Zotero 6.0 Version History

For changes in Zotero 7 releases, see the 7.0 changelog.

Mac only

• [Safari] Fixed additional problems with Google Docs integration (Zotero Connector 5.0.122)
• Show clearer message for new error that can occur when Word is running under Rosetta

Windows only

• Updated digital signature of Word plugin

• Support new LibreOffice versioning scheme (e.g., 24.2)
• [Safari] Fixed additional problems with Google Docs integration for some Google accounts
• Support for immediate translator updates in Zotero Connector (previously up to 24h)

Mac only

• [Safari] Fixed additional problems with Google Docs integration for some Google accounts
• [Safari] Fixed broken Select Items dialog (since 6.0.31)

Mac only

• [Safari] Fixed additional problems with Google Docs integration for some Google accounts

Mac only

• [Safari] Fixed Google Docs integration for some Google accounts

• [Security] Disabled libvpx support (CVE-2023-5217)
• [Security] Added content-loading restrictions to generated reports

Mac only

• Fixed “Run-time error '5'” in Word on some computers (since 6.0.27)

Mac only

• Fixed “Run-time error '5'” in Word on some institutional computers (since 6.0.27)
• Fixed error if the Word application was located on a non-default path containing extended characters (since 6.0.27)
• Use previous Word integration mechanism on pre-Sonoma systems if localhost HTTP requests from Word are blocked
• Updated Zotero Connector for Safari to fix transferring documents to/from Google Docs

• macOS Sonoma compatibility
  • Fixed error using Word for Mac plugin with the Sonoma beta
• Compatibility with databases containing new annotation types from the Zotero 7 beta
• Reduced likelihood of rate-limiting when saving many items via Add Item by Identifier
• Fixed startup error due to numeric value for Type: in Extra field
• Fixed potential sync error after using Replace Online Library in group
• Allow window dragging from PDF reader toolbar
• Fixed some PDF downloads from ScienceDirect
• Miscellaneous bibliographic output and word processor integration fixes
  • Updated citeproc-js to 1.4.63

• Fixed inability to enter value into Identifier field in Dataset item type and removed redundant Number field

• Fixed collection switching in classic citation dialog (since 6.0.24)

• Added Dataset and Standard item types

• Fixed potential error using Everything search if another library hadn't been loaded
• Fixed feed updates causing refreshing or scrolling of collection and item trees
• Don't show HTML and Markdown options for collection export
• Improved sorting by name in Quick Format dialog
• Set default color for Mendeley annotations on import if missing
• Prevent plugins from creating searches with empty names that break syncing

• Allow quitting app via Alt-F + X on Windows and Ctrl-Q on Linux
• Improved direct saving of files on sites that check referrer

• [Mac/Safari] Fixed bug after Google Docs redesign where Zotero menu would become inactive after hovering over document mode switcher
• Fixed incomplete Mendeley import due to empty creators or tags
• Fixed detection of duplicates with same last name but different field modes
• Fixed `no such column: IA.authorName` error from early 6.0 beta upgrade

• Reintroduced text color tool in new note editor
• Added three additional colors to PDF reader and note editor
• Added option to use “Creator - Year - Title” or “Filename” instead of “Title - Creator - Year” for PDF tab titles
• Made toolbar accessible via keyboard
  • Focus indicators are currently shown only on Windows and Linux
• Increased number of PDF tabs kept in memory on Windows and ≤8 GB systems from 2 to 3
• Added additional retraction reason descriptions

• Fixed startup error if database is corrupted and no automatic backup files exist
• Fixed potential startup error on some systems due to filesystem limitations/restrictions
• Detect retractions for DOIs with capital letters
• Fixed bug that could cause erroneous undoing of ink annotation lines on other devices

Mac only

• Fixed color of citations when using Add Note button in Word plugin
• Zotero Connector for Safari improvements
  • Improved saving of proxied resources
  • Fixed Debug ID generation

• Reduce memory usage on Windows with multiple PDF tabs

• [Security] Fixed incorrect handling of DOI value when opening DOI from item pane (reported by @yfdyh000)
• Fixed incorrect/excessive retries after multiple HTTP 500 responses
• Fixed automatic relinking of linked files within Linked Attachment Base Directory when moving from macOS/Linux to Windows (follow-up to 6.0.16)
• Fixed DOI field context menu not appearing after field edit until pane refresh
• Don't open URL in attachment pane on right click

