EndNote 21: Desktop: BackUp Your Library

Oct 29, 2020 • Article Copied Word for Word 

EndNote 20 and earlier users:

You can use the Sync feature  to move your library to another computer with EndNote installed. The following simple procedure does not involve transferring any files.

1. Open EndNote on the new computer.
2. Go to the File menu and choose "New". Name the new library and choose "Save".
3. For EndNote 20: Go to the Library menu and choose "Sync". Click OK (it may warn about merging, click OK on that message) and wait for the sync to finish and you will end up with the references on the computer.
4. For EndNote X9 and earlier: Go to the Tools menu and choose "Sync". Click OK (it may warn about merging, click OK on that message) and wait for the sync to finish and you will end up with the references on the computer.

NOTE: You should only do this if you have formatted documents. When the library is synced to the new computer, the contents of the library will be the same, but the record numbers will be different. All you have to do is open each of your documents and run the "Update Citations and Bibliography" command. EndNote will update the document to associate the references with records in the library.

If you are using a word processor that does not support Cite While You Write and/or your documents only contain temporary citations, you should follow the steps described below to transfer your library.

Compress Library for EndNote X and later users:

You can save your complete library (the filename.enl file as well as its associated .Data folder and all of its contents) to a single compressed filename.enlx file in order to easily back up your library or send a copy to a colleague. Later, you can easily restore (unzip) the compressed library with EndNote. Note: This will only work if everyone is using EndNote X or later.

To save to a compressed library file:

1. Open the library in EndNote.
2. EndNote X/X1: from the "File" menu, select "Send to" and then "Compressed Library".
   EndNote X2 and later: from the "File" menu, select "Compressed Library (.enlx)" and then "Create".
3. Use the file dialog to save to an EndNote Compressed Library (filename.enlx).

To restore a compressed library file:

1. Use EndNote X or later to open the filename.enlx file, which will extract the .ENL file and the .Data folder to
   the same folder where the .enlx file is located.
2. Use EndNote to open the filename.enl file as you normally would to use the library.