Entire Library Disappeared

rsalame
Hello, I am pretty terrified that I have lost a lot of work so any help would be very much appreciated.


I use Zotero standalone. I tried to import a Word for Mac file into my Zotero library and Zotero froze. I force quit out of Zotero. When I re-opened Zotero a dialogue box appeared telling me that a certain add-on was needed for Zotero to integrate Word for Mac files. It then told me that the add-on was successfully installed. When I clicked okay I was faced with a totally blank Zotero library with only the Quick Start Guide populating it. I had hundreds and hundreds of files. Is there any way to restore my old library of 10 minutes ago?

Thank you for your help.
  • dstillman
    First, make a backup of your entire Zotero data directory.

    Then let us know what zotero.sqlite files you see in that directory as well as their file sizes and timestamps.
  • dstillman
    But basically you'll likely be following these steps, using one of the files there (assuming you didn't somehow end up with a different profile directory or data directory):

    https://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#restoring_from_the_last_automatic_backup
  • rsalame
    I looked for my Zotero data directory and discovered that the 'Zotero' folder on my computer contains only 8.9 MB and was created today.

    There is, however, another folder in my 'Application Support' folder that does not have a name but that DOES contain 8.81 GB of data and contains multiple Zotero.sqlite files (most of which have the suffix ".damaged") The regular "Zoter.sqlite" file however is a 38.2 MB file created on 12/13/13
  • rsalame
    I'm not sure how the folder became unnamed, but it does appear to be my Zotero folder
  • rsalame
    All sorted using the instructions you linked to. Thank you for the help, Dan!
  • pranabm1
    Hi, I think I may have lost my data but am hopeful that someone here would be able to help me through. I have recently upgraded to Win10, and had a new Firefox version loaded.
    When I crated a new word docx file and wanted to insert a zotero reference, (from the word addin icon) the link could not be established. So I closed the word document, downloaded a new version of Zotero standalone. When the installation was completed, it said that it was unable to find the existing library. Now I find that I have a new library but with no inputs in it.
    Would be grateful for any advice.
  • adamsmith
    you'd have to search your computer for zotero.sqlite and find an old copy of it (an empty one is about 1MB in size, so what you find should be significantly larger than that).

    Normally just re-installing Zotero shouldn't affect your library (though it's also not generally recommended as troubleshooting), so this is a bit odd.
  • pranabm1
    Thanx Adam.
    I searched for the zotero.sqlite. There are two files both of 992kb for two different dates (within one day of each other). Any further advice ?
  • aurimas
    Are you sure you searched everywhere on your computer? As adamsmith writes above, those files are for empty databases. Did you perhaps find some zotero.sqlite.bak files?

    Also, check on your desktop for an "Old Firefox Profile" folder. If that exists, your Zotero database would be in there.

    Have you synced your library with zotero.org previously? Did you make a backup of your hard drive (or part of it) before upgrading to Windows 10?
  • dstillman
    Correction: "Old Firefox Data"

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