Syncing from online library to desktop app

reneerinehart
Hi, I recently got a new computer and my entire zotero library from my app is empty. When I open the app, I get a warning message that says "You are about to sync the ‘reneerinehart’ account to an empty Zotero database. This could happen if you removed your previous database or if the location of your Zotero data directory changed.

If your Zotero data exists elsewhere on this computer, you should move it to the current data directory or change the data directory location to point to your existing data."

My online library is fine - I have all my files and attachments and everything. So my question is: Is it possible to sync from my online library to my desktop? Everything I've found about syncing is about the desktop app to the online library. Thank you!
  • dstillman
    You can sync, but it'd be better to figure out what happened to your local database.

    Generally, see Locating Missing Zotero Data, and provide the information requested at the bottom.
  • reneerinehart
    Thanks for your help on this. This helped me see that something happened to the zotero.sqlite database outside of Zotero, but unfortunately I don't have a backup file to restore the .sqlite files. I also don't understand what it means when it says "Do not try to import an .sqlite file into Zotero — it won't work."

    Any further guidance would be very much appreciated. I desperately need to get this working again!
  • dstillman
    edited January 30, 2021
    Well, again, we'd want the information requested at the bottom of the linked section.

    But you're saying this applies?
    If you see only 1 MB or 5 MB zotero.sqlite files, look in the 'storage' folder (if one exists) for folders with dates corresponding with your previous usage of Zotero. If you see them, this is likely the Zotero data directory you were using previously, but something happened to the zotero.sqlite database outside of Zotero, so you may need to restore the file from a backup.
    If so, the thing we've seen the most is that people ran disk-cleaning software — either built in to the system or some third-party tool — to free up space and let it delete the large Zotero .sqlite and .sqlite.bak files. Do you recall doing something like that?

    In any case, if you don't have a backup, you can just sync to pull down the data from your online library.
  • reneerinehart
    Thank you! Yes, I did have to clear storage on my computer and it must have done something to my Zotero database. How do I sync to pull down the data from my online library? Everything I've found about syncing is the other way around: from the computer to the online library. I don't want to accidentally sync a blank library and delete everything I have online!
  • dstillman
    You can just sync. It won’t delete what you have online.
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