My End Note X7.3.1 is extremely slow. I have the same problem on my laptop (i5, Windows 10 with plenty of memory), work PC and other computers I use. If I add or edit a reference in a Word doc with about 100 references it can take 60 seconds or more to update.
I have students who also experience the same issue. On the fourm it seems that others have the same issue, but I can’t seem to narrow down a decent solution. Is this just a limitation of EndNote? Should I just jump to another referencing tool?
My library is very big, over 5000 references (no attachments though) and I have had the file for about 12 years.
Have you tried unformatting and reformating the document? Sometimes the whay word handles endnote fields affects the speed, and this has happened to me, if I have started the document in one version of Word and updated to a new version of word and continued working on the manuscript. I have a library of 5633 records, many with attachments and routinely work with my students’ theses and don’t see significant performance issues.
Why haven’t you installed the updates to X7.5 as I see you mention windows 10 and from the compatibility info:
EndNote X7.4 has been certified compatible with Windows 10.
EndNote X7.3.1:
We have informally tested EndNote X7.3.1 with Windows 10. No major compatibility issues were found. Instