Zotero not syncing annotations/highlights (in PDF attachment) across multiple computers

aka.locus
Hi all,

I am having an issue with Zotero not recognizing changes I have made to PDFs attached to my articles (highlights/writing on the PDFs). The properties of the file that I have altered states that it has been modified, but the Zotero article in my collection doesn't appear to be noticing this alteration and then syncing/updating the PDF across my other devices. How can I make sure that it's properly updating these edits so that when I browse the PDF on my other devices that my annotations/notes (within the PDF itself) are sync'd?

Thanks
  • dstillman
    What do you mean by "the properties of the file"? Zotero will sync the local changes as long as the modification time of the file changes. Note that Zotero only checks for locally modified files 1) at the startup auto-sync, 2) on auto-sync every three hours, 3) when you click the Sync button to sync manually, or 4) if you've opened the PDF via Zotero in the last few hours. To test, you can click the Sync button manually, since that will always check for local changes.

    If you're having trouble, see Files Not Syncing.
  • aka.locus
    Sorry, to clarify, within the windows file explorer, if I look at the properties, it will update the "modified" section. I have added other articles to my Zotero, manually clicked sync and they will sync and become available on my other computers, but when I edit and save a file and it updates the modified time, these changes are not sync'd.
  • dstillman
    Can you provide a Debug ID for opening a PDF, annotating it, saving it, and then clicking the Sync button?
  • aka.locus
    Hi dstillman, I apologize. It appears that the PDF viewer I was using on my Linux PC is incapable of displaying annotations - I ended up checking on my other PC and they are properly synchronized. Thanks for your time.

This is an old discussion that has not been active in a long time. Before commenting here, you should strongly consider starting a new discussion instead. If you think the content of this discussion is still relevant, you can link to it from your new discussion.

Sign In or Register to comment.