Can you selectively sync attachments for specific collections?

ansoncall
I just switched from Endnote within the last year, and I'm still trying to find the best way to manage my library and make it accessible across all my devices. With attachments, my library is over 3 GB and is only going to get larger. To limit storage use while still enabling me to read/annotate some PDFs on different devices, I'd like to only sync attachments for items that are in specific collections. Is this possible?
  • dstillman
    Sorry, file syncing is all or nothing within a library.
  • ansoncall
    Okay, I guess I'll start by upgrading my storage plan. Knowing that file syncing is all or nothing for all of the items that are synced, is library syncing itself all or nothing? Is there a way to only sync certain collections to a mobile device, for example? Even if I'm paying for the storage for the web library, I'd still rather not have 3GB of PDF files on my phone.
  • dstillman
    is library syncing itself all or nothing?
    Yes.
    Even if I'm paying for the storage for the web library, I'd still rather not have 3GB of PDF files on my phone.
    That's a separate issue. In Zotero you can choose to download files "as needed", so they're not stored on your computer until you open them. More advanced ways to manage how long they're kept, how much space is used locally, etc., are planned.

    How to do that on your mobile device depends on that app you're using. Zotero has an iPad app in development, and it will also allow you to only download files as you open them. Third-party tools might have other options.

    Note that, even without a dedicated Zotero mobile app, you can currently use the ZotFile extension to sync certain files back and forth to a cloud storage folder for use with a PDF reader on any tablet.
  • ansoncall
    Okay, this is really helpful. Thanks for the advice!
  • fkraeutli
    As a workaround, you can create a Group Library that is only accessible to you with the papers you want to sync. Activate attachment synchronisation for group libraries in the Sync settings, leaving file syncing for My Library off. That way, only attachments in the group libraries will be stored on Zotero storage.
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