How do I find a sub-selection that I have deleted?

Margaux_Rondez
Good evening,
I was in the process of classifying my scientific literature when I deleted a sub-selection from a folder. I would like to find it quickly, how can I do that? I really need help please!
  • DWL-SDCA
    edited February 3, 2021
    I'm assuming you mean that you deleted a sub_collection_ ... if you mean something else this comment may not be useful. (I'm not being a pedant. If you are more comfortable in a language other than English, there are people here who may be able to help you in your preferred language.)

    There are two options when deleting a collection or sub-colllection from your library. You can remove only the sub-collection as an organizational aspect or you can remove both the sub-collection and its contents. If you removed sub-collection _and_ contents you will find the items in your trash. If you just removed the sub-collection the items may still be in the former parent collection* but they will certainly still be in your library.

    edit: I know of no way to recover the organizational sub-collection without reverting to a back-up of your library. That probably isn't an option because you will eliminate any other changes and additions to your library.

    edit:
    *This involves something called recursive collections and someone else will need to explain that if it is relevant to your situation.
  • dstillman
    @Margaux_Rondez: If you act fast, you may be able to recover from one of your last automatic backups.

    An upcoming version of Zotero will move deleted collections to the trash so that you can undo the deletion easily.
  • Margaux_Rondez
    Good evening,

    then yes I mean I deleted a sub-collection and its content.

    How can I act quickly?

    Is it possible that the articles that were present in the sub-collection were inserted in the "unclassified" part?
  • dstillman
    I linked to instructions for restoring from the last automatic backup. But since those are automatic backups, you need to do it right away or there'll be a new, more recent backup. You should immediately make a backup of all the zotero.sqlite* files in the Zotero data directory.
    Is it possible that the articles that were present in the sub-collection were inserted in the "unclassified" part?
    If you just delete a collection, and not the collection and items, then all the items will remain in the library root. Whether or not they appear in Unfiled Items depends entirely on whether they also exist in other collections.
  • Margaux_Rondez
    What specific link do I need to follow to restore my sub-collection?
  • dstillman
    The only link I provided above:

    https://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#restoring_from_the_last_automatic_backup
  • Margaux_Rondez
    It worked, a huge thank you.
    The work done yesterday has faded away, but I'm going to do it again tonight.

    Thank you very much.
    Last question: after this manipulation I can reactivate the synchronization?
  • dstillman
    Make sure you've followed the steps there to duplicate the collection so that when you sync and the original collection is deleted the new one remains.
  • dstillman
    @Margaux_Rondez: And to be clear, when you sync, all the changes you've made since this backup will be downloaded. You shouldn't have to redo anything.
  • Margaux_Rondez
    And for this I have to follow the 3 points included in point 5?
  • dstillman
    No, you have to follow the one that's relevant. In this case it's just II:
    If you're trying to restore deleted collections, you can create duplicate collections and drag items from the old collections to the new ones. When you sync, the old collections will be deleted but the new ones will remain.
  • Margaux_Rondez
    I found what I wanted to find again.
    I'm sorry, I'm having trouble knowing what to do now, so...!

    If I found what I wanted, I can synchronize, right?
  • dstillman
    It's not about finding the thing you wanted — you have to perform the step I quoted above. When you sync, the original collection will just be deleted again.
  • Margaux_Rondez
    But I don't understand how I should proceed to avoid replacement after synchronization.
  • dstillman
    I quoted the exact thing you need to do.
  • Margaux_Rondez
    I need to create a sub-collection with the same name but a number 2 for example in order to prevent the old one from being deleted?
  • dstillman
    No. You need to duplicate the collection so that when your previous deletion is applied from the online library and the original collection is deleted, you still have a new collection that remains.

    The name is irrelevant.
  • Margaux_Rondez
    I figured out how to do it.
    Thank you for your help.
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