The easiest way to back up your EndNote library is to create a compressed library.
An EndNote library has two parts: an .enl file and a .Data folder. A compressed library can safely transfer these two parts compressed into one file to another computer, even one running on a different OS (as the library itself is system neutral). The compressed library can be:
- Saved to a USB stick or a portable hard drive
- Saved to the cloud, for example to your OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive
- Emailed to yourself (size permitting)
Another backup option is syncing your library with your EndNote Web online library.
Compressing an EndNote library
This is the recommended method of backing up your library. It compresses the .enl and .Data files into a single zipped file with an .enlx extension.
- Open your library.
- Select File > Compressed Library (.enlx).
- Choose from the options in the popup. All References in Library and With File Attachments are recommended.
- Decide where you want to save your backup files. The default file name of the backup will be the exact same name as the original library, except it will have a .enlx file extension. You can change the name if you wish, for example by adding the date when the backup was made.
Open a compressed library
If your compressed library is in an email, or a USB stick, or in cloud storage:
- Do not open the library from these locations as it is likely to corrupt your file.
- Instead, copy the compressed .enlx file and save it to your EndNote Library folder on your computer's local hard drive.
- If you renamed the compressed library file to indicate that it was a backup, you can now rename it back to the original name.
- Double-click the file to unzip the compressed library.
- You may wish to delete the original .enlx compressed file from this folder to avoid potential confusion.