Upgrade Storageredownload missing PDFs?
Hello, I switched computers at work and mistakenly lost the PDF library that attaches to my citations in Zotero. Many of these PDFs are still on my hard drive, but when I double click a Zotero entry, it can't locate them. I can search my hard drive and reattach them if I can find them, but it's an onerous process (2700 items in my library).
Is there a way to scan my library and automatically redownload or relink the missing PDFs in bulk? Could AI be useful here?
Is there a way to scan my library and automatically redownload or relink the missing PDFs in bulk? Could AI be useful here?
@ono2000, what's the exact message you're receiving for one of the files? Can you provide a Debug ID for trying to open one?
Note that you are close to your storage quota, so it's possible additional files weren't being uploaded. If that's the case, you'd want to transfer your data directory manually (Option B there) from the previous computer.
On the old computer I was not using Zotero storage. I switched to that after this problem started.
In any case, the Debug ID shows you opening stored files that don't exist on this computer. You'll need to go back to the computer where the files actually exist and sync properly or transfer the data directory.
Your second point is definitely right. Since I can't do that, is there any way to have the PDFs redownloaded and matched to my library? I have a workstudy doing that for me, but it's extremely slow going and inefficient.
Those old files are still on box.com.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u43990/5tt6utlqmk6qubboa7e4.png
In any case, switching to Zotero Storage now wouldn't somehow make files available on your new computer if they were never uploaded to Zotero's servers.
If you were syncing with WebDAV before, you would just need to set up WebDAV syncing on the new computer with the same settings you were using before. The files in your screenshot are from 2023, though, so it depends if you have more recent ones.
If you didn't have file syncing working properly recently, you would need to sync from the old computer or transfer the data directory. If you can't do that, you can delete the broken attachment items and try using right-click → Find Full Text to redownload PDFs, if you have direct/VPN-based access to them, but otherwise you'd need to download them manually and re-add them to the parent items.
But just to be clear here, nothing is "delinked" — you just don't have the files on this computer.
otherwise is there a way to determine which are the broken attachment items besides clicking on them one by one?
In any case, that folder isn't usable outside the context of WebDAV file syncing, so you'd have to place it on a WebDAV server and configure Zotero to sync with it. And you'd obviously only have the files up to when you were actually syncing.
If I were to set up WebDAV file syncing to retrieve these files, would that overwrite the files I have downloaded since then?
If so, could I move everything since April 2023 to a separate library or account, sync all the old files, and then move the more recent stuff back in and re-sync everything to Zotero storage and eliminate WebDAV?