Missing Citations

Hi,

I have lost all of my citations for all the work I have been doing whilst reopening the Application long after not using it? Does Zotero automatically delete all your libraries etc? Can anyone help me fix this please.
  • No, Zotero doesn't automatically delete your data.

    See Locating Missing Zotero Data, and if you're still having trouble, provide the info requested there.
  • Hi There,

    Thanks for the response. So I have followed the less than helpful information I can only seemly see the "zotero.sqlite" file however I cant seem to open this on the advanced settings. So i opened it within word and it was seemly code?
  • edited April 26, 2021
    We can't help you if you don't follow the instructions we provide. The linked page asks for specific information, none of which you've provided. It doesn't say anything about trying to open the zotero.sqlite file in Word, which absolutely will not do anything useful.
  • So I'll reiterate, the instructions on the page aren't that helpful. I presumed whilst you replied you would be able to cooperate and help me understand how to go about solving the issue. I HAVE HOWEVER followed the instructions but I am still facing the same issue.

    So I have the “zotero.sqlite” in my current data directory

    There isn't a 'storage' folder containing subfolders with dates corresponding to your previous usage of Zotero

    Current data directory is in the default location

    This is a stressful issue for me and I would appreciate any further help you could advise me with.

  • These instructions are (I hope obviously) written with the intention of being helpful. It's perfectly fine if you find a part confusing or hard to follow, but you'd need to tell us which for us to explain -- we can't know.

    Here are the questions at the end of that page (numbered by me for ease of communication):
    If you've gone through these steps and still can't find your data, post to the Zotero Forums with the following info:

    1. The names, sizes, and dates of all files beginning with “zotero.sqlite” in your current data directory
    2. Whether there's a 'storage' folder containing subfolders with dates corresponding to your previous usage of Zotero
    3. Whether your current data directory is in the default location (“Zotero” in your home folder)
    4. When you last used Zotero on this computer, and what happened on your computer since then
    5. What you've tried so far
    So far, you've answered 2. and 3.
    The answers for 1., 4., and 5. are missing and we need them to be able to get a sense of what's going on. Again, if you don't understand one of the questions, say what you do understand and ask for clarification on what you don't.
  • Hi there,

    Thank you for the reply.

    1. I have the one "zotero.sqlite" of which is 1MB and dated as of today, alongside some other folders that are labelled "Fonts", "Logs" etc.

    2. I seemly don't have a folder called Storage.

    3. The current data directory is set in the default location

    4. I last used Zotero in late January, reopening it of what would be now yesterday.

    5. I have followed all the instructions, bar performing as back up as I seemly dont have a zotero.sqlite.bak file either until today, which I presume is from my current new citations.


    Upon further inspection the Zotero files may have been deleted by an antivrius software to save 'Cache Storage" in which is insoluble for me to bring back.


    I essentially had a folder with a ton of citations for a literature review and whilst I have the references within a Word Doc. Is there anyway I can reload these back in without having to type them all in manually.


    Apologies for the tone in the previous messages, I was rather frustrated and felt I was being patronised.
  • edited April 27, 2021
    alongside some other folders that are labelled "Fonts", "Logs"
    "Fonts" is not a folder in your Zotero data directory, so not sure what you mean there. Can you take a screenshot of what you're seeing, upload it somewhere (e.g., Dropbox or Google Drive), and post a link here?

    But regardless, if you deleted your previous data directory and weren't using Zotero syncing, your only option would be to restore from a backup. We strongly recommend 1) using Zotero syncing, 2) making regular full backups of your computer, and 3) not letting utility software delete files indiscriminately.

    There are ways to extract citations from documents you've created. Those will be completely new items and won't be linked to the existing citations.
  • You need to set that folder so that anyone with the link can view
  • edited April 27, 2021
    OK, well there's no "Fonts" shown there, but in any case, see above. You deleted your previous data directory, so I'm afraid you'll need to restore from a backup or try to extract what you can from existing documents.
  • Okay,

    Do you mind running me through how I exactly I can go about restoring from a back up ?
  • I linked to instructions above.
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