I cannot make Zotero work on my MacAir 2025

PaulVG
Hello,
I have tried installing Zotero in my new Mac. I just copy de data folder from my old Mac to my new Mac to the same directory and it is not working. I keep getting this message when opening up the program:

"The Zotero database cannot be opened.

Make sure you have read and write permissions for all files in the Zotero data directory and that security software isn’t preventing Zotero from accessing that directory.

Data Directory: /Users/pablo/Zotero"

I have read a previous discussion about exactly the same problem
https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/113620/i-cannot-make-zotero-work-on-my-mac
and I tried to apply the same procedure, but still not working. Could you please help me?
  • PaulVG
    Could anyone help with this? I am not able to fix the problem.
  • dstillman
    You have to fix the permissions on the /Users/:username:/Zotero folder so that it and all files/folders within it are writable by your current macOS user account. You can do that from File → Get Info in Finder.
  • PaulVG
    I have already done that and I (pablo) have all the rights (readind and writing). And I have also done what you recommended in a former discussion similar to this on Terminal:

    ls -la ~/Zotero

    And everything is, apparently, okay, since I am the staff. Here what I got.

    Last login: Tue Jul 29 15:52:32 on console
    pablo@mac ~ % ls -la ~/Zotero
    total 15598992
    drwxr-xr-x@ 22 pablo staff 704 Jul 28 11:40 .
    drwxr-x---+ 16 pablo staff 512 Jul 29 17:48 ..
    -rw-r--r--@ 1 pablo staff 10244 Nov 12 2017 .DS_Store
    drwxr-xr-x@ 6 pablo staff 192 May 3 14:29 locate
    drwxr-xr-x@ 3 pablo staff 96 May 3 14:29 logs
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 1599104 Apr 9 2015 pdfinfo-MacIntel
    -rw-r--r--@ 1 pablo staff 4 Apr 9 2015 pdfinfo-MacIntel.version
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 598016 Apr 29 2013 pdfinfo-Win32.exe
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 4 Apr 29 2013 pdfinfo-Win32.exe.version
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 135 Apr 9 2015 pdfinfo.sh
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 1709232 Apr 9 2015 pdftotext-MacIntel
    -rw-r--r--@ 1 pablo staff 4 Apr 9 2015 pdftotext-MacIntel.version
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 593920 Apr 29 2013 pdftotext-Win32.exe
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 4 Apr 29 2013 pdftotext-Win32.exe.version
    drwx------@ 2 pablo staff 64 Feb 26 2023 pipes
    drwxr-xr-x@ 23908 pablo staff 765056 Jun 18 16:25 storage
    drwxr-xr-x@ 45 pablo staff 1440 Jul 28 11:19 styles
    drwxr-xr-x@ 738 pablo staff 23616 Jul 28 11:19 translators
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 2660712448 Jul 28 11:40 zotero.sqlite
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 79 May 19 2014 zotero.sqlite-mj0B32379F3
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 2660716544 Jun 18 16:25 zotero.sqlite.1.bak
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff 2660712448 Jul 28 11:17 zotero.sqlite.bak
    pablo@mac ~ %

    I really thank you for helping me with this, since I have tried all what you said in that discussion
    https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/113620/i-cannot-make-zotero-work-on-my-mac/p1
    And still not working.
  • PaulVG
    Just to clarify, the language of my macOs is Spanish. I do not think that's anything to do with the installation, but just letting you know just in case.
  • dstillman
    Can you run these commands in Terminal and let us know the output?

    ls -lOd ~/Zotero ~/Zotero/zotero.sqlite*

    xattr -l ~/Zotero ~/Zotero/zotero.sqlite*

    Also, can you either provide a Debug ID for Zotero startup using the -ZoteroDebug command-line flag or generate raw output with -ZoteroDebugText and email it to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread?

    https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems#reporting_startup_errors

    https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems#alternativelogging_to_the_terminal
  • PaulVG
    Last login: Tue Jul 29 17:48:41 on ttys000
    pablo@mac ~ % ls -lOd ~/Zotero ~/Zotero/zotero.sqlite*
    drwxr-xr-x@ 22 pablo staff - 704 Jul 28 11:40 /Users/pablo/Zotero
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff - 2660712448 Jul 28 11:40 /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff - 79 May 19 2014 /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite-mj0B32379F3
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff - 2660716544 Jun 18 16:25 /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite.1.bak
    -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 pablo staff - 2660712448 Jul 28 11:17 /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite.bak
    pablo@mac ~ %

