Reverting to Zotero 5

dstillman Zotero Team
This discussion was created from comments split from: Zotero 6 Note Editor HTML View.
  • rkhertz
    How do I revert to Zotero 5?
  • michaelanthonyabril
    khhertz: You can revert your database to a pre-update backup. I had to do so. I found the instructions by Googling the error message that came up when I downgraded to Zotero 5. I simply had to rename one of the backup files so it would be used. Interestingly, it still synced to the server just fine; I did not have to replace the server-side database with the older version. This implies that the server database is version-independent. Accordingly, you may be able to simply delete your local data and re-sync using Zotero 5. Of course, don't do any of this without a backup.
  • rkhertz
    edited March 22, 2022
    I guess my question is more basic than that. When I go to the Zotero download page, the only choice I am given is Zotero 6. How do I find Zotero 5? Also, I am not syncing with a Zotero server database, so I don't think that is an issue.

    Also I have been trying to figure out how to use TinyMCE to see if I can just convert my notes to native html files and attach them to my items as file attachments. I have had limited success using Notepad to edit html files, but am having trouble, especially with image files, which seem mostly lost with Zotero 6. Are these just gone forever, or is there some way to retrieve them? It is also a nuisance to have to use a web browser to see notes that I used to see within Zotero.
  • adamsmith
    See https://twitter.com/adam42smith/status/1504824167774015490 ; you will still need to downgrade your database as described above and linked in that thread and it's still not a long-term solution. Fair chance that things will increasingly stop working (e.g., I don't think we'll make much of an effort for web translators to be backwards compatible with 5.x)
  • michaelanthonyabril
    Sorry I forgot to mention how to get the old installer. I did have to change the request URL as detailed in the link posted by adamsmith. Here's some more specific instructions:

    1. Get the installer by following these instructions from adamsmith: "Go to http://zotero.org/download ; copy the download link & replace 6.0 at the end with 5.0.96.3 (win/linux) or 5.0.96.4 (Mac) -- that'll download the install file."

    2. Follow the info on the following page to revert to an older database that still works with 5.0: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/newer_db_version . Be sure to backup all of your database files and backups first, just in case. In my experience, reverting the database did not actually result in any loss of data. For whatever reason, new items that I added in 6.0 were still there.

    3. Open Zotero. Go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Config Editor. Search for "update". Set two flags to FALSE: app.update.auto and app.update.allowed
  • adamsmith
    In my experience, reverting the database did not actually result in any loss of data. For whatever reason, new items that I added in 6.0 were still there.
    (That would almost certainly be due to sync)
  • michaelanthonyabril
    Thanks for explaining that. I had thought so, as I noted above. But since I know little about databases, I wasn't sure.
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