Remove all PDFs from my local library

andrea.panizza
I want to save space on my PC. Is there a way to delete all PDFs from the Zotero database?
- I don't want to delete the library entries, only the PDFs (I want to keep all the other metadata, in particular the bibliographic data
- I don't want to delete each PDF manually (it would take forever)
  • adamsmith
    There's two options with different implications:
    1) Actually delete the PDFs in Zotero so that changes will sync and you won't have any record of the PDF on any device anymore:
    i) Advanced search --> Attachment Content -- is -- PDF --> Save Search
    ii) Go to the saved search, select all (ctrl+a) -- note that only the PDFs are selected, even though you can see the entries themselves greyed out
    iii) right-click move to trash or delete and confirm

    2) Only delete the PDFs locally, keeping synced copies on the server:
    - in the Zotero preferences, set file sync to "as needed"
    - using your _operating system_, search for PDFs in the Zotero data folder and delete them all.
  • dstillman
    (And for (2), an upcoming version of Zotero will do this for you, by letting you choose how long to keep local copies of files that have been uploaded to your online library.)
  • andrea.panizza
    @adamsmith nice. @dstillman this is fantastic! What's the ETA for this version?
  • andrea.panizza
    @adamsmith there's a typo in 1). It's actually:
    i) i) Advanced search --> Attachment *File Type* -- is -- PDF --> Save Search
  • yjbo
    Maybe you can try this plugin: https://github.com/redleafnew/delitemwithatt
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