• Automatic relinking of Mendeley citations (details)
• Added “Any Field” advanced search condition
• Allow 204 response to OPTIONS request from WebDAV server
• Handle relative PDF links when using custom PDF resolver

• Don't show items with annotated attachments after moving to trash
• Fixed attachment downloading from some proxied sites
• Fixed focus stealing in item box when switching items via keyboard
• Fixed clearing of active quick search after annotation change
• Don't interpret number without space before it as page number in Quick Format dialog
• Don't attempt to detect page number on paste in Quick Format dialog
• Fixed freeze in collections/items lists when type-to-find wrapped and first row was selected

• Fixed incorrect merging of citations in word processor plugins (since 6.0.16)

Mac only

• Fixed potential errors using Google Docs integration in Safari
• Fixed error copying from note editor when Quick Copy note format is “HTML”
• Fixed Quick Copy drag after resetting translators or using third-party plugins that modify translators

• Automatic merging of adjacent in-text citations
  • Works in Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs
  • To merge citations, make sure they're immediately adjacent, with no spaces between them, and then press Refresh to merge them into a single citation
  • Multi-item citations can still be created or modified using Add/Edit Citation
• Added “Include Zotero Links” option for Rich Text/HTML Quick Copy and note export
  • Allows pasting of annotations and notes with zotero:// links into editors such as Obsidian that accept rich text by default without needing to force use of plain-text Markdown output (details)
• Automatically locate missing attachments within Linked Attachment Base Directory
  • If a linked file can't be found and a Linked Attachment Base Directory is set, check whether part of the current path can be applied to the Linked Attachment Base Directory to locate the file, and offer to relink the file and any other files with the same base path
• PDF reader changes
  • Allow importing annotations from files in group libraries
  • Keep only 2 tabs loaded on systems with 8 GB or less of memory
  • Removed view-only rotation in favor of actual page rotation
• Truncate long text in bubbles in Quick Format citation dialog
• Added additional note font size options in View menu
  • Additional sizes still configurable via extensions.zotero.note.fontSize in Config Editor

• Don't match all attachments with annotations for “not” search conditions (since 6.0.15)
• Fixed wrong given name disambiguation after editing author in a given session
• Fixed potential hang or infinite retry from certain website responses when using Find Available PDFs
• Fixed assignment of colored tags using number keys (without Shift) on French keyboards
• PDF reader
  • Fixed 'r' key not working inside input fields
  • Make full URL clickable when URL contains DOI
  • Fixed an issue that could cause some annotation author names to incorrectly appear in gray
  • Don't include adjacent colon when double-clicking on words
• Note editor
  • Disable rich text inside inline math nodes
  • Use same TeX font size inside block and inline math nodes
• Fix full-text indexing of text files with non-.txt extensions (e.g., .md files)
• [Accessibility] Fixed item list row text not being read when using non-contiguous keyboard selection
• Miscellaneous other bug fixes

• Added split view in PDF reader
  • Split Horizontally and Split Vertically options in the View menu and context menu
  • Second view is a plain PDF view without annotations, intended primarily for viewing references and endnotes
• Fixed “Add Note from Annotations” with annotations from external PDF reader (since 6.0.14)
• Fixed error creating note from attachment with ink annotations (since 6.0.14)
• Removed default WorldCat OpenURL gateway (discontinued by OCLC)
• Disable spell check in math nodes

• Added math support in notes
  • Right-click → Insert → Math, or use $$[space] for block math and $…$[space] for inline math
  • Accepts LaTeX math input supported by KaTeX and renders as formatted math
• Search for PDF annotation tags in library view
  • PDF annotation tags appear in the tag selector alongside item tags
  • Filtering/searching for annotation tags matches parent attachments
• Quickly create notes with PDF annotations from multiple items
  • New “Create Note from Annotations” option in items-list context menu creates a standalone note with annotations from all the selected top-level items and/or attachments
  • “Add Note from Annotations” now creates a single child note if multiple attachments under a single item are selected
  • Annotations are sorted by the order of the items in the items list
• PDF reader changes
  • Auto-detect URLs and DOIs in PDF content and open on click
  • Allow assigning/unassigning tag/color for multiple annotations via drag and drop
  • Added annotation author names to sidebar filter options in group libraries
  • Added “Copy Image” and “Save Image As…” context-menu options for image annotations
  • Adjust user interface based on main font size setting (View → Font Size)
  • Support mouse back and forward buttons for in-PDF navigation
  • Support page ranges when determining page label for the next page
  • Convert Mendeley PDF annotations to equivalent Zotero colors
  • Attempt to deduplicate repeated text in text layer
• Don't copy abstract when creating Book Section from Book item
• Added Number as items-list column option
• [Mac Safari] Various Zotero Connector improvements, including improved image saving in snapshots

