found file in storage folder but no entry

sqrtx
Hi,

I found a file in ~/Zotero/storage/somefoldername via Finder for Mac but no entry in Zotero searching for the file name in Everything. Searching for a random sentence finds a pdf of the complete edited book but not the chapter. This means the search works but the pdf is either not indexed or otherwise dropped from the database. Can I locate an entry in the database based on the folder name in storage?

thanks!
  • dstillman
    You can search for the 8-character folder name in All Fields & Tags mode.

    Note that it may just be in the trash.
  • sqrtx
    Thanks for responding so quickly. I emptied the trash on mac and in Zotero and find that the old file and folder are still in ~/Zotero/storage. Zotero doesn't find the folder nor the file.

    After reimporting the chapter from a different location I now find a new file in a different 8-character folder. Finder finds both files, but Zotero finds only the new copy. It also does not show up in Duplicate Items. This is the same in otero 7.0.0-beta.28+3a43a98f1 and Zotero 6.0.26.

    I'm more worried what other files might have suffered this fate. Is there a way to see orphaned files?
  • dstillman
    What’s the folder name?
  • sqrtx
    MRNCKT2B

    report ID just now 2147120769 from Zotero 7 and 1959542312 from Zotero 6.

    About 2 weeks ago I decided to convert from zotfile storage back to internal storage, turned sync off (no need right now) and converted everything over night from zotfile management back to Zotero management.

    It seemed smooth, but maybe that is where things happened.
  • dstillman
    edited August 14, 2023
    MRNCKT2B is just an attachment in your group library. It's not orphaned. Don't touch it.

    Zotero manages the 'storage' folder for you, and you shouldn't really worry about what's in there. Even if there were orphaned files, which this is very much not, that would be something for Zotero to clean up. (It doesn't currently do so, but we might add some code to do that automatically at some point to complement the upcoming feature to optionally delete local copies of synced files to save disk space.)
  • sqrtx
    I forgot that I had this group library. Yes, it finds it there, no wonder. No, I won't touch things inside the Zotero folder, except for opening a pdf in another app occasionally. Looking forward to the updates. Thanks : )
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