+1 It's 2026 and this is still an issue. If you are part of 2 groups without overlapping topic, it's a pain to easily manage all things. Multiple profiles are not practical.
It would be lovely to see this feature in Zotero 10 as part of the rapid releases that we are seeing.
I work a lot of my time offline and being able to switch between different libraries would allow me to organise by the large research projects that they are. Creating a space where you are solely focused upon that library without getting distracted and cluttered by groups or sub collections to organise would be ideal. In a shared drive sense this would allow a library to be worked upon between users with sql handling the potential concurrency aspect.
Its looking like the interface is progressing this direction as you can minimise "My library". I am in agreement with others that we should separate instance of my library. Through selecting "File" -> "Open Library", would open separate instance of a library per Zotero computer process (Currently singularly limited).
However, It seems like the because the library state is tied into a user Zotero folder, that a second layer of nesting is needed within, to handle the storage and library specific sql, which then upon the user UI selecting either "My Library" or "My Additional Library" /associated collection which is then loaded into UI view, tags and context changed to suit the new view. See image for mockup
I'm faced with the same dilemma. I have two different worlds of documents - one focused on the criminal legal system, the other focused on county board meeting agendas, minutes, and support docs. Only rare users would have the need to visit both. I created a group, and am using the Zotero cloud, but it hit me that I would not be creating a separate database or document repo. So, that is a deal buster.
Has anyone developed a workable solution, e.g., run two instances of Zotero on your desktop perhaps?
I have tried to implement something that may correspond to the multiple library feature requested here. In practice, the plugin ZoteroMultipleLibraries allows you to add more libraries that behave like the main one, see:
It also possible to sync these extra libraries between computers, and this works through linking extra libraries with private group libraries created on Zotero.org. File sync is also possible using Zotero or webdav storage. I have only tested with two machines (Macs) so no guarantee at all it is bug-free and does what people expect. Zotero for iOS or iPadOS is not supported.
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It's 2026 and this is still an issue. If you are part of 2 groups without overlapping topic, it's a pain to easily manage all things. Multiple profiles are not practical.
I work a lot of my time offline and being able to switch between different libraries would allow me to organise by the large research projects that they are. Creating a space where you are solely focused upon that library without getting distracted and cluttered by groups or sub collections to organise would be ideal. In a shared drive sense this would allow a library to be worked upon between users with sql handling the potential concurrency aspect.
Its looking like the interface is progressing this direction as you can minimise "My library". I am in agreement with others that we should separate instance of my library. Through selecting "File" -> "Open Library", would open separate instance of a library per Zotero computer process (Currently singularly limited).
However, It seems like the because the library state is tied into a user Zotero folder, that a second layer of nesting is needed within, to handle the storage and library specific sql, which then upon the user UI selecting either "My Library" or "My Additional Library" /associated collection which is then loaded into UI view, tags and context changed to suit the new view. See image for mockup
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u10866108/1uyfsnwxp6gh2grt2a7i.png
yes, I was also looking for that feature. Nice to see that this request has gained so much more interest since I last looked it up!
Has anyone developed a workable solution, e.g., run two instances of Zotero on your desktop perhaps?
Same dilemma here. Does Zotero 10 implement that ?
It's just not super elegant and might not be convenient (or even possible) for some people. There is no new functionality at this point.
I have tried to implement something that may correspond to the multiple library feature requested here. In practice, the plugin ZoteroMultipleLibraries allows you to add more libraries that behave like the main one, see:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u9749831/dyxgq651zy91o1vi9v1z.png
It also possible to sync these extra libraries between computers, and this works through linking extra libraries with private group libraries created on Zotero.org. File sync is also possible using Zotero or webdav storage. I have only tested with two machines (Macs) so no guarantee at all it is bug-free and does what people expect. Zotero for iOS or iPadOS is not supported.
The plugin is available at https://github.com/gchapron/ZoteroMultipleLibraries (in the release pages). MIT licensed so improve and modify it as you wish.
Guillaume