iOS: Annotations not being saved by Zotero

vennelboy · 2026-01-16T12:32:59+00:00

For the last 2 days I have been losing my annotations on my PDF attachments after I close the file. I have tried a fresh install on my ipad, I have created a new PDF and uploaded but I keep getting the same issue. I am doing the same as I have done since I started using Zotero but only yesterday the comments will not save.

Any advice to fix this issue?

dstillman · 2026-01-16T12:57:47+00:00

We're looking into this. It looks like it's happening for some but not all PDFs.

We'll have an update soon.

vennelboy · 2026-01-16T13:10:28+00:00

Thank you

dstillman · 2026-01-16T19:02:33+00:00

OK, we've submitted a fixed version to Apple and requested an expedited review. Thanks for reporting this.

It looks like this was a bug introduced in an update a few days ago. If you 1) saved a PDF on iOS or saved it the desktop but didn't open it in the desktop reader, 2) opened it on iOS, and 3) created an annotation without first changing the page and closing/reopening the file, the annotations would silently be lost. If you opened the PDF on the desktop first or changed pages on iOS and closed/reopened the file, they would be saved.

We're really sorry for this. In addition to fixing the bug, we're adding some additional error handling to make sure errors like this don't result in annotations being silently lost.

dstillman · 2026-01-17T01:58:15+00:00

Version 2.0.4 is out now with the fix for this.

vennelboy · 2026-01-17T04:18:40+00:00

Hi there,

Just updated and it seems to be working fine now.
Thanks for quick response.

skinell · 2026-01-17T18:37:49+00:00

Hi vennelboy and dstillman, thank you for noting this issue, which I have also encountered today and yesterday.

Yesterday, I annotated a pdf on my iPad without being connected to the internet. When finished, I turned on the wifi. I was connected to the internet and when I synced, my annotations disappeared. I tried to reopen the file, close and reopen Zotero, and checked the file version in my browser on zotero.org. My annotations never returned.

Today, had the same issue. After annotating the pdf again which I lost annotations for yesterday, I started annotating another text. This time I was connected to the internet via wifi and began by syncing my library. I annotated the text, navigated back to the library in the app, opened the text again, and my annotations were gone.

When offline, are versions of loaded files stored locally on the iPad? If so, where can I find them? If I cannot, could you please send me all locally stored versions of files changed over the past 48 hours on my iPad? Thank you in advance!

I updated my Zotero application about an hour ago, after I experienced this issue for the second time. I hope this will resolve this issue. Thank you for looking into it!