Storage max reached

tlmurphy
Hello,

I was recommended by a number of academics at my university to use Zotero. I was elated to have this service as I prepared for my PhD candidacy exams but suddenly found that I had no storage left. I don't mind paying for storage when if makes sense, but it seems to have filled up quite quickly. I have colleagues who haven't reached their limits yet, but have been using Zotero far longer than me. Can you please give me some direction. Thank you, Tracey
  • dstillman
    I'm not sure what your question is. You're at your storage quota, so if you'd like to continue syncing files via the Zotero servers, you'd have to either delete some attached files or add a storage subscription.

    The storage limit has no effect on local usage of Zotero on a single computer.

    https://www.zotero.org/support/sync#file_syncing
  • tlmurphy
    Thanks.
    This is my question:
    Why have I reached my max quota so quickly?

    Please be patient in your answer. I didn't really understand your answer.
    If I am syncing filed via the Zotero files, what does this mean?

    Does this mean that I am syncing between my two computers?

    Or online and to my computers?

    And does this take up storage space?

    I'm not a techie, at all so I won't have nearly the literacy for tech talk that other users might have. Thanks for your patience.

    Tracey
  • adamsmith
    Syncing files means sync to the servers, i.e. online, which is a prerequisite for syncing between computers.
    If you got to your storage quota before others, either
    1) They aren't syncing files (you can disable that in your preferences
    2) You have added more files than them (300 MB is typically between 200-500 items) or
    3) you have added bigger files. Some PDFs are 10+ MB.

    see also https://www.zotero.org/support/sync
  • warguelles
    In addition to what @adamsmith explains...

    By synchronizing you update in both directions your database (your library) and PDF files with the Zotero server. The database does not count for cloud storage, but the PDFs do. That way you fill up your free storage space on the Zotero server, no matter how quick you did.
    To avoid that you have two options: pay to increase your storage space on the Zotero server (plans are reasonably cheap) or just don't sync PDF files (which you have to configure in the preferences).
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