Track unread Zotero sources with a tag

Use a read tag to mark sources you have finished. Then create a Saved Search with the condition Tag is not read to show the items that remain. Zotero documents this “To Read” search pattern, and Saved Searches update as items start or stop matching. The queue uses the items you already have, without another copy of each source. Zotero: Collections and Tags Zotero: Searching

Set up the view

1. Choose one meaning for the tag. Use read to mean “I have finished reading this source,” and treat its absence as “still to read.” This gives you one status to maintain instead of keeping read and unread tags in sync. Decide what “finished” means for your work. A skim might count if your goal was only to decide whether a source is relevant; otherwise, wait until you have done the reading you intended. That definition is your convention.

2. Mark sources that are already finished. Review the items you want in this reading queue and apply read to each finished source. Leave it off sources you still intend to read. You can keep topic tags on those same items; the read tag answers a different question. Zotero documents using tags to organize and filter items. Zotero: Collections and Tags

3. Create a Saved Search called To Read with the condition Tag is not read. Use the same tag spelling in the condition and on finished items. This follows Zotero’s documented To Read example. Because a Saved Search updates when its matching items change, you can use it as the reading view instead of maintaining a second list of copies. Zotero: Searching

4. Confirm the remaining items. Open To Read and compare its results with sources whose status you know. An unfinished source should appear; a finished source tagged read should be absent. If the results include more than you expected, look at the unmarked items. The condition identifies items without read; it cannot tell whether you meant to read every one of them.

5. Maintain the view as you work. Add read when you finish a source. If you later decide it needs another reading pass, remove read under your chosen convention. Return to the Saved Search to see the items that currently match its condition. Zotero documents that Saved Searches update as matching items change. Zotero: Searching

Verification checklist

• An unfinished source has no read tag and appears in To Read.
• A finished source has read and does not appear there.
• The tag used on finished sources matches the tag named in the search condition.
• You have checked whether unmarked items outside your reading plans are included in the results.

The last check matters if you keep sources for reference without intending to read them. Under this simple convention, those sources also lack read, so they can appear in the view. Decide which items you mean to track before treating the results as your complete reading backlog. If that distinction changes over time, review the results and your convention together; the Saved Search reflects the condition you set, not a separate judgment about each source.

For a team project, a whole-library To Read result can include sources outside that project. Zotero Advanced Search supports a collection criterion as well as multiple filters. Add a collection condition when the queue is meant to cover only that project, then check one known in-scope source and one known outside source against the saved result.

Source and method

Documentation check: Zotero Documentation 1, Zotero Documentation 2, reviewed September 29, 2026. The menu paths and feature limits come from these pages; the result checks are steps for the reader. This workflow was not run in a live product profile. Check the current interface and your saved result before relying on either.