can not drag anything into zotero

the most convenient way to import pdf.etc. can not use now, only a prohibiting icon wherever you put it in(normally it will allow you to drop and became arrow)when trying to drag and drop, what should I do, my friends.
  • Are you trying to drag items into My Library or a Group Library?
  • @bwiernik I tried everywhere in Zotero interface.
  • Can you please submit an Error Report from the Help menu and post the ID here?

    Also, start Debug logging from the Help menu, try to drag a file into Zotero, submit the log, and post that ID as well.
  • Error Report :1957522143
    Debug ID: D951240708
  • actually, there is 0 log when I just drag and drop, it seems like no interaction happened
  • Where are you dragging from?
  • @dstillman drag pdf from desktop other file
  • Restart your computer and try again to drag into My Library.
  • Did you try restarting your computer as per dstillman?
  • Does it happen if you disable ZotFile?

    And to be clear, does this happen if you drag a PDF from your desktop — not from a browser or another application — onto My Library in the left pane in Zotero?
  • disable not help, yes from desktop to My library, since I install duet display on my PC, Zotero can't display, solved by disabling discrete graphics card(duet conflict to Nvidia driver), then another problem emerged,which you can't drag
  • Hello. I've just installed Zotero and I'm running Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6. I've managed to add a couple of items to my library but cannot drag and drop any PDF files. I've read through all the forums, have restarted my computer but still nothing. Nor will anything save if I right click and go for the 'save to Zotero' option either. I'm running out of ideas - it is conflict issue? Please help!
  • An error report ID after trying to drag a PDF to Zotero might help figure this out:
    https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems#provide_a_report_id

    Are you able to add PDFs using "Add stored copy of file" under the green + sign?
  • Many thanks for the advice - all seems to be working ok now. I think I needed to update stuff! Thanks again
  • Report ID: 741963613
    Debug ID: D662615895

    I am experiencing the exact same problem.

    When I drag an icon as soon as I drag it over the Zotero application the icon change to a circle with a diagonal line through it and I cannot drop the file.

    Any help will be greatly appreciated.
  • @vernet: What type of file are you trying to drag, from where, and to where in the Zotero interface?
  • @dstillman Thank you for your response!

    I am attempting to drag a PDF file from my desktop into Zotero. It also did not work when I attempted to drag a MS Word File as well.

    Now, this is at my work PC -- At my home pc, Windows 10, there are no issues.
  • If this is a work computer, I'd guess that security software is somehow interfering. You can try disabling that if possible, but unfortunately there's not much else we can do to debug this — it should really just work.

    But you can use "Add Stored Copy of File" from the + menu instead, and this may just resolve itself at some point.
  • @dstillman

    I just confirmed I can add files using the "Add Stored Copy of File".

    Thank you!
  • Back again - despite Zotero working previously, it doesn't want to work anymore. I have submitted a report: ID 2097800432.

    When I access a PDF book the extension icon on chrome is grey instead of blue and it will not save. I installed Zotero due to it's ability to create the bibliographic references therefore I do not wish to save the URL of the book as does not contain the necessary metadata for the bibliography.

    Clicking and dragging the downloaded PDF file also does not work.

    How can I use Zotero without this happening all the time?
  • edited November 12, 2018
    @Redkoala:
    When I access a PDF book the extension icon on chrome is grey instead of blue and it will not save.
    Generally speaking, you should see a PDF icon when viewing a PDF, not a book icon nor a gray webpage icon. But you can start a new thread an provide an example URL and we can debug that further.
    Clicking and dragging the downloaded PDF file also does not work.
    From where to where?
  • @dstillman thank you for getting back to me - here is the URL but it's a PDF download from my OU course so not sure if it will help

    file:///Users/carlarosenthal/Downloads/TU811_17E_Study%20Guide_Chapter%201_Strategy%20Making%20(10).pdf
  • I'm not quite sure what you mean there. That's a local file URL. If you're actually viewing a file:// URL in your browser, that's not something Zotero can save due to browser restrictions. If you've already downloaded the file, you can just drag the PDF from Finder to Zotero. Otherwise, you'd click the "Save to Zotero" button while actually viewing the PDF at its http(s) URL in your browser, in which case the button will usually show a PDF icon.

    But just to set expectations properly here, if this is just a random document that was converted to a PDF, it's unlikely you'll get proper metadata automatically in Zotero (or any other program) no matter how you add it. Zotero can automatically retrieve metadata for many PDFs, but it generally has to be an academic/scientific paper. If this is some other kind of document — this looks like a course study guide — and it's something you want to keep in Zotero, that's fine, and if it's something you want to cite, you can use right-click → Create Parent Item and add metadata manually. But you shouldn't expect Zotero to automatically retrieve metadata for it, since a PDF is just a file format and can contain any kind of document.
  • debug ID: D626724567
    report ID: 604633565

    Hi all,
    similar problem to those above: I tried to drag and drop a .pdf and it shows no reaction. Then I tried the "add a copy from stored file" and still no results. It shows like the book has a file attached, but when you click on it nothing shows.
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