Blank library after installing Zotero 5.0.12

After installing Zotero 5.0.12 all my files are missing, I tried to find them at C:\Users\..\Zotero, but there are not there.

How can I restore my library?
  • edited August 19, 2017
    Is there a Zotero Quick Start Guide in the library you see? If so, what's its Date Added in the right-hand pane?

    Do you see a 'zotero' directory in your Firefox profile directory or your Zotero profile directory with more files in 'storage'?

    In earlier versions of 5.0 if there multiple older data directories it didn't always choose the best one, but that shouldn't be the case anymore, so we'd want to figure out what happened in your case.
  • There is no quick start guide but yes, the files are in Firefox profile directory
  • edited August 19, 2017
    What files do you see in the root of C:\Users\..\Zotero, and what are their modification times?

    You can close Zotero, rename that Zotero folder to Zotero-Old, move the 'zotero' folder from your Firefox profile to C:\Users\..\Zotero, and restart Zotero, and you should see your data again. (And once that's done you can delete Zotero-Old.)
  • I see these files: zotero.sqlite 19/08, zotero.sqlite.1.bak 18/08, zotero sqlite.bak 19/08, zotero.sqlite-journal 19/08

  • Thank you for your help
  • OK, just to note, we identified some additional causes of this that will be fixed in 5.0.15, which will be available in a few minutes. Thanks for letting us know.
  • I have a similar issue...suddenly I have two Zotero folders in my HOME folder...when I open standalone Zotero I get no files and a warning about syncing into an empty folder...not sure what to do...

    Also, is the Firefox version of Zotero gone? Most recent update left me with just a button to save something to Zotero...

    Running Ubuntu 14.04...Zotero 5.0.15
  • @wpwend42: What do you mean by "two Zotero folders"? It's not possible to have two folders with the same name in the same folder.

    If you were using Zotero for Firefox previously, have a blank library, and see a 'zotero' folder in your Firefox profile directory, follow the steps I gave above.
  • edited August 19, 2017
    I have two folders, one is named Zotero and the other zotero in my HOME folder. I did not have two as of yesterday.

    I don't even see a library anymore in Firefox...all I see on my toolbar now is a button to save items to Zotero...I have to right click it to see options. There is no way to view my files as there was previously.

    The zotero folder is in my Firefox profile, but how I know if it is the correct one? I do have a backup from a few days ago thankfully, but I don't want to write over my files.
  • You don't need to overwrite anything. Whichever folder you name "Zotero" in your home directory is the one Zotero will use. You should be able to tell the correct folder by looking in the 'storage' folder for recent PDFs.
    I don't even see a library anymore in Firefox
    That's correct: https://www.zotero.org/blog/a-unified-zotero-experience/
  • But a "zotero" (lowercase) folder isn't something that Zotero 5.0 would create in your home directory, only "Zotero". Zotero 4.0 used a "zotero" directory within the Firefox profile directory. If you created a "zotero" directory previously and used that as a custom data directory, that might explain that.

    In any case, look in the 'storage' folders and you should be able to figure out which of the folders has your data.
  • I definitely did not make anything custom...I have always been scared to touch anything like that in Zotero because I lost files many years ago.

    Where is the storage folder? I do not see a storage folder in the Zotero folder in my HOME folder.
  • The 'storage' folder would be within the Zotero folder. In an empty library, there wouldn't be one, so look in the others.
  • There isn't one in any of them. I just looked in my July backup on an External HD, and there is not one there either (and the folder is called "zotero" with a lowercase).

    The folders I see are: chrome, components, defaults, extensions, icons, updates, xulrunner
  • Oh, that's just your Zotero application directory — i.e., the extracted Zotero tarball, either the one you're currently running or an outdated one you can delete. The install location on Linux is up to you or a third-party package that you're using.

    You're looking for the previous Zotero data directory. If you were using Zotero for Firefox previously, it should be in your Firefox profile directory.
  • OH!

    Okay I found the Zotero folder...it lists the following folders: locate, pipes, styles, translators, and then two files with the .sqlite and .sqlite.bak extensions.

    I'm not seeing anything about storage anywhere in it.
  • edited August 19, 2017
    That's in your Firefox profile directory? That looks like an empty database — assuming the zotero.sqlite is around 1 MB, there's no data there. What's the modification date of zotero.sqlite?

    The bug here was just not properly migrating your old directory to ~/Zotero, so your data still exists somewhere. You can also check the Zotero profile directory for a 'zotero' folder.

    If you have a backup of your Firefox profile directory, you can open the prefs.js file and see if there's a line that says "dataDir", which would tell you for sure if you were using a custom data directory.
  • Yep around 1mb. Last modification date=Today
  • According to the dataDIR file I was using the default directory.
  • If you have a backup, though, you should be able to see what was in the 'zotero' directory within your Firefox profile directory from a few days ago, no?
  • edited August 19, 2017
    Well, what do you mean by default directory? The default directory was within the Firefox profile directory in 4.0. In 5.0 it's now ~/Zotero. My understanding was that you just upgraded to 4.0.
  • edited August 19, 2017
    I don't have the Firefox profile backed up because I was under the mistaken, my own error, impression everything was in the HOME Zotero folder that turns out to just be the installer. I don't have the "hidden" HOME files backed up (I guess I should).
  • edited August 19, 2017
    OK, well you should do a complete search of your hard drive (including hidden folders) for other zotero.sqlite files. Again, the bug here was really just failing to properly migrate either the old data directory or the old custom location setting, so it should still exist somewhere. It still seems possible you were using a custom data directory without remembering that. You're looking for a zotero.sqlite > 1 MB and a 'storage' directory with additional files in it.
  • I meant the default directory listed in dataDIR from pref.js
Sign In or Register to comment.