Zotero Linked Files on iPad: How to Open ZotFile and ZotMoov PDFs in 2026

If ZotFile or ZotMoov moved your PDFs into a Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive folder, the Zotero app for iPad will list those papers but will not open them. Zotero's documentation says so plainly: linked files "are also not supported in the Zotero iOS app" (Attaching Files). There are three ways round it: turn the papers you need into stored files for a while, open the PDFs straight from the cloud folder in another PDF app, or use a reader that follows the link to the synced folder on the iPad.

This article explains why the limit exists, then goes through the three, including what each one does to your highlights and handwriting. I make Rectoly, which is the third option, so weigh that section accordingly. Everything here was checked on September 26, 2026, against Zotero's documentation, its source code and the Zotero forums. If something is wrong, tell me and I will correct it.

The Short Version

	1. Stored files	2. Another PDF app	3. Rectoly
What you do	Convert the papers you will read, read them in the Zotero app, move them back	Open the PDF from Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive in PDF Expert, GoodNotes or Files	Point Rectoly at the synced folder once
Highlights and notes reach Zotero	Yes, as Zotero annotations	Only after Import Annotations… on the computer	Yes, as Zotero annotations
Apple Pencil ink reaches Zotero	Yes, as Zotero ink annotations	No, the import skips freehand ink	Yes, as Zotero ink annotations
Annotations you made on the computer	Visible	Not visible	Visible
Uses your Zotero Storage quota	Yes, while converted	No	No
You find papers by	Your Zotero library	File and folder names	Your Zotero library
Cost	Free within 300 MB, then a Zotero Storage plan	The PDF app's price	$19.99 once, after a 14-day trial

What a Linked File Is

Zotero keeps an attachment in one of two ways. A stored file is copied into Zotero's own storage folder and syncs through Zotero Storage or your WebDAV server. A linked file stays where it is, and Zotero keeps only the path to it.

ZotFile, and ZotMoov after it, use linked files on purpose. They move each PDF out of Zotero's storage into a folder you choose, usually one that Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive already syncs, and leave a link on the item. The usual reason is space. Zotero Storage is free up to 300 MB, then $20 a year for 2 GB, $60 for 6 GB and $120 for unlimited (zotero.org/storage). A library of a few thousand PDFs passes 2 GB quickly, and many people already pay for cloud space somewhere else.

The trade-off is in the same documentation: "Linked files are not synced." The item syncs; the PDF travels only through your cloud folder. To make one link work on several computers, Zotero stores the path relative to a folder you name in Settings → Advanced → Files and Folders → Linked Attachment Base Directory, and each computer points that setting at its own copy of the synced folder. ZotMoov's README gives the same advice to anyone syncing between machines.

Why the Zotero App Cannot Open Them

Zotero's iPad app has nothing to hang that arrangement on. It receives the item and the relative path, but it has no base-directory setting and never asks for access to your Dropbox folder, so the path leads nowhere. Tap the PDF and you get the message people have been quoting on the forums since 2022:

Linked files are not supported on iOS. You can open them using the Zotero desktop app.

Asked about it, Dan Stillman of the Zotero team replied that "the iOS app supports Zotero Storage and WebDAV, not linked files" (forum thread, March 2022). A thread from November 2025 shows nothing has changed (Switching between stored and linked files to annotate pdfs on iPad), and Zotero's documentation says the same of its Android app.

That is a decision about what the app supports, not a limit of the iPad. An iPad app can ask for access to a folder in the Files app, such as a Dropbox or OneDrive folder, and the third option below relies on exactly that.

What Happened to ZotFile

Many linked-file libraries were built with ZotFile, whose "send to tablet" feature was the old answer to this question: it copied PDFs to a folder the tablet could see and pulled the annotations back afterwards. ZotFile is no longer maintained. In July 2023 its developer wrote that he would not update it for Zotero 7 and that "you should not expect zotfile to work in Zotero 7" (On Zotfile development and Zotero 7). Its last stable release, 5.1.2, came out in October 2022.

Since Zotero 7, Zotero renames files itself (it reached version 10 in August 2026), and ZotMoov, "a simple plugin for managing attachments in Zotero 7" that is still updated (1.2.32, August 2026), moves them into a custom folder as linked files. Neither has a tablet workflow, which is why the question keeps coming back.

Option 1: Turn the Papers You Need Into Stored Files

The official route, and the one Zotero users suggest on the forums.

On your computer, select the papers you want on the iPad.
Choose Tools → Manage Attachments → Convert Linked Files to Stored Files…. If you use ZotMoov, its right-click command to move files back from its folder does the same job.
Let Zotero sync. The PDFs are now stored files and open in the Zotero app like any other.
When you are finished, move them back to the linked folder with ZotMoov.

Your annotations survive the round trip, because Zotero keeps annotations in its database rather than in the PDF. The person who asked in the November 2025 thread confirmed that theirs were preserved. Highlights, notes and Apple Pencil ink made in the Zotero app are ordinary Zotero annotations.

The costs: it is manual, it has to be done before you leave the computer, and the converted PDFs count against your Zotero Storage quota (or your WebDAV server's space) while they are stored, which is the very thing linked files were meant to avoid.

