All PDFs are gone from disk after Zotero updated - did not delete files

khaper · January 13, 2019

My error report shown no errors - number 1720576061.
But all PDF files disappeared from database while all libraries are intact.
PDF attachments are shown but would not open and files are missing in the folders.
Not sure what could cause this.

dstillman · January 13, 2019

There's no way for files to be deleted separately from their attachment items, so if they're missing, something deleted the files outside of Zotero (unlikely), you somehow switched to a different Zotero data directory, or you created them on another computer and they simply haven't synced.

khaper · January 16, 2019

Thanks dstillman for your reply. Indeed, I traced the issue back to migrating to a new computer and not having my PDFs synced on the cloud. Will have to download them again :(