You've downloaded the Zotero program to your computer, and you've created an online account. The final step is to connect these two, so that any sources you save to Zotero will also be saved to your Zotero account in the cloud (allowing you to access your Zotero library from other computers, or recover content if your computer crashes).

Open your Zotero program. If you have a Windows machine, select 'Edit > Preferences.' If you have a Mac, select 'Zotero > Settings,'

The Zotero program. The Edit menu is displayed, and a red arrow points to Preferences.

Choose the 'Sync' tab, and enter the Zotero username and password that you created in step 3. Then click the 'Set Up Syncing' button.

The Zotero Preferences within the Zotero program. On the Sync tab, the Username and Password fields are highlighted.

Click 'OK' to finish the syncing process.

The Zotero Preferences pop-up within the Zotero program. A red arrow points to the 'X' button.

At this point, the first time you ever connect your online account to the newly-downloaded Zotero program, nothing will happen. However, if you're accessing Zotero on a new or different computer, the Zotero program would start populating with all the sources that you've saved up until that point.

You have finished the set up process! It's time to start using your Zotero program.