Hi,

Thanks for the quick reponse. I've been using one computer for the past 2 months. Suddenly most of the files over the past 2 months are gone. But even more, is missing online. Based on my reading it seemed that I needed to Replace the Online Library
“Replace Online Library” which would allow me to overwrite the online Zotero library with data from a local Zotero database I had on another computer.

It seemed there were unwanted changes to my Zotero library locally and those changes already synced to the online library, or if unwanted changes were made on another computer and uploaded to the online library but those changes haven't yet been synced to your current computer.

Both my online library and my local database contained unwanted changes so I
Temporarily disabled auto-sync in the Sync pane of the Zotero preferences.
Restored my local data from a backup I made then used “Replace Online Library” to upload the local version of my library.

Did you read the whole page on "Zotero Sync Reset Options" https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/sync_reset_options

or only the part that says, "Please note: These operations are for use only in rare, specific situations and are not necessary during normal usage or for general troubleshooting. In many cases, resetting will cause additional problems. If you're not sure what these options do, please ask for help on the Zotero Forums before using them."

See my debug below.

Debug output has been sent to zotero.org.
The Debug ID is D464936805.

https://a.cl.ly/kpu64vxB


version => 5.0.96.3, platform => Win32, oscpu => Windows NT 10.0; WOW64, locale => en-US, appName => Zotero, appVersion => 5.0.96.3, extensions => ZotFile (5.0.16, extension), Zotero Storage Scanner (5.0.8, extension), Zotero Scihub (0.0.7, extension), Zotero Word for Windows Integration (5.0.19.SA.5.0.96.3, extension), Zutilo Utility for Zotero (3.10.0, extension), Zotero LibreOffice Integration (5.0.25.SA.5.0.96.3, extension, disabled)

Alos, I just tried to revert my absolute paths in base directory. See screenshot. Now I have no folder. What is the default folder?

https://a.cl.ly/8Lu9pEGD

Then this happened. Which one do I pick?

https://a.cl.ly/yAu0kRGz
https://a.cl.ly/E0uKoNk5

Did you read the whole page on "Zotero Sync Reset Options" or only the part that says

I wrote the page. "Replace Online Library" would be the correct thing to use if you (or someone else) actually deleted items by accident and you had a backup you wanted to restore from. If you didn't knowingly delete things, you'd first want to figure out what happened — things don't just go "missing". From the delete log online, you have batches of items deleted here and there, but nothing that looks out of the ordinary, and only 28 items deleted since the beginning of August.

Look at the dates. Online I only have one reference per day!

You're looking at the wrong thing. That's the Date column, not the Date Added or Date Modified column.

Alos, I just tried to revert my absolute paths in base directory. See screenshot. Now I have no folder. What is the default folder?

You're doing things you don't understand. Please just post here before you do these things — it will make it much easier for us to help you. This is the Advanced tab for a reason.

If you don't know what the Linked Attachment Base Directory is, you should ask us or read up on it before changing it.

Your Zotero data directory shouldn't be at the root of your disk — it should be in the default location in your home folder unless you have a very compelling reason to move it elsewhere (and that elsewhere almost certainly wouldn't be the root).

You're getting conflicts because you reset the Linked Attachment Base Directory without being fully in sync, and now all your local linked files have an absolute path and all the remote ones are specified as using the LABD. You should set the LABD to whatever the appropriate location on this computer (your "Zotero Sync" folder, from the looks of it). If you're still having trouble syncing after that, we'd need another Debug ID.

how should I deal with this?

I explained that in my last message.

I have PCs w different names (Home PC vs Office PC), by placing in C drive I read somewhere I can avoid the confusion of having different computernames. Is that not the case?

I don't really know what you mean by that, but no, that doesn't make sense. Your data directory should be in the default location. You should set it back to the default location and then move the Zotero folder there — "Zotero" in your home folder.

how should I deal with this?
I explained that in my last message.

I don’t see where you answered that. I will accept the remote version for all and not the local but I'm just guessing.

I did everything you asked and still keep asking men about the sync, should I keep remote or keep local? I just keep cancelling and asks every time I open Zotero.

https://a.cl.ly/eDug5D0r