Option 2: Open the PDF From the Cloud Folder in Another App

Your PDFs are already in Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive, and those apps put the folder into the iPad's Files app. So you can open a paper from there in any PDF app, whether PDF Expert, GoodNotes or the Files app's own markup, and write on it.

What you edit is the linked file itself, so the change reaches your computer through the cloud folder with no extra step. The annotations, though, are written into the PDF, not into Zotero. On the computer, Zotero's reader shows them with a lock, read-only. To turn them into Zotero annotations you open the PDF and choose File → Import Annotations…, which moves them into the database and removes them from the file (Annotations in the database). A forum thread from August 2025 records that freehand ink and free-text notes do not come across in that import.

Two more things to know. You find papers by file name and folder, not by collection, tag or search; ZotFile-style names such as Smith - 2021 - Title.pdf make that bearable, and a large library makes it slow. And the annotations you already made in Zotero on the computer live in Zotero's database, not in the file, so the other app does not show them.

Option 3: A Reader That Follows the Link

This is what Rectoly for Zotero does on the iPad since version 4.0 (September 24, 2026). It does what Zotero does on a second computer: you tell it where the synced folder is on this device, and it resolves each link from there.

On your computer, look up Settings → Advanced → Files and Folders → Linked Attachment Base Directory in Zotero, so you know which folder it is.
On the iPad, install the Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive app so the folder appears in the Files app. iCloud Drive is there already.
In Rectoly, open Settings › Sync & Backup › Linked files (ZotFile, ZotMoov), press Choose Folder, and pick that folder.
Open a paper as usual. Papers whose PDF is a linked file carry a Linked mark in the library.

The folder does not have to match exactly: if Zotero's base directory is Dropbox/Zotero and you pick Dropbox, the files are still found. If a link still fails, because a folder was renamed or an old ZotFile link holds an absolute path from another computer, Locate… lets you pick that one file, and Rectoly works out the rule for the rest of the library from it.

What happens to the file. Rectoly copies the PDF into its own storage and opens the copy. It never writes, renames or moves anything in your folder, and it asks the system for read access only. If the PDF in the folder changes later, it notices the new size and date and copies it again. The folder is read on the iPad; nothing in it passes through Rectoly's servers.

What happens to your annotations. Highlights, underlines, notes and Apple Pencil ink go to Zotero as annotations on that attachment, exactly as they would for a stored file. After the next sync they appear in Zotero on the computer, next to anything you annotated there. Reading Mode, which reflows a two-column paper into one column, works on linked papers too.

The limits.

Linked files exist only in My Library. Zotero does not allow them in group libraries, so there is nothing of this kind to open there.
The cloud app decides what is on the device. If Rectoly says Couldn't read the linked file, make the file or folder available offline in the Dropbox or Google Drive app and try again.
A PDF you add in Rectoly goes to Zotero Storage or your WebDAV server, not into the linked folder. Creating linked files stays the add-on's job on your computer.
It is $19.99, once, after a 14-day trial, and the Zotero app is free. The same purchase covers Rectoly for Zotero on iPhone, Mac, Windows and Android, where the setting works the same way. On Android, Google Drive's app will not hand a folder to other apps, so you link files one at a time or use a sync app; the guide has the details for each system.

Which One to Use

You read on the iPad now and then: convert the handful of papers you need. It is free and you stay in Zotero's own app.
You already live in PDF Expert or GoodNotes and do not need your marks in Zotero: open the papers from the cloud folder.
Your whole library is linked files and the iPad is where you read: a reader that follows the link, so the library, the storage quota and the annotations all stay as they are.

If you are still choosing an iPad app for Zotero in general, the wider comparison is in Zotero on iPad in 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the Zotero iPad app open linked files?

No. The Zotero app for iPad and iPhone opens files stored in Zotero Storage or on a WebDAV server, not linked files. Items with linked files appear in the library, but opening the PDF shows "Linked files are not supported on iOS."

Does ZotFile work with Zotero 7 or later?

No. ZotFile's developer said in July 2023 that he would not update it for Zotero 7, and its last stable release is from 2022. From version 7 on, Zotero renames attachments itself, and ZotMoov is the plugin most people now use to move attachments into a custom folder as linked files.

Can I use linked files in a Zotero group library?

No. Zotero allows linked files only in My Library, because other members of a group would have no guarantee of access to the same file location.

Do annotations I make on the iPad reach Zotero when the PDF is a linked file?

It depends on the app. Annotations made in Zotero's own app (after converting the file to a stored file) or in Rectoly are Zotero annotations and sync to the computer. Annotations made in a separate PDF app are written into the PDF and have to be brought in with File → Import Annotations… in Zotero, and freehand ink does not come across.

Does converting a linked file to a stored file lose my annotations?

No. Zotero keeps annotations in its database, not in the PDF, so they stay with the paper when its file changes between linked and stored.

Does the Zotero Android app open linked files?

No. Zotero's documentation says linked files are not supported in its Android app either. Rectoly for Zotero on Android opens them from a folder or file on the device.