all in one folder, and everything I've tried (searching for "PDFs" in Zotero and exporting as an RIS file and uploading to Dropbox and Google Drive, etc) has not worked. The search idea wouldn't give me the option to select and drag the PDFs, and the export gave me each PDF in a separate folder that was parsed into a mess by the upload process in Dropbox and Google Drive. I've read back through the archives, but I haven't seen any recent suggestions for how to tackle this perennial Zotero problem - any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

dstillman · September 7, 2017

You should be able to select the PDFs in question (not their parents) and drag them to a folder. If you drag them to a collection and search for 'pdf' in All Fields & Tags mode and do Select All, that might get you close.

You can also just export normally and then use a search in your OS to get a flat list of the PDFs below the export folder and then drag those to a new folder.

SCROL · February 22, 2021

Many thanks for this advice, it saved me hours. I confirm that the search for the keyword pdf only lists the attached files, then a global selection and a drag-and-drop to a folder on the computer finishes the job.