# References suddenly wiped - URGENT

**URL:** <https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [July 12, 2024, 10:31am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407 "2024-07-12T10:31:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CaptDrShowMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/41988e/32.png) [@CaptDrShowMe](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/CaptDrShowMe)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 10:31am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407/1 "2024-07-12T10:31:42Z")

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Hi everyone,  
I was using JabRef 5.13 to store my citations on Mac. I had over 10,000 sources. Closed it (previously this was never an issue), and when I came back and opened it again, it said to update. I agreed, then my cursor went on a circling carousel, and immediately after that my entire Jabref got wiped. I literally have an empty window now, and the file where the repository is stored is also gone.

Guys what’s going on, please help.

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**Author:** ![ThiloteE](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/thilotee/32/1008_2.png) [@ThiloteE](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/ThiloteE)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 11:05am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407/2 "2024-07-12T11:05:04Z")

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Hello Michaela, this sounds like something went terribly wrong.

### The first thing to do: Storing your backups

Before you do anything with JabRef going forward, please check the backups that are automatically created and copy all of them to another folder of your choice (There is a limit to how many backups are stored and old ones will be overwriten with newer ones, if you continue to use JabRef). See [Automatic Backup (.sav and .bak) and Autosave | JabRef](https://docs.jabref.org/advanced/autosave).

#### Where can I find the backup files?

- **The backup files (** `.bak` **) can be found in the** [**user data dir**](https://github.com/harawata/appdirs#supported-directories) **.**

- **Unix/Linux:** `/home/<username>/.local/share/org.jabref/jabref`

- **Windows:** Windows 7/10: `C:\Users\<Account>\AppData\org.jabref\jabref`Alternatively, open the run dialogue by pressing `Windows+R`, then enter `%APPDATA%\..\Local\org.jabref\jabref` Windows XP: `C:\Documents and Settings\<Account>\Application Data\Local Settings\org.jabref\jabref>`

- **Mac OS X:** `/Users/username/Library/Application Support/org.jabref/jabref`

### Then later: Debugging

It would be great, if you could create a github issue, as those are easier to track, but we will definitely look into this matter, even if you don’t.

I have a few questions though:

- Have you been trying to update to 5.14 or 5.15? What version are you on now?
- What happens, if you restart JabRef?
- Is it possible to open other library files?
- What do you mean with “JabRef got wiped”? Is it not possible to start JabRef anymore?
- What do you mean with “the file where the repository is stored”? Do you mean the library (.bib) file? Or do you mean the files to run JabRef? As far as I am aware, a repository is not stored within a file (only the link to a repository may be stored in there), but it is the other way round. A file is stored in a repository (often remotely). See [Software repository - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_repository).

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**Author:** ![CaptDrShowMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/41988e/32.png) [@CaptDrShowMe](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/CaptDrShowMe)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 11:39am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407/3 "2024-07-12T11:39:13Z")

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Hey Thilote,  
Thanks for your reply.

1. I only got a message to update to 5.15, when I agreed, it opened the webpage and completely wiped everything that I had on JabRef. Even the file you mentioned was wiped - it’s as if it never existed on my computer.
2. Same deal. No fix.

I’m now having to re-do everything I’ve done for 3 months in 1 day.

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**Author:** ![ThiloteE](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/thilotee/32/1008_2.png) [@ThiloteE](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/ThiloteE)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 11:43am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407/4 "2024-07-12T11:43:39Z")

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There is nothing in the user data dir?

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**Author:** ![ThiloteE](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/thilotee/32/1008_2.png) [@ThiloteE](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/ThiloteE)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 11:50am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407/5 "2024-07-12T11:50:19Z")

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Can you see the “logs” directory? Are there any? If yes, could you please upload them here?

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**Author:** ![Siedlerchr](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/siedlerchr/32/216_2.png) [@Siedlerchr](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Siedlerchr)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 12:03pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407/6 "2024-07-12T12:03:07Z")

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@CaptDrShowMe  
So sorry for your issue! Let’s try our best to help you:

Open Finder → in the menu press Go To → Enter ~/Library  
 → Go to application support → jabref → backup  
There should be a list of \*.bak files  
These are backups of your bib file. You can open them with TextEdit to check their entries

Copy them over to your home folder and rename .bak to .bib

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**Author:** ![koppor](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/koppor/32/5_2.png) [@koppor](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/koppor)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407/7 "2024-07-12T14:11:19Z")

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@CaptDrShowMe We can also do remote support. You find my email address on GitHub. Just mail me. We can then also include @Siedlerchr who is a MacOS user.

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**Author:** ![HoussemNasri](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/houssemnasri/32/1399_2.png) [@HoussemNasri](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/HoussemNasri)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/references-suddenly-wiped-urgent/4407/8 "2024-07-12T22:55:51Z")

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Can you also check if your BibTeX library is in “Recent libraries”? You can check by selecting “File” from the upper menu bar and then “Recent libraries”.