Why is Zotero still saying that my storage is full after I deleted files?

If you're trying to free up Zotero Storage space, first make sure you've emptied the trash in Zotero. Files still count against your storage quota until they've been permanently removed from the trash.

Beyond that, keep in mind that your storage quota, displayed on your storage settings page, applies solely to files you've uploaded to Zotero servers, and doesn't affect your local usage of Zotero. You can always store as much as you wish locally — you'll never be prevented from saving to the Zotero app due to being at your online storage quota.

This means that, if you haven't been syncing files, or if you've been getting a warning for a while that you're at your quota, you might have far more files stored in your local Zotero library than your online storage quota allows. For example, you could have 5 GB (5000 MB) of files stored locally, and your storage settings page would still show you as using 300 MB. If you then deleted 3 GB of files from your local library, emptied the trash, and synced, your storage settings online would still correctly show you as using 300 MB, because any files you deleted from the 300 MB would immediately be offset by additional local files getting uploaded and filling the remaining space. You would need to delete enough so that your total local usage was less than your online quota before you would see your usage drop below your quota, which in the above example would mean deleting 4.7 GB of local files.

If you'd prefer to keep all your files, you can add a storage subscription or upgrade your plan from the storage settings page. This would allow you to sync all your files and make them accessible from other devices and the web library, as well as to restore your files from the online library if something happened to your computer.

kb/storage_quota_and_local_storage.txt · Last modified: 2024/02/27 04:50 by dstillman