Research Guides: Veterinary Medicine: Zotero Syncing & Space

Zotero Syncing/Space Management

Zotero gives each user 300MB of file storage for free. Citations take up little space. PDFs, snapshots, and other attachments take up lots of space.

If you need more space, you can:

Follow the directions below to sync and store your attachments in OneDrive. There are directions below for connecting your Zotero library to OneDrive using a third-party plug-in such as ZotMoov (v.7 or later) or ZotFile (v.6 or earlier).
Store files in other cloud storage services. Zotero's support system includes instructions for some of these, starting here.
Buy more inexpensive space from Zotero, or choose not to sync your data if you only use Zotero on one computer and make sure you back it up frequently.

Link Zotero Files to OneDrive with ZotMoov (Zotero V.7 and later)

1. In the OneDrive folder on your computer, create a Zotero attachments folder. (If you previously used Zotfile, you can keep the same folder.) See the ZotMoov FAQ for more information.

2. Download and install ZotMoov (you'll be selecting the .xpi file and choosing "Save As..." and saving it to your computer.)

3. Open Zotero. Go to “Tools > Plugins" and choose the gear icon in the top right corner. Select "Install Add-on From File” and select the downloaded .xpi file. You'll now see ZotMoov enabled in your plugins and you can close the Plugins window.

4. In Zotero, select Edit > Settings. On the ZotMoov tab, under 'Directory to Move Files To', choose the Zotero attachments folder you created in OneDrive.

4. On the Sync Settings tab, uncheck "Sync attachment files in My Library."

Link Zotero Files to OneDrive with ZotFile (Zotero V.6 and earlier)

1. In the OneDrive folder on your computer, create a Zotero attachments folder.

2. Download and install Zotfile. This is designed for the Firefox version of Zotero, but will work with Standalone--just follow the directions on the Zotfile homepage under "Install Zotfile."

3. Open Zotero. Go to Tools > ZotFile Preferences (or gear icon > ZotFile Preferences). On the General Settings tab, under 'Source Folder', choose the default location (C:\Users\[username]\Zotero). Under 'Location of Files', select Custom Location and choose the Zotero attachments folder you created in OneDrive.

4. On the Tablet Settings tab, check "Use Zotfile to send get files from tablet". Then choose your attachments folder in OneDrive as your base folder. Click OK.

5. Close the Zotfile Preferences window and open Preferences from Zotero's Edit menu. Go to the Advanced menu, then select the Files and Folders tab. Make sure that the Base directory field is blank.

6. Finally, in the middle column of your library, right click (or command-click) on one or multiple references with attachments and select Manage Attachments > Send to Tablet. The next time OneDrive syncs, your PDFs will sync as well.

Caveats for third-party Zotero storage:

Moving your Zotero library to OneDrive, Google Drive, or other cloud storage will irreparably corrupt your Zotero library. Instead, you can use these services to store attachments using Linked File Attachments.

Note that file storage in OneDrive, Google Drive, or other cloud storage should not be used for storing files from group libraries. Doing so causes the file to become corrupt.

If you use ZotFile and upgrade to Zotero 7 or later, you will need to change to a different plugin. We recommend changing to ZotMoov using the instructions to the left.