When you find a book, article, or website that you want to use in your research, you can add it to your Zotero Library. Zotero will record the item's details, like the title, author, publication date, and more. Every item you add to Zotero will show up in your library, regardless of topic.

Collections and sub-collections can be created to better organize your items. For example, you could create collections for different projects or topics. Moving items between your library and collections is as simple as dragging and dropping.

Using collections can help you manage your Zotero Library.  By grouping related sources together in a collection, you can easily find what you need without sifting through your entire library. You can create as many collections and subcollections as you need, and a single source can be placed in multiple collections. This flexibility lets you organize your research in a way that works best for you.

Create a collection:

1. In the left pane of the desktop application, right-click My Library.
2. Select New Collection and enter a name.
3. Drag items from your library or another collection into your new collection.
   1. Hold the Ctrl button to select several items at once.
4. New items can be added directly into your collection using the browser connector. Ensure the collection you want items added to is open in your desktop application.

Create a subcollection:

1. In the left pane of the desktop application, right-click on the collection you want to create a subcollection under.
2. Select New Subcollection and enter a name.
3. Drag items from your library or another collection into your new subcollection.
   1. Hold the Ctrl button to select several items at once.
4. New items can be added directly into your subcollection using the browser connector. Ensure the subcollection you want items added to is open in your desktop application.

Don't want to do all the organizing yourself? Make use of Zotero's Saved Searches feature, which creates collections based on your parameters. These collections are fully editable after creation.

Create a saved search collection:

1. In the top bar of the desktop application, select the magnifying glass icon (Advanced Search).
2. Using the fields and boxes, enter your search parameters.
   1. For more detailed instructions on creating a search, see Zotero's Searching documentation.
3. Click Search to see which items meet your search parameters.
4. Click Save Search to create a collection of those items.
5. Enter a name for your new collection.
6. To edit the saved search parameters, right-click on the collection name in the left pane and select Edit Saved Search.

1. Click on the item you want to tag.
2. Select the Tags tab from the right pane that appeared.
3. Select Add and enter your tag.
   1. Zotero will suggest previous tags as you type.
4. To see all items with the same tag, use the search field in the top bar.

1. From the left pane, select Duplicate Items.
2. Select the item you want to deduplicate. This will highlight all versions.
3. From the right pane, chose the item you want to use as the master item.
4. Select fields you want to retain from the other version (if applicable).
5. Select Merge Items.

Remove Items:

1. Right click the item you want to remove.
   1. Hold ctrl to select multiple items.
2. Select Move Item(s) to Trash.

Restore Items:

1. Select Trash from the left pane.
2. Right click the item you want to restore.
3. Select Restore to Library.

Note: Trash does not automatically empty. To permanently empty trash, right click Trash in the left pane and select Empty Trash.