I lost all my directories - All citations appear in alpha order with no directories

I put my flash drive into a new computer and when I opened Zotero zero citations came up. I then put the SQLite file into correct directory and all citations came up.

Problem: citations used to be in separate directories but now there are no directories and all citations are together in alphabetical order.

How can I regain my directories so citations will be in their corresponding directory?
  • It's not totally clear what you mean here.

    By "directories" do you mean Zotero collections? In the left-hand pane in Zotero?

    If you actually copied your zotero.sqlite file from another computer, your database would be 100% the same. Make sure that "My Library" isn't just collapsed in the left-hand pane.

    Also note that, if you were trying to transfer your library, including attachments, you should be moving the entire Zotero data directory, not just the zotero.sqlite file. But collections would absolutely be included in the .sqlite file.

    This wouldn't have anything to do with "alphabetical order" in any case. Items appear in the middle pane in whatever order you're sorting them by.
  • Yes. I mean where it says My Library so I guess I should say "collections," not directories. Or maybe I should have said the "folders" are gone. The My Library is not collapsed because I can see it, only its empty. You're right about one thing, I think that if I copied the SQLite file from one computer to the other the data should be identical but for some reason the citations are all together and not in their individual folders.

    The odd thing is that all the Zotero program was already installed on my laptop so the citations should have been unchanged and in their respective folders but for some reason there were no citations. It was an empty Zotero with no citations.

    Now I'm wondering how to transfer an entire Zotero directory.
  • edited November 29, 2020
    If you're referring to the things in the left-hand pane, they're "collections" — you'll need to call them that if you want people to understand you. They're not directories or folders.
    The My Library is not collapsed because I can see it, only its empty.
    What do you mean by empty? Do you see the Trash? Can you take a screenshot of what you're seeing, upload it somewhere (e.g., Dropbox), and provide a link here?
    Now I'm wondering how to transfer an entire Zotero directory.
    See the Transferring a Library page I linked to above.
  • Nevermind. I figured it out. I put the cursor next to My Library just by chance. I don't know what possessed me to do that but anyway, a little arrow pointing down appeared on the left side of My Library (if that makes any sense to you), and I clicked on it. The next thing I know is that all my folders appeared again. You said to call them collections but they look like folders to me. You know what I'm referring to now though. Anyway, problem solved. Thank you just the same.
  • To be clear, that's what I asked originally:
    Make sure that "My Library" isn't just collapsed in the left-hand pane.
  • I didn't understand. I'm not fully abreast on the Zotero lingo. I didn't know what was meant by My Library being collapsed. Even if I realized what was meant by My Library was collapsed, I didn't know how to UN-collapse it.

    I suppose if someone would have told me that by hovering over My Library a little to the left a little arrow that points down would appear, and then by clicking on it all the, "collections" would re-appear.

    It was a simple fix. Thank you.
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