Lost Entire Library After Auto-Update

ally-k

1. I have an zotero.sqlite file 1MB and an zotero.sqlite-journal that is 91KB
2. I cannot find my storage folder anywhere
3. I'm using the default directory location
4. I opened Zotero a month or so ago and all my data was there. I opened it today, a pop up showed up saying it was updating the version, now all my library is gone. I do not use any auto-cleaning software.
5. I have searched my computer for any other sqlite files, checked all my backup locations, checked the application support folder, and searched my computer for a storage folder. Now I've made this account to ask for assistance.

dstillman

If you have a 1 MB zotero.sqlite file and no 'storage' folder then this wasn't the data directory you were using previously, either because you were using a different data directory location or because you deleted it outside of Zotero. There's no way for an update to delete files.

dstillman

@ally-k: Or, of course, if this is a different computer from where you used Zotero previously, then you'd have to sync both computers.

ally-k

I have not deleted anything purposely, and I do not know how it could have happened accidentally. Since the zotero app appears to have reverted to its initial state it is possible that my directory was something else that I cannot remember.

Do you have a suggestion on how to find this previous directory? I am very concerned with how this occurred in the first place. To my knowledge, I changed nothing between the last time I opened Zotero and today. How likely is it that the auto-update reverted my app to 'factory settings'? What else could have caused this problem?

Thank you! (And I'm using the same computer. I do not have syncing enabled.)

dstillman

It's unlikely but not impossible for it to have reverted to default settings in the sense of reverting to using the default data directory location rather than a custom location you had set previously, but in that case your data would still be in the location you were using previously, and you should be able to find it by searching for larger zotero.sqlite files.

It's not possible for your data directory to have been wiped out, other than by 1) deleting it yourself outside of Zotero or 2) switching sync accounts and confirming quite explicitly that you wanted to delete all local data and replace it with data from the new account. And from the sound of it — if there are no zotero.sqlite.bak files and no 'storage' folder and presumably nothing with a creation date before today — this is a completely new data directory.

People do sometimes run tools, including built-in system tools, to free up disk space and end up accidentally deleting their Zotero data in the process, and there's unfortunately nothing we can do about that.

If you think it's possible you were running an extremely old version of Zotero — last updated in 2017 or earlier — and just updated to Zotero 5, years after it was released, then you should check for lowercase 'zotero' folders containing zotero.sqlite within the Firefox and Zotero profile folders, as explained on Data Missing After Zotero 5 Upgrade. Depending on what OS this is, those locations might not show up in a system search.

ally-k

Thank you for your assistance! Based on your response I looked up how to run a more complete search on my computer and found a not-yet-permanently deleted sqlite file. I've been able to restore my library from this. Thank you again!