zotero and library disappeared overnight

pk39p · June 21, 2022

Hi,
I work on an oldish iMac. All of a sudden the Zotero app is not longer there and my entire library has disappeared with it. I have not deleted anything (other than a few single files unrelated to Zotero and the library) between the last time I used it and now. Any suggestions?
Thank you.

dstillman · June 22, 2022

You almost certainly deleted the files by mistake while trying to clear disk space.

https://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#locating_missing_zotero_data

dstillman · June 22, 2022

@pk39p: Well, to be clear, if you're saying you can't find the Zotero app itself anymore, you can just reinstall it from the download page. That would just mean you (or some tool you used) deleted the app by mistake, but that's unrelated to whether your data is still present on the computer.

pk39p · June 22, 2022

Hi! I have indeed reinstalled the app, but there is no trace (that I can find) of the data.

dstillman · June 22, 2022

I'm afraid that means you deleted the data as well. So then as explained on the linked page, your only option would be to restore using syncing (which you don't appear to have been using) or from a backup.