• Made creator buttons (item type menu, field mode, add/remove) accessible via keyboard
• Fixed endless retries for some requests when encountering an HTTP 5xx error from a server (e.g., Box WebDAV)
• Use items-list sort order for report from collection or saved search
• Fixed searching for annotation text or comments when using Everything quick search
• PDF reader
  • Don't include adjacent punctuation when double-clicking on words
  • Fixed problems copying/selecting/highlighting RTL text
  • Allow Select All after clicking on annotations sidebar background
  • Show context menu with copy/paste options for annotation text and comment
  • Fixed reader sometimes showing UTC time and sometimes local
  • Fixed error when pressing Tab in standalone PDF window
• Note editor
  • Don't create unnecessary blank line when inserting annotation
  • Restored different list markers for different indentation levels
  • Fixed drag handle for RTL lists
• Preserve rich-text formatting when using Add Note option in word processor plugins
• Don't show “Find Available PDF” for feed items

• Fixed “Show in Page” for annotations in notes (since 6.0.12)
• Fixed “Show in Page” not working when opening an unloaded PDF tab (since 6.0.5)
• PDF reader fixes
  • Properly preserve text selection on zoom or window resize
  • Fixed keyboard shortcuts not working after clicking on gray margins
• Various improvements to Citavi import
• Properly update items list when emptying trash

• Added Back button to PDF reader toolbar for in-PDF links (also available via keyboard shortcuts)
• Added “Create Book Section” and “Create Book from Book Section” context-menu options
• Allow scrolling tabs with mouse wheel

• Fixed copying of standalone attachments between libraries
• Fixed importing of standalone attachments from Zotero RDF
• Preserve embedded PDF annotations when merging duplicate items
• Fixed event title (e.g., Conference Name) not appearing for some citation styles (since 6.0.10)
• Fixed Performer for Audio Recording not showing up as author in citations (since 6.0.10)
• Don't preselect Act for multiple sources in classic citation dialog
• Fixed problems downloading large PDFs from ScienceDirect
• Fixed last-selected PDF tab not being selected on startup
• Fixed existing PDF tabs not being reused for same file after restart
• Don't create extra newlines when dragging annotations to notes
• Fixed advanced search of feed that hasn't yet been selected in library view
• Fixed Shift-Tab breaking on single-field creators
• Miscellaneous other bug fixes

Mac only

• Fixed startup failure in macOS 10.11 El Capitan from 2015 (since 6.0.10)

(This version was not released to Mac users already running Zotero 6.0.10.)

• PDF reader improvements
  • Switch between tools and colors with Option/Alt + 1/2/3/4 keys
  • Enable text selection after selecting word/line with double/triple-click
  • Improved whitespace handling when extracting text from some PDFs
• Note editor improvements
  • Removed content width limit in separate note editor windows
  • Use Markdown for direct plain-text copying
• Smarter note switching when switching between PDF reader tabs (details)
• When “Show Items from Subcollections” is enabled, removing an item from a collection now removes it from all subcollections as well
• Improved PDF saving from ScienceDirect on slow connections (details)
• Sort empty rows last for Date/Year columns when descending
• Added CSL 1.0.2 field mappings and citation locators (details)
• Custom note templates: Include quotation marks for {{highlight}} by default except when placed within blockquote
• Mendeley importer improvements
  • Longer timeout for slow Mendeley API responses
  • Better progress indication
  • Better handling of interrupted imports
• Other miscellaneous improvements and bug fixes

• Fixed startup failure on some macOS systems (details)
• Prevent potential breakage at startup due to a plugin modifying item fields in the Zotero database

