1.  To responsibly manage and back up your data, it is important to know where your Zotero files are kept on your computer.  If you have a Zotero account and are using sync, your data is saved to Zotero's cloud storage space. But the data in your collections is also stored on your computer’s hard drive.  To see where Zotero stores your files, on a PC, got to the Edit menu and select Preferences (on a Mac click Zotero in the Zotero toolbar to access the Preferences menu):

2.  Go to the Advanced tab, choose the Files and Folders tab, then click “show data directory.”

3. You can now see where Zotero is saving the files on your computer.  You can use this navigation to recover lost files or to back up your files as you would regularly back up any other important files – on an external hard drive, or using whatever other method you have in place.

4.  Note – if you would like to change where Zotero stores your files, you may do so by choosing a custom location.  Zotero will now re-route your files to this new location.