Share your EndNote desktop library
Share your library from the File menu > Share…, or by selecting the Share Library button on the toolbar.
- Enter the email addresses of users to share your library with (up to 14 in total, plus yourself)
- If you haven’t set up your EndNote Online account, you will be prompted to do this first
- Since sharing relies on EndNote’s sync services, all users accessing the library must have an EndNote Online account and must have signed up for it from their EndNote desktop. The sharing feature works with the email addresses users have signed up with.
Youtube video:
A video clip about sharing libraries with version X7.2 is available in Youtube.
How to join a library someone has shared with you
Once you have accepted an email invitation to join someone else’s library:
- in the File menu, select Sync and follow the instructions to log in or set up a new account. Alternatively, select the Sync button on the EndNote Library Window toolbar.
- When connected, select File and then Open Shared Library.
You can now add to, annotate and use the library, even if others are using it at the same time.
More details on sharing an EndNote research library
How many libraries can I share?
You can share one library from your Mac or Windows desktop. The library that you share will also be the library that you can access online at EndNote Online or on your iPad using the EndNote for iPad app. There is no limit to the number of libraries that can be shared with you by others.
Can I access a shared library from anywhere?
If you are the one who shared the library, you have access to this library on your desktop, through EndNote Online, or on your iPad. If you have been invited to access someone else’s library, you can only access this library from your desktop.
What if I no longer want to share my library?
You can easily control access to your library from your desktop version of EndNote X7.3. Add or remove individual access by going to File, then Share.
Email or deposit an EndNote library. Cloud storage
When EndNote libraries are deposited, shared and used in Cloud based repositories (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive) there is a serious danger of file corruption. EndNote advise against cloud storage for library files and advise that only the File > Share function in EndNote should be used for sharing libraries. In various online forums users have claimed that storing compressed libraries in the Cloud and marking these 'Read-Only' (from their file properties) has not caused corruption of these files. However, expanded libraries must be downloaded before being worked on. Afterwards, upload a new compressed version of the library.
To compress an EndNote library file select Compressed Library (.enlx)... from the File menu. This compressed file can be emailed or deposited (mark 'Read only' in Properties). When a recipient opens it (and has EndNote installed on their computer) an ENL file and DATA folder will be extracted and all attachments will be available.
Note: The DATA folder, and as a consequence, the compressed ENLX file may be very large if attachments have been added to references.
