All I am attempting to do is rename a PDF file. I can't see the metadata in the right hand pane window even anymore. There is no functional way for me to change the name of the PDF.
You'll need to say more than that. What are you expecting to do, and what's happening? If it helps, you can take a screenshot, upload it somewhere (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.), and provide a link here.
If you're trying to rename the actual file, you can click on the attachment title in the right-hand pane and select "Rename associated file", but that's rarely something you would do manually. Zotero renames PDFs automatically, and you can also rename them from the parent metadata by right-clicking on the attachment item.
For others that discover this, there are actually two possible types of modifications. The first is to rename the name of file in Zotero (the title, display name in the middle pane, my goal). The second is to rename the file (Filename) on disk.
The "rarely something you would do manually" scared me away a bit from focusing on this option. This option I think makes a lot of sense for either merging duplicates (fixing after the fact, don't know of a way to fix during the merge) or for modifying names for supplemental files that are added directly to existing entries.
If you left click on the title (line above the Filename) in the right-hand pane a prompt will pop up. This allows you to edit the title (how it is displayed in the middle pane in Zotero), as well as giving you the option to check a box that makes the filename the same as this new title.
Upgrade Storage
If you're trying to rename the actual file, you can click on the attachment title in the right-hand pane and select "Rename associated file", but that's rarely something you would do manually. Zotero renames PDFs automatically, and you can also rename them from the parent metadata by right-clicking on the attachment item.
The "rarely something you would do manually" scared me away a bit from focusing on this option. This option I think makes a lot of sense for either merging duplicates (fixing after the fact, don't know of a way to fix during the merge) or for modifying names for supplemental files that are added directly to existing entries.
If you left click on the title (line above the Filename) in the right-hand pane a prompt will pop up. This allows you to edit the title (how it is displayed in the middle pane in Zotero), as well as giving you the option to check a box that makes the filename the same as this new title.