Can't update Zotero on Windows

PileOfCells
Hello Zotero community,

I can't update Zotero on my Windows machine because it requires administrator privilege (nothing special here) BUT if I start Zotero with as administrator, it starts on a completely different session and I don't have my data.

If you have any idea that might help, I would be glad to hear about it.
  • adamsmith
    But couldn't you still update when running as administrator? The software and the data are separate.
  • PileOfCells
    No, if I start as administrator Zotero will tell me that there are no update available. I just checked the version and it's the 5.0.55 so I have an updated version. I don't know why Zotero would bring a pop-up saying that he can't run updates (when started as normal user). I'll come back if I still have a problem for the next release but for now, I'm good (except I have to kill a pop-up from time to time).
  • adamsmith
    If you find this very annoying and this is a personal computer, you can actually just uninstall Zotero and then re-install it, but click cancel when prompted for admin login. That way it will install to a non-admin location and you can update as a regular user. That's the setup I use on Windows.

    Make a copy of your data directory before uninstalling Zotero to be safe, but typically that shouldn't get touched in the process.
  • PileOfCells
    Oh, ok. Thanks for the tip.
    Have a good day :-)
  • trichner
    On a related note, and as reference to others with a similar issue:
    1. Adam's suggestion to run Zotero as admin to upgrade worked for me.
    2. I was only able to install the Word add-on while in admin mode. In standard user mode it would report that the Word add-on was installed even though it wasn't.

    Of note: I use Windows Server 2019, which probably has slightly stricter security settings.
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