The attached file could not be found. It may have been moved or deleted outside of Zotero

kpmaynard
Report ID: 1213414643

It appears that a PDF file stored in Zotero using one computer is not accessible on a second computer.

This is true whether the file was stored using the link or the "store a copy of file"

Error message received is the topic of this discussion.

Regards,

Keith Maynard
  • adamsmith
    how did you get the data from one computer to the other?
  • kpmaynard
    Hi adamsmith, I am using Zotero sync. I would store the pdf file on computer 1 and attempt to access the file on computer 2. That is when I would receive the error reported.
    The converse is true. If I store a pdf file on computer 2, I am unable to access the file on computer 1, via the Zotero sync mechanism.
  • adamsmith
    For that to work you would also have to sync the files.
    http://www.zotero.org/support/sync#file_syncing
    if you have this turned on and do not receive any error message while syncing, then something is actually going wrong.
  • kpmaynard
    Ah hah, so do I need to set up a webdav server account somewhere if I am interested in synching files to zotero?
  • adamsmith
    either that or sync through Zotero - they'll give you 100MB for free and will let you purchase more (though the latter is not possible yet).
    http://www.zotero.org/support/storage_faq
  • chakumar
    I have a big collection of references on Zotero. For some reason, I uninstalled it and then re-installed it...now the connection with the PDFs is lost, and I get the message "The attached file could not be found. It may have been moved or deleted outside of Zotero." Can you please advise how to re-connect the references to the PDFs? Will i need to rebuild the library...not looking forward to that :(
  • adamsmith
    use the Zutilo tool to see where Zotero is looking for the attachment
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/zutilo-utility-for-zotero/
    with that info we might be able to tell you more.
  • chakumar
    Thanks!...so, i got Zutilo. am able to see the tab in Zotero, now what do I do?!
  • adamsmith
    In the Zutilo preferences, enable Show Attachment for either the Zotero or the Zutilo context menu, then select an attachment in question, right-click and select Show Attachment Paths, which is now available as an option.
  • chakumar
    Ok...Show Attachment Paths returns the name of the pdf file, not the path...for example, Storage:Anti-PD-1_PD-L1 therapy in different cancers_Ribas_BJC.pdf
  • adamsmith
    no, that's a relative path (it's looking in Zotero's storage folder), so that's the info I was looking for.

    You'd have to provide more info on why you re-installed and what else changed in the meantime. E.g. did you refresh Firefox? Normal re-install wouldn't lose your attachments.
  • mwaqas514
    Hi, I have same problem, I got new window on my laptop and later on I got lost my connections to all of PDF files. it says
    It may have been moved or deleted outside of Zotero.
    Locate?

    what does it mean and how can i get my connections to attachments?
  • adamsmith
    It means that Zotero can't find the attachments. How did you restore your Zotero library after re-installing (updating?) Windows?
  • rvargasgiron
    Hi, my laptop got robbed so I purchased a new one. Now I´m trying to acces to my pdf files in Zotero and I got the same message. I have the metadata but did I lost all my pdf files???
  • adamsmith
    It's possible they didn't sync online, yes -- remember you only have 300MB free space online (i.e. enough for ~100 files), so if you never paid for more storage, your files likely didn't sync (you'd have received an error message to that extent).
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