External annotations can be deleted from the items list

mjthoraval · May 5, 2025

Annotations made in an external PDF reader and saved directly in the PDF file cannot be edited in the reader before being imported to Zotero.
But they can be deleted from the items list. This deletion only hides them in Zotero, but they remain in the PDF file.

Also, the annotations in the item pane of the PDF file or from the annotation itself are missing the lock symbol to identify them. So there is no way at the moment to see that we should not be able to delete them.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/hma7k2ix65e0x93xu1n2.png
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/ud3sgab5fa6y9safgcjg.png
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/7kk66hgfslltofo9thkf.png

Zotero 7.1-beta.35+03b33d995 (64-bit)
Windows 10

mjthoraval · 2026-02-23T16:57:24+00:00

I still see this bug with the latest beta.

Steps to reproduce:
1) Make an external annotation in a PDF file attached to an item in Zotero.
2) Open it in Zotero PDF Reader:
-> It shows as a locked annotation:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/zkbbxzy4ep2gdb90s0ki.png
3) Delete it from the Items List:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/9rhywnnthcmo3a7bt5ds.png
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/zdco9z0njsjgwebfqt4w.png
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/twcelpy42d0th8b13wys.png
4) Go back to the Zotero PDF Reader.
-> The annotation is not visible anywhere in Zotero, even though the external annotation is still in the PDF file:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/3aee08t00nyguv972w8i.png

Making another external annotation in the file and saving it makes the deleted external annotation appear again.

Zotero 9.0-beta.2+2aaf0c213 (64-bit)
Windows 11