Mac creates a new instance of Zotero every time the app is launched

palazzo

When launching Zotero for Mac version 5 (currently using version 5.0.48, but this behavior occurred in earlier revisions), a new instance of the application is created every time: a second dock icon appears, a hidden volume is mounted and the running instance of Zotero is treated by the system as an entirely new process that has never run before. While in-app functionality is not affected, it results in some annoying system quirks, such as my anti-virus displaying alerts for the volume and for Zotero attempting to connect to the internet every time it launches.

dstillman

A hidden volume is mounted? I'm not totally sure what you mean by that, but it sounds like you may be starting Zotero from its installation disk image. Like most other Mac programs, you want to drag the Zotero application from the disk image to the Applications folder (for which there's a shortcut in the disk image), eject the disk image, delete the .dmg, and start Zotero from Applications.

palazzo

I did copy the application to the Applications folder and unmounted the installation disk image before opening Zotero, to be sure it wasn’t running from the image.

dstillman

You likely created an alias to the app in the image rather than copying it.

palazzo

That wasn't the case either, but I eventually found a way to solve the problem: instead of opening Zotero from the Finder, if keep the new dock icon it creates and click on it, the system recognizes it is the same application and doesn't nag me over and over again.

dstillman

This definitely has to do with the way you dragged the app out of the image. This is bog-standard Mac app distribution, no one else has reported this problem, and I can reproduce what you describe by dragging the app out as an alias (Cmd-Shift-drag) instead of just dragging it. If you delete everything you've created and start again by just dragging the Zotero app out, I think you'll find that this just works.

palazzo

After doing some research, it seems the issue is not properly with how I drag the application, but with using Path Finder rather than the Finder to do the dragging. This creates a bug with MacOS Sierra's AppTranslocation feature. Using the Finder rather than Path Finder to install Zotero fixed the problem.