Upgrade StorageInability to Use Zotero Desktop for Mac Following Failed Installation of Zotero's Safari Connector
Some time ago, I tried to install Zotero's Safari Connector on my iMac. For reasons I could never identify, that installation failed, and ever since, I've been unable to get the desktop version of Zotero to load.
I'll provide more details about this problem below, but what I'd like to do now is delete the desktop version of the program, reinstall it, and then sync it with my online Zotero files. I'm worried, however, that the synchronization will work in the wrong direction, and that the blank desktop version will overwrite all my online records, rather than the other way around. Am I right to be concerned?
Here are more details about my current problem with the desktop version, in case they help.
If I launch the Zotero desktop app on my iMac, two windows pop up simultaneously, both generated by, I think, my Mac OS.
The first window tells me "Zotero is trying to install a new helper tool" (presumably the Safari Connector). It requests the local password for my iMac and gives me the option to enter the password and click on a button to "Install Helper" or simply to click a button to "Cancel" the installation.
The second window informs me that a "Software Update Failed" and asks me to ensure that "there are no other copies of Zotero running on [my] computer." My only option in this window is to click an OK button.
Ever since this problem cropped up a year ago, I've tried every possible response I could think of to these two windows. I've entered my iMac password in an attempt to successfully install the helper tool, and I've tried simply canceling the installation. I've checked for duplicate copies of the Zotero software on my iMac and found only two candidates: a 2020 update that, consistent with the error message, did not appear to install correctly, and a DMG file that I believe was the Safari Connector installation package. After multiple attempts to get the Connector installation to work and to give the update a chance to succeed, I moved both items to my iMac's "Trash" folder and deleted them entirely.
These deletions had no effect on the problem. Even after restarting my iMac, launching Zotero still brought up the two popup windows I mentioned above, and no combination of responses has allowed the desktop program to load. No matter how I've subsequently responded to the two windows, I ended up with a blank Zotero window containing a grayed-out message saying "loading tags" in the lower left-hand corner of the window. The program has then remained stuck there. Maddeningly, my iMac dock also brings up a second Zotero icon, even though I can find no other versions of Zotero on my machine.
Since this problem began, I've been using Zotero online. I haven't found it as efficient, though, especially since I haven't been able to use the Safari Connector—hence my desire to just delete the desktop version entirely and reinstall it. I want to make sure, however, that if I do this, I won't lose all the files I've stored in my Zotero account online.
Any help or reassurance that anyone can provide would be much appreciated! Please forgive any typos in the above.
I'll provide more details about this problem below, but what I'd like to do now is delete the desktop version of the program, reinstall it, and then sync it with my online Zotero files. I'm worried, however, that the synchronization will work in the wrong direction, and that the blank desktop version will overwrite all my online records, rather than the other way around. Am I right to be concerned?
Here are more details about my current problem with the desktop version, in case they help.
If I launch the Zotero desktop app on my iMac, two windows pop up simultaneously, both generated by, I think, my Mac OS.
The first window tells me "Zotero is trying to install a new helper tool" (presumably the Safari Connector). It requests the local password for my iMac and gives me the option to enter the password and click on a button to "Install Helper" or simply to click a button to "Cancel" the installation.
The second window informs me that a "Software Update Failed" and asks me to ensure that "there are no other copies of Zotero running on [my] computer." My only option in this window is to click an OK button.
Ever since this problem cropped up a year ago, I've tried every possible response I could think of to these two windows. I've entered my iMac password in an attempt to successfully install the helper tool, and I've tried simply canceling the installation. I've checked for duplicate copies of the Zotero software on my iMac and found only two candidates: a 2020 update that, consistent with the error message, did not appear to install correctly, and a DMG file that I believe was the Safari Connector installation package. After multiple attempts to get the Connector installation to work and to give the update a chance to succeed, I moved both items to my iMac's "Trash" folder and deleted them entirely.
These deletions had no effect on the problem. Even after restarting my iMac, launching Zotero still brought up the two popup windows I mentioned above, and no combination of responses has allowed the desktop program to load. No matter how I've subsequently responded to the two windows, I ended up with a blank Zotero window containing a grayed-out message saying "loading tags" in the lower left-hand corner of the window. The program has then remained stuck there. Maddeningly, my iMac dock also brings up a second Zotero icon, even though I can find no other versions of Zotero on my machine.
Since this problem began, I've been using Zotero online. I haven't found it as efficient, though, especially since I haven't been able to use the Safari Connector—hence my desire to just delete the desktop version entirely and reinstall it. I want to make sure, however, that if I do this, I won't lose all the files I've stored in my Zotero account online.
Any help or reassurance that anyone can provide would be much appreciated! Please forgive any typos in the above.
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1) Deleting a program in the Applications folder on a Mac has no effect on the program's data. They're always totally separate.
2) Even if you did delete Zotero's data directory (which you don't need to do), syncing would just pull down data from your online library. Only explicit deletions you make within Zotero itself (e.g., deleting an item and empty the trash) are synced.
So you should delete Zotero from Applications and reinstall it from the Zotero beta page (assuming you want to use the Safari connector, though we're hoping to be able to release the Safari connector with the production version of Zotero next month once macOS Monterey comes out, since Monterey fixes the bug that has caused us to keep it on the beta channel).
Again, thank you for your direct and careful response.
It's great to have the program optimized again—a perfect result.