Groups make it easy to break a large library into subsets. A Group simply points to a subset of references that already exist in the library. To see Groups, make sure you have activated the Local Library Mode or the Integrated Library & Online Search Mode on the EndNote Library Window toolbar.

The left pane of the library window lists several Group Sets that include various types of Groups including Automatic Groups, Custom Groups, Smart Groups, Online Search Groups, EndNote Online Groups, and Find Full Text Groups. A new library may display only the permanent All References, Unfiled, and Trash Groups. To display a group of references in the Reference List pane select the Group name.

Automatically generated Groups include All References, Search Results, Transferred References, and Imported References. Custom Groups are created by the user to help organise their library. You can create up to 5,000 groups yourself.

To help organise your Groups, you can create custom Group Sets. Custom Group Sets can contain any combination of custom Groups and smart Groups. Use the plus (+) or minus (-) signs next to a Group set header to expand or collapse the list of Groups found in that Group set. When the list is collapsed, the number next to the Group set header reflects the total number of references found in each Group. This number could include duplicates (references that are included in more than one Group).

Some Group sets are automatic and cannot be removed or renamed. These include the sets Online Search, EndNote Web, and Find Full Text. Other group sets can be created from the Groups menu.

Create a Group

To create a group:

1. Select Create Group from the Groups menu
2. A group temporarily named New Group appears on the Groups Panel
3. Type a Group name
4. Drag and drop selected references from All References (or from another Group) to your new Group

Individual references can be dragged into Groups and deleted from Groups. They will always remain in All References until deleted from there. You can drag-and-drop the new Group to any custom Group set.

Create a Smart Group

Smart Groups are built with search strategies. Smart Groups are dynamically updated as you add references to, and edit references in, the library. You can create Group sets to further organise your smart Groups and custom Groups.

To create a Smart Group:

1. Display the set of references that you would like to search. This would typically be All References
2. Select Create Smart Group from the Groups menu. A search dialog box will appear
3. Enter a name for the Group, then your search strategy, and then select Create

The Smart Group search dialog works the same as the regular search dialog. The new Smart Group will be added to the next Group set after the one being searched. If you are searching all references, it will be in the top-most custom Group set. You can drag-and-drop the new smart Group to any custom Group set.