    &

    Last login: Tue Jul 29 18:13:14 on ttys000
    pablo@mac ~ % xattr -l ~/Zotero ~/Zotero/zotero.sqlite*
    /Users/pablo/Zotero: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot: bplist003B-c?
    /Users/pablo/Zotero: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot: bplist003A??
    /Users/pablo/Zotero: com.apple.timemachine.private.directorycompletiondate: 2025-07-28-121513
    /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot: bplist003B-c?
    /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot: bplist003A??
    /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite-mj0B32379F3: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot: bplist003B-c?
    /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite-mj0B32379F3: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot: bplist003A?)]?
    /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite.1.bak: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot: bplist003B-c?
    /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite.1.bak: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot: bplist003A??
    /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite.bak: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineNewestSnapshot: bplist003B-c?
    /Users/pablo/Zotero/zotero.sqlite.bak: com.apple.metadata:_kTimeMachineOldestSnapshot: bplist003A??
    pablo@mac ~ %
  • PaulVG
    I guess you mean that I do this:

    1. Open Terminal via Spotlight or from /Applications/Utilities.
    2. In the terminal window that opens, paste the following and press Return.

    /Applications/Zotero.app/Contents/MacOS/zotero -ZoteroDebug

    and, then, email the result to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread, right?
  • dstillman
    edited 4 days ago
    If -ZoteroDebug works, you can just submit the output and provide the Debug ID here. If not, you use -ZoteroDebugText to get the raw output and email it.

    Also, this:

    ls -le@d ~
  • PaulVG
    Done. I have sent to support@zotero.org all the results. I could not run the Debug ID for Zotero startup using the -ZoteroDebug command-line flag since the Zotero version I got it is in Spanish and there is not a Debug Output Logging in the Spanish version of Zotero under the Help section.
  • PaulVG
    Let me know if you need anything else. Thank you very much for taking good care of this. I have been using Zotero for 11 years and all my research is there.
  • dstillman
    Cannot write to /Users/pablo/Zotero/
    Have you tried restarting your computer?

    Are you running any third-party security software on this computer?
  • dstillman
    Also, while it shouldn't cause this message, do you have free disk space?
  • PaulVG
    Yes, I have plenty of free disk space. More than 1 Tera.
    Yes, I have restarted the computer several times. Not working.
    No, I am not running any third-party secutiry software.
    And I have installed a lot of programs today (Office, Spotify...) and eveything works perfectly.
  • dstillman
    This is pretty strange.

    How did you copy the files? Is this a personal or institutional computer? Is there anything non-standard about this setup? Is this a new install of macOS?

    What’s the output for these commands?

    touch ~/Zotero || echo "touch 1 failed"

    touch ~/Zotero/zotero.sqlite || echo "touch 2 failed"

    touch ~/Zotero/_write_test || echo "touch 3 failed"
  • PaulVG
    The problem is solved now.

    I had transferred the Zotero folder from the old Mac to the new Mac with TimeMachine. It did not work. I erased the Zotero folder in the new Mac and I made a copy of the Zotero folder from the old computer on a new external hard drive, not using TimeMachine, but just a regular, simple copy. I used this copy and created a Zotero folder from the external high drive to the new computer. It worked inmediately and smoothly.

    I would like to deeply thank you, dstillman, for your patience and the time you have dedicated to this. It truly appreciate it.
    Best
  • dstillman
    When you say you transferred it via Time Machine, do you mean by restoring from the Time Machine interface, or by copying the folders directly from your Time Machine disk?

    Still not clear what was actually preventing the write here. Your files all had extended attributes from older versions of Time Machine, but those shouldn't prevent writes.
  • PaulVG
    I copied the folders directly from my Time Machine disk not using the Time Machine interface. That seems to have been the problem. Not only with Zotero folder, but with a lot of files. So, I eliminated them and make the copy from a external hard drive.
    I cannot understand either. It seems Time Machine created a kind of protection.
    Thank you again for your dedication and interest. Very very much appreaciated.
  • dstillman
    Oh, yeah, don't do that. Always use the Time Machine interface.
  • PaulVG
    Thank you for the advice!
  • dstillman
    edited 2 days ago
    Well, to clarify, to migrate all your data from another Mac, you pretty much always want to use Migration Assistant during macOS setup, and a Time Machine disk would be a source option (in addition to transferring over the network or a cable).

    But if you didn't do that, you'd have to reassociate the backup disk with Time Machine, and I guess that might not work well on a totally different system. So in that case, copying files directly from the Time Machine disk is supposed to work and might be the most reasonable option. But clearly that didn't work in your case. I think these extended attributes might be from an older version of Time Machine — maybe your other Mac was on an old macOS version? — so it's possible that contributed somehow.

    Anyhow, glad you got it to work with a standard folder copy.
  • PaulVG
    Yes, you are completely right. I could not use the Migration Assistant or Time Machine interface because I had a very old Mac (2014 with a new hard disk 2019) with a very old macOs version (10.15 Catalina 2019). So, I decided not to use them with my new Mac. And, clearly, it did not work. I think you are write and the Time Machine was an old version that created trouble with the last version or the macOS. The old trick, just copy them directly from an external high disk, worked perfectly.
  • PaulVG
    Thank you again for letting me understand the problem!
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