Attachment title retains the old name after renaming

  • Wakandorig
    edited November 9, 2025
    I'm writing to report the same issue. When I update a bibliographic entry and use the “Rename File from Parent Data” option, the attached file is renamed correctly, but its title still retains the old (incorrect) name.

    Please see the example in the screenshot (the link expires in six months): https://ibb.co/VWcC3qts

    I agree with the other users: it is frustrating to have the attachment and its title show different names. Ideally, the title should match the attachment’s name, or at least default to something like “PDF”, “Attachment”, etc., instead of keeping an outdated title.

    Thank you.

  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Can you provide a Report ID and precise steps for reproducing that, starting with creating the items? If you're running a current version of Zotero and you add a file from disk, you should generally end up with an attachment titled "PDF" and a renamed file.
  • Wakandorig
    edited November 9, 2025
    Yes, here are the steps:
    1. Create a bibliographic entry as usual and attach the PDF. It will be automatically renamed (e.g., Smith - 2025 - Foo.pdf). Its title is identical to the file name (Smith - 2025 - Foo.pdf).
    2. Correct the author's name or the date of the item, for example, by changing the date to 2024.
    3. Use the "Rename File from Parent Data" option to correct the name of the attached file. Result: the file name is corrected (Smith - 2024 - Foo.pdf) but its title remains unchanged (Smith - 2025 - Foo.pdf).

    Zotero version : 7.0.27 (64-bit)
    Report ID : 1645340629
    Debug ID : D1091732444
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited November 10, 2025
    No, those steps don't produce those results. Always restart in Troubleshooting Mode (Help → "Restart in Troubleshooting Mode…”), which temporarily disables all plugins, when reporting problems.

    Your debug output shows an open-access PDF file being downloaded and titled "Texte intégral". Zotmoov then changes its title to match the filename.
  • Wakandorig
    Here is the Debug ID D2075093035.
    Apparently, Zotmoov is causing this problem.
  • venpopov
    I am having the same problem. After using "Rename file from parent metadata", the filename change, but the title remains the old long ugly string.

    I think I added this file originally on iOS. iOS doesn't rename files, so I tried it today on desktop and this was the result.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u16078769/hg7tnjstm2lwldihzdue.png
  • venpopov
    In my case it seems to be specific to files that were originally added on ios. I tested it just now with a different book for which I had no item in Zotero.

    1) I create the parent item from an ISBN. I drag the PDF from my desktop onto the parent item. It automatically renames the file, and the attachment name becomes PDF
    2) Instead of dragging onto the parent item, I add the pdf directly to my library. Then I create the parent item separately and drag the pdf attachment from within my library onto the parent item. It does not rename automatically. But if I use "rename after parent" it successfully changes both the filename and attachment title.

    yet, for many files I originally added on ios it refuses to rename the attachment title
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    @venpopov: If the title of the primary attachment matches the filename, it's supposed to be retitled as "PDF" when you use Rename File from Parent Metadata, but currently that won't happen if the title includes the ".pdf" extension. We'll fix.

    Note that the latest version of the iOS app supports PDF metadata retrieval and automatic renaming, so in many cases if you save a PDF directly you'll end up with a "PDF" attachment with a filename matching the parent item. (You should still save from article pages where possible, just as with the Zotero Connector on the desktop.)
  • venpopov
    I do that when I can, but it doesn’t work for cases where the pdf cannot be obtained from a website with Zotero - Researchgate and sciencedirect still fail; APA sends pdfs by email after inputting an institutional email; scihub for papers or Anna’s archive for books. For papers the metadata data retrieval from added pdfs tends to be ok, but it never works for books
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