recovering deleted collections by mistake

Pier-Louise
hi - please tell me there is way to recover collections that were deleted by mistake? I have just deleted my included papers for my secondary research after having been through almost 2000 papers!!
  • dstillman
    If you just did this, you should be able to restore a deleted collection from your last automatic backup.

    Note that, unless you really went out of your way, the items themselves are likely still in the library root or the trash, but the steps above will explain how to restore collections specifically.

    A future version of Zotero will make it possible to restore a deleted collection from the trash.
  • Pier-Louise
    I have managed to use a back up file however it is from yesterday evening (24hrs ago) so I have lost 12 hours of work- is there any way to back up from a time closer to when I by mistake deleted the collection - are there any online backups? Both the backup files on my desktop were from yesterday evening - and I lost one in the process of trying to "fix" the issue
  • dstillman
    See the linked steps above, which explain how to preserve the restore collections and then sync to pull down recent data.
  • Pier-Louise
    So I followed to above steps to retrieve my old date but made a mistake of copying the old collections straight into a new collection so when I synced I lost them all again and the folder got updated. I have a copy of the old back up but as mentioned it from yesterday afternoon so I have lost 12 hours of work (sorting papers into collections as per inclusion and exclusion criteria) is there a way to retrieve this please?
  • Pier-Louise
    I don't quite understand the above comment? Have read through the above link twice
  • dstillman
    Can you explain what you don't understand? The point is that you need to duplicate the collections before syncing.

    Make sure you're operating on a copy of the backup file.
  • Pier-Louise
    I have already done it and I didn't duplicate the collections before syncing - so the .bak that I changed to .squize was synced and the data lost so I have now copied and used the second.bak file and converted it into the .squize but this data is from 24 hours ago?
  • Pier-Louise
    Articles from the removed collection (by mistake) are not in the trash... For sure that would have been a God save!!
  • dstillman
    Note that the steps say to make a backup of the .bak files before renaming them.

    But as long as you were syncing, Is doesn't matter how old the backup file is as long as it contains the data you're trying to recover. Once you've duplicated the collections, you'll sync to pull down more recent changes.
  • dstillman
    @Pier-Louise: Then the items are just in your library root. Simply deleting a collection doesn't even move items to the trash. To lose your items, you would've had to have 1) specifically chosen "Delete Collection and Items" from the context menu and 2) emptied the trash.
  • Pier-Louise
    What do you mean by "sync to pull down more recent changes please?" Where is my library root please? How can I retrieve them and will they still be organised in respective collections?
  • adamsmith
    Library root = "when you click on My Library"

    sync to pull down == that's the whole point here: you've reverted to an older back-up, made sure to duplicate the collection in question (so its deletion doesn't get repeated by the sync), now when you sync again any changes you made between your back-up and now will be restored.

    The items will be in the collection if you follow the instructions closely, yes.
  • Pier-Louise
    Okay so library root just means they are generally in my main library but not in the collections I have put them in?
    And sync to pull on means that I won't loose the collection I had from over 36 hours ago - but is there any way to retrieve the 12 hours of work I spent organising the papers in subcollections before I by mistake deleted the main collection?
  • dstillman
    edited February 15, 2022
    As long as you've been syncing, syncing after restoring from a backup would pull down all the changes you made since the backup was made. As far as Zotero is concerned it's just another computer that was last changed at the time of the backup, so it then needs all the recent changes.

    Since those changes include deletions you didn't mean to make, the steps we've linked to above explain how to duplicate the deleted collections, so that even when the original collections from the backup are deleted by the sync, the new collections will remain.
  • dstillman
    edited February 15, 2022
    @Pier-Louise: Oh, but if you're referring to changes you made specifically within the collection you deleted, then no, there's no way to restore those. If you're referring to other changes you made in Zotero, not related to the deleted collections, those will be restored.
  • Pier-Louise
    so by other changes do you mean that for example highlights on the papers will be restored? i am trying to decide if its worth my time to duplicate the collections as it a huge collection with loads of subcollections which in itself is going to take a while - let alone having to redo 12 hours of work
  • dstillman
    I mean any changes in your library other than adding or removing items to/from the collections you deleted.
  • dstillman
    @Pier-Louise: No matter the number of collections, though, I'm not clear why duplicating them and dragging the items over would take more than 10 minutes or so. It should take a few seconds per collection.
  • dstillman
    edited February 15, 2022
    @Pier-Louise: From the looks of it, you deleted 10 collections a couple days ago and 9 collections yesterday. This should be trivial to restore. If it doesn't seem that way, I suspect you're still misunderstanding something about the process.
  • Pier-Louise
    Are you able to see my deleted collections online? is there no way to retrieve them on your end? the one i didnt mean to delete is called included and was deleted yesturday evening - or if you are able to just see which items are in which subcollections so i can re organise them please?
  • dstillman
    edited February 15, 2022
    We don't keep data you deleted, sorry.
  • Pier-Louise
    hi so i am still having issues - i am concerned that i have made a mistake in my zotero folder on the laptop - the delete from collection function is now not working - and when i add an item to a subcollection it automatically also adds to the main collection up top?
  • DWL-SDCA
    If by "main collection up top" you are referring to your Library; that is by design. Each item in your library _can_ be in one or more collections. Library items are not required to be in a collection.
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