Local "Date Modified" mass-reset to 5 days ago (Web Library still correct)

LupinVII
Hello,

I am experiencing a frustrating issue where the Date Modified field for nearly my entire local library was suddenly updated to a single timestamp from five days ago (Feb 19, 2026). I did not perform any batch edits or manual changes during that time.

Context:

Version: Zotero 8.0.3 (Desktop) Previously 8.0.2

OS: macOS Sequioa

Problem: Almost all entries now show a modification date of Feb 19th. This has disrupted my ability to track my recent literature review progress.

Sync Status: My Web Library (zotero.org) still shows the correct, original 'Date Modified' timestamps. The local change has fortunately not yet overwritten the server data.

Suspected Cause:
I suspect a background process related to the Zotero 8 update (perhaps the 'Extra' field migration or the new Continuous File Renaming feature) may have 'touched' the parent items locally.

My Questions:

Is there a way to 'force' the local metadata to sync down from the web library to restore the original timestamps without performing a full 'Restore from Online Library'?

If I use 'Sync → Reset → Restore from Online Library', will it successfully overwrite the local 'five days ago' timestamps with the correct ones from the server?

I have added a few new items locally in the last 48 hours. What is the safest way to preserve these new items before I perform a reset, given that importing/exporting usually resets the 'Date Modified' to the time of import?

Any guidance on how to revert these timestamps while they are still correct on the server would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited 6 days ago
    Are you running plugins? Nothing in Zotero itself should do this, and we haven't received other reports of it. The Extra field migration doesn't do it (or we'd have gotten innumerable reports of it), and continuous renaming only renames files when you already actually made an edit. There are no "background processes" like you're describing in Zotero.
    Sync → Reset → Restore from Online Library
    There's no such option, and hasn't been in many years.

    The only way to do this would be to close Zotero and delete the zotero.sqlite database in your Zotero data directory, and then reopen Zotero and sync.
    I have added a few new items locally in the last 48 hours. What is the safest way to preserve these new items before I perform a reset, given that importing/exporting usually resets the 'Date Modified' to the time of import?
    Export those items to Zotero RDF and reimport, but this would reset Date Added/Modified.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    But also, a huge number of items in your online library already have a modified date of Feb. 17, 2026, so this already happened a couple days earlier.
  • emilianoeheyns
    edited 5 days ago
    I am afraid this may have been me. I fixed a bug a week ago in BBT where I had forgotten to pass skipDateModifiedUpdate: true to the save. If resetting in the way @dstillman describes is feasible, a new key migration will recover the BBT keys but will leave these timestamps untouched now.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited 5 days ago
    Would this have happened for all BBT users, or just those who upgraded to Z8 recently?
  • emilianoeheyns
    edited 5 days ago
    The bug existed in BBT 8.0.5 (released 16 feb) up to and including BBT 8.0.15; 8.0.16 (released 17 feb) fixed it. 8.05 - 8.0.15 versions were compatible with 7.0.32 and any 8/9 version, so that is the population that might have received it.
  • LupinVII
    Thank you, Dan and Emiliano, for looking into this.

    @emilianoeheyns – That timing matches perfectly. I was running BBT version 8.0.x during that window, which explains the mass-reset on the 17th. I will update to 8.0.16 immediately.

    @dstillman – You're right, I just checked the web library again and realized I misread the dates—the 'mass update' to the 17th has already synced to the server. Since I don't have a local backup older than that, I assume my original historical 'Date Modified' timestamps are gone for good.

    I'll proceed with the database reset you described to ensure my local and remote libraries are in a 'clean' state moving forward. I appreciate the clarity on how the background processes (or lack thereof) work in Zotero.
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