Importing your library from EndNote [Papers Desktop]

This is a quick guide to explain the EndNote import feature. This way you can export your EndNote library and have everything come across just like if you were transferring EndNote to EndNote. 

Some caveats before we start:

  • EndNote hides where your files are located. By default, the app won't know where to get those files. You will need to browse for them. More on that below.
  • EndNote allows you to create custom types of files. For instance, you could create a type of "Social Media" in EndNote and have custom fields for it. The application will try and match to the closest type but if it can't figure it out it will set the type to "Journal Article". Don't worry though. All those fields are saved that you created in EndNote and will be stored in something we call "Custom Metadata" This is a hidden field for now that we will allow you to create and edit in a future update.
  • EndNote import only works on the Desktop. Because EndNote is hiding your file locations we have to read the folder you give us and search for the correct PDFs.

Exporting EndNote:

To begin exporting select all of the references you want to export. By default, EndNote will only export the reference you have highlighted. 

Then head to File and click "Export...". This will open up a dialog. Save the file somewhere you will remember and select the type as XML and the Output style as "EndNote Export"

Once done you can hit save.

Importing into Papers:
To start, go to the top of the desktop application and click "Add". On the drop-down, you want to click "Add Files..."

On the following screen, you will need to select "EndNote Library". Select the XML file you just saved to import the metadata.

If you store PDFs within EndNote and you have not changed the default file location ("My EndNote Library.Data" Folder in your Documents directory) - you do not need to select anything in the "Select data directory" field. You only need to select a folder if you changed the download location to something else. In that case, simply browse to where you have moved "My EndNote Library.Data" and click the PDF folder and we will search all the sub-folders for the PDFs. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: The folder in which you store your EndNote PDFs must be saved locally, not on an external drive, in order for us to successfully import those files in. 



Give the import a couple of minutes to do its magic and you will have all of your metadata and PDFs with your previous annotations! If you have any issues, please get in touch with our amazing support team

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