• Added PDF page rotation and deletion from thumbnails tab of PDF reader sidebar

• Fixed downloading of ScienceDirect PDFs
• Fixed library tab tooltip staying visible after switching apps
• Fixed detection of some emoji set as colored tags
• Fixed parsing of Chinese and other non-ASCII month names
• [Mac] Fixed Force Click during drag sometimes causing accidental collection switching
• [Mac] Fixed Option-arrow not working on macOS when editing collection names
• Fixed sorting by Attachments column
• Select search input text when focusing search bar in note editor
• Fixed positioning of search result highlighting in notes containing accented characters
• Fixed mapping of Archive ID to CSL number field in Preprint item type
• Fixed space not appearing after citation number in some numeric styles (IEEE, Nature) in plain-text output

• Improved find/replace functionality in note editor
• Ignore diacritics when searching within note

• Fixed find-as-you-type in collections/items lists moving to next row when typing additional matching letter (since 6.0.7)
• Fixed column-resizing issues in items list
• When using external PDF reader, try to open to correct page when using “Show on Page” for an annotation
• Fixed misaligned column dividers for second-level items
• [Developer] Translator Editor: Fixed load error when using non-default font size

• Pin library tab when many tabs are open
• Added support for switching tabs with Cmd-Option-←/→ on macOS (in addition to existing shortcuts)

• Fixed find-as-you-type in collections/items lists matching only first letter
• Improved column width handling when resizing window
• Show additional Tools menu options in PDF tabs
• Fixed target is undefined error upgrading from Zotero 4

• Added “Duplicate Tab” context-menu option
• Show “Add Note from Annotations” in attachment context menu in addition to parent item menu
• Show more of tab titles
• Improved sorting of Library of Congress call numbers
• Added note.smartQuotes hidden pref to disable smart quotes in notes
• Added sortNotesChronologically.reader hidden pref to control sorting of item notes in PDF reader Notes pane
  • Default sort is again reverse chronological (changed to alphabetical in 6.0.5)

• Allow adding multiple sources at once in classic citation dialog
• Fixed various bugs adding annotations to notes with a custom note template set
• Fixed find-as-you-type in collections pane
• Fixed erroneous warning about outdated Word template on M1 Macs running some macOS versions <12
• Fixed sorting of integers in Call Number field (since 6.0.5)

• Added table editing in notes
• PDF reader changes
  • Removed “Store Annotations in File” option (details)
  • Added “Zoom to Page Height” option
  • Ignore comment in imported annotation if it matches highlighted text (for external PDF readers set to copy highlighted text to the comment field)
  • The note tool no longer stays active after creating a note annotation
  • Manually set page numbers are now used as the offset for new annotations
  • “Add to Note” now adds annotations at the cursor position instead of at the end of the note
  • Added keyboard shortcuts for bold and italics in annotation comments
• Added “Open PDF in New Window” context-menu option in items list
• Decreased memory usage with multiple PDF tabs
  • Background PDF tabs are no longer loaded at startup
  • Background PDF tabs are unloaded after 24 hours
  • Only the 5 most recently viewed PDF tabs are kept in memory
• Added horizontal scrolling to tab bar
• Added validation of CSL 1.0.2 styles
• Improved call number sorting in items list
• Restored use of some punctuation when sorting items list
• Restored support for extensions.zotero.note.css to customize note styling

• Fixed cut-off text in collections/items lists when using various OS font scaling options
• Fixed Mendeley annotations being duplicated on reimport after sync
• Fixed invalid page numbers imported from Citavi that could cause sync errors (details)
• Don't merge attachment files if some are in trash
• Don't merge attachment files of different link types (stored vs. linked)
• Fixed broken tag selector after setting a colored tag changed by Unicode normalization
• Fixed some cases of creator autocomplete not populating both name fields
• Fixed copying text in PDF annotation text fields
• Fixed annotation highlight colors not showing up when adding notes to word processors
• Fixed highlight colors not showing up when pasting text into notes from word processors
• Fixed some item types not appearing in New Item submenu until restart after creating new items
• Fixed middle click to close tabs
• Improved item tree column header alignment
• Fixed {{if tags}} returning true for no tags in note template
• Miscellaneous other bug fixes

