new zotero 5.0 has removed my references

ziazia
Hi,

I had some problems with firefox which was very long.
Thus, I updated everything and unintentionally I removed zotero from firefox.
I thus installed zotero again, without thinking ....

and I couldn't find anymore my references that I have registered.
Is there any options to find them again ?

Another question:
I have several word files which used some of those citations. From them, can I save the references again in zotero? They are still link with zotero, but in a new word file, zotero could not find them anymore...

Any ideas ? Thanks ...
  • bwiernik
    First, let’s try to find your old library if possible.

    Do you see an Old Firefox Data folder by following these instructions?
    https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/restore_after_firefox_reset
  • ziazia
    It's exactly the post that I needed yesterday ! Thanks for the fast answer.

    Unfortunately, I am too stupid, I suppressed the folder "old firefox data", even from my bin... I was thinking that it was only cookies and unusefull staff. I didn't think at all about zotero ....It's only when I opened my drafts that I understood...
  • dstillman
    If you have a backup of your Firefox profile directory, you could find your old Zotero data directory there.
    I was thinking that it was only cookies and unusefull staff. I didn't think at all about zotero
    While it doesn't help you now, Zotero 5 moves its data directory out of the Firefox profile directory to avoid problems like this in the future.
  • ziazia
    I can find the profil, but not a backup of the profil.
    The only file that contained "zotero" in his name is "zotero@chnm.gmu.edu.xpi" and is dated from yesterday ....
  • ziazia
    and when I cliked on "about:profiles" in the troobleshooting information page of firefox, I have only one default profil, which did not contain any zotero file in the root or local folder ....

    I think I crashed everything in removing the "old firefox data".... shit.

  • dstillman
    If you don't have an older backup of the profile directory, I'm afraid that's likely the case.

    You could try to use some "undelete" software (probably for $) to restore the files you deleted — at least a copy of the zotero.sqlite file in either the desktop directory or profile directory — but depending on how much you've used your computer since this happened that may not work. The more you use it the less likely it is that anything can be recovered.

    (The account you're posting from is new, but if you were syncing your data with another account, that would also be a way to restore the data.)
  • ziazia
    Two last questions :)

    1) In the folder zotero, I found a file zotero.sqlite.bak.
    Is it a back up of my references ?
    I copied it and renamed it as zotero.sqlite, but it doesn't seem to work ...

    2) from my word files, which are still linked with zotero, it is possible to save the references I used within the word file ? zotero can recognize tham but they are not saved anymore in the zotero software.

    Thanks for your time and answers.
  • ziazia
    and no, I didn't have any account before !
  • dstillman
    1) That's just the backup of your new database, unfortunately.

    2) You can try this tool created by @Rintze, but your existing documents won't point to the new items.
  • ziazia
    Thanks.

    The tool worked well, I have at least recovered some old references for next documents.
  • RintzeRintze
    And @ziazia, just to confirm, you don't have a recent backup of your entire computer or user directory from before you did the Firefox reset, from which you could retrieve your Zotero library?
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