Zotero freezes and cannot open pdf in file explorer when adding pdf to Zotero

Every time I add a pdf to Zotero using Zotero connector, drag and drop pdf to Zotero entry, or Zotfile, Zotero will freeze for about one minute.

During this time I can not do anything in Zotero. If I right click any entry in the collection there will be no menu showing up. If I double click any entry, the pdf will not open. And if I switch to other collections, the list will always be empty. I can open Zotero settings, though.

Furthermore, during this time if I delete any file in the system file explorer, the deletion will not complete until Zotero goes to normal. I can not even open any pdf file in explorer by Acrobat during is period.

When using Zotfile, this freezing ends when Zotfile shows a "new attachment added" message. After this freezing, all the operations I have done during that period go all at once. For example, if I have tried to open some pdfs then those pdfs will show up together in Acrobat.

Disabling auto sync does not help.

I am on Windows 10 1903, and the Zotero data directory is in an external micro SD card. This issue exists ever since I started to use Zotero in March, 2020.
  • edited August 7, 2020
    You shouldn't use SD cards this way. They're not meant for general-purpose storage, and the frequent writes will wear them out quickly. They're also just not fast enough for normal usage.

    You should move your data directory to your internal disk.
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