Library not syncing properly - references disappear

emorydavis
I am having an issue with syncing across multiple devices. I imported my library from Mendeley on device 1 (desktop computer) and confirmed that all of the references were imported. Then I checked my web library and confirmed that all of the references in the desktop app on device 1 were also in the web library. Later, I synced on device 2 (laptop computer), which had 0 items/collections in the library. After syncing on device 2, all of the collections show in my desktop library on device 2, but many items are missing from library; when I check the web library, it now matches the incomplete set of items on device 2, not the complete set of items that used to appear in the web library and on device 1. Device 1 still has all of the imported items in the library.

I've actually tried setting up my library in the opposite direction (importing from Mendeley on device 2 first, then syncing on device 1 next) and had the same issue. I can't seem to get the device that is synced second to show all of the items in my library.
  • dstillman
    I suspect you're misremembering this or misinterpreting something you're seeing. You're getting a sync error, which would prevent you from seeing all your data online or on other computer. Just syncing another empty computer would never cause items online to be deleted — syncing just doesn't work that way. Zotero only syncs explicit deletions, so unless you delete something, it can't be removed from the online library.

    But there are also tens of thousands of deleted items in your online library, so I'm not sure exactly what you've done here. Did you delete your entire library and reimport? You don't want to do that.

    If you have a computer where you currently see your correct data, how many items does it show in the right-hand pane if you click on My Library? Can you provide a Debug ID for a sync attempt from that computer?
  • emorydavis
    Yes, I did initially delete my library and reimport when this first happened because I didn't know what was going on, and I couldn't figure out how to get the items to sync properly on both devices, and wasn't sure how to identify which items synced and which were missing - it was easier to just start over. I also accidentally deleted a bunch of items once when I only meant to delete a collection and I didn't realize at the time that I could restore them from the trash.

    I can provide screen shots showing that the online library is not matching the library on device 1, even though I can guarantee the online library and the device 1 desktop library did match when I first did the import.

    I'm on the computer with the correct data now, and it has 1176 items. IIRC there were only ~800 items in the library on my second computer that is missing items.

    I do have a syncing error due to the annotation problem in one of my items, but that didn't seem to prevent the items from syncing to my web library yesterday after I did the import from Mendeley.

    Here is a Debug ID: D1869064630
  • dstillman
    Yeah, your annotation-related syncing errors are just preventing syncing — there are too many errors, so it's just stopping. You're going to have to take my word that the other items were never online. Again, Zotero only syncs explicit deletions, so it's just not possible for syncing an empty library to make items online disappear.

    Once we fix the annotation issue, the rest of your library will sync. (Or you could export that one attachment with embedded annotations, delete it from Zotero, and empty the trash, and you can reimport it later.) But there's nothing to debug here until you're no longer getting a sync error.
  • emorydavis
    Got it - thank you!
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