Feature Request: Add a way to search PDF annotations by color.

guoketing · December 20, 2024

Feature Request: Add a way to search PDF annotations by color. In my files, different colors represent specific meanings, and tagging each one is too time-consuming. A color-based search would make managing PDF annotations much easier.

durazzi · 2026-02-26T00:09:52+00:00

+1

rdiaz02 · 2026-02-28T17:36:15+00:00

This feature is planned (https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/493651/#Comment_493651). Note that filtering by color in the sidebar of the PDF reader is already possible (https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/431776/#Comment_431776) .

durazzi · 2026-03-02T02:00:44+00:00

Thank you for the update on search by annotation color. I'm guessing it will be live after I finish my dissertation but glad to see it's on the horizon. In case it's not clear, the need for search annotations by color is to search annotations in all items in a library or collection. I try to tag them but I've missed hundreds over the last couple years.

rdiaz02 · 2026-03-02T08:10:33+00:00

@durazzi : yes, I'd also like to search by color in full collections, not individual PDFs (I also use different colors for highlights, etc, with different meanings, so going over a full collection would be great). The links were just for the available options in the meantime.

mjthoraval · 2026-03-02T23:47:12+00:00

As a temporary workaround, you can tag the annotations by color with this script of the Actions & Tags plugin:
https://github.com/windingwind/zotero-actions-tags/discussions/577

You can then use the filtering capabilities of the tags from the Tag Selector and from the Advanced Search.