Migrating from Mendeley - PDFs not syncing to Zotero web storage

I am another ex-Mendeley Desktop user trying to move a large library into Zotero using a laptop PC with security settings managed by my university. The import into Zotero Standalone has been successful (I can click on references to open PDFs in Zotero and Word documents in Word). My references from Zotero Standalone appear to have been synced with zotero.org, but Zotero doesn't seem to have attempted to sync any of my attached PDFs (my current Zotero Storage usage is 0 Mb). On each reference's Attachment tab on zotero.org it says '1 reference' and then a greyed-out line with a PDF icon and the text 'PDF'.

I know I will need to pay for unlimited storage to host the whole library of PDFs, but the sync hasn't even attempted to fill the full 300 Mb - before I commit to paying for storage I would like to be able to see what the file retrieval experience is like on the free tier. (I need to be able to access the PDFs from both a laptop and an office PC without having to store all of them locally on every device, or Zotero will not be useful for me)

My File Syncing settings in Preferences are Sync attachment files in My Library using Zotero (checked), Download files 'at sync time', Sync attachment files in group libraries using Zotero storage (checked), Download files 'at sync time'.

I have read through the support item for files not syncing at https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/files_not_syncing but it is more to do with files not syncing between devices than files not syncing to zotero.org. I have also tried to read through recent posts about sync problems with libraries imported from Mendeley (one of these mentioned the Debug Output Logger - I have viewed it which shows activity is happening). The sync icon in the top right corner of Zotero Standalone is currently the revolving green arrow for an active sync.

What else should I do to get my PDFs into Zotero Storage so that I can access them on zotero.org and be able to download them on to other devices?
  • edited August 1, 2022
    My references from Zotero Standalone appear to have been synced with zotero.org, but Zotero doesn't seem to have attempted to sync any of my attached PDFs
    Is it possible that during import you've opted to import files as linked files?
    The sync icon in the top right corner of Zotero Standalone is currently the revolving green arrow for an active sync.
    This means the sync is still happening, give it some time.

    If it's still not working, please see changes not syncing, we will need a debug ID.
  • @anglepoise: As tnajdek says, it was just still syncing, and files sync after data. You're now at 300 MB.
Sign In or Register to comment.