• [Mac] Limit Zotero Connector for Safari to macOS Big Sur and later (details)
• Fixed condition names appearing incorrectly in Advanced Search in non-English locales (since 6.0.3)
• Fixed Quick Copy and delete confirmation in standalone PDF reader windows

• Zotero 6 note editor improvements
  • Paragraphs can now be indented and unindented with Tab/Shift-Tab
  • Improved RTL support
  • Fixed annotations disappearing when converted to heading
• Fixed annotation comment in PDF reader sometimes being cleared while typing
• Fixed missing “More Columns” submenu in column picker on some systems
• Fixed error merging items with missing attachment files
• [Windows] Fixed “path.startsWith is not a function” sync error
• Fixed appearance of citation bubble in Quick Format dialog
• Fixed “Add Note” window not appearing when classic citation dialog is enabled
• Link to manual word processor plugin installation instructions on install failure

• Zotero 6 Word plugin is now digitally signed
• Fixed automatic installation of updated Word and LibreOffice plugins with "Add Note" button for Zotero 6
• Fixed “cleanDOI: argument must be a string” startup error caused by Scite plugin (details)
• Fixed error adding items to groups before syncing in Zotero 6
• Fixed expand/collapse arrow not appearing at top of items list
• Fixed sorting of item rows starting with numeric ranges
• Reset scrollbar to top of items list on collection change
• [Linux] Fixed appearance of Quick Format bar in dark theme

• [Mac Word] Fixed error inserting second citation into footnote
• [Linux] Fixed appearance of column header in dark theme
• Fixed incorrect zotero:// links from unsynced libraries

See the Zotero 6 announcement for more details.

• PDF reader and new note editor
  • Read PDFs within Zotero in a new tabbed interface
  • Create highlight, note, and image annotations on PDFs, and view ink annotations created using the new iOS app
  • Take notes in a powerful new note editor
  • Add annotations, citations, and images to notes, with customizable templates
  • Insert notes into Word, LibreOffice, or Google Docs with automatic citations generated from annotations using a new “Add Note” option
  • Export notes to Markdown via Quick Copy or file export
• Non-English spellchecking in notes
  • Non-English dictionaries can now be added or selected by right-clicking on a note
• [Mac] Bundled Safari extension
  • The Zotero Connector for Safari is now bundled with Zotero and can be enabled from the Extensions pane of Safari
• Improved Mendeley importer
  • Import Mendeley data from online library to circumvent local encryption
  • Import PDF annotations
• Improved Citavi importer
  • Import PDF annotations
• Faster auto-sync uploads
  • Local changes (other than note edits) now sync within 3 seconds
• Items list improvements
  • Show small PDF icon in Attachments column when item has PDF
  • Show emoji colored tags directly in items list
  • Rich-text markup in titles is now rendered properly in the items list
  • Add selected items to new or existing collection via context menu
  • Sort date columns in descending order on first click
  • Ignore additional punctuation characters when sorting
  • Added Short Title column
  • Column picker is now available by right-click on column headers
  • Dotted border is now shown around selected row when using non-contiguous selection via keyboard (Cmd-↑/↓ or Ctrl-↑/↓ plus space bar)
• Syncing reminders
  • Show a message if syncing hasn’t been set up or if auto-sync has been disabled
• Added Preprint item type
• Automatically delete redundant PDFs and snapshots when merging items
• Renamed “Suppress Author” to “Omit Author” in word processor plugin
• Advanced Search window can now be opened with Cmd/Ctrl-Shift-F
• Added Author, Editor, and Book Author conditions to Advanced Search window
• Don't require modifier key when deleting items in saved search or Unfiled Items
• Avoid blocking of file sync requests by some institutional firewalls
• Many other miscellaneous improvements and bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where remotely removed creators weren't removed locally on sync
• Don't include standalone notes or attachments in one-off bibliographies
  • Applies to “Create Bibliography from Collection” and “Create Bibliography from Items”
• Fixed standalone notes not being added to collections on RDF import
• Fixed a situation where a file could be searched for at a path with a missing character when a Linked Attachment Base Directory was set
• Fixed compatibility with Nature feeds
• Fixed intermittent PDF download failures on ScienceDirect
• Fixed date formatting for en-AU and en-NZ locales

• Revamped Translator Editor (Scaffold)

View the 5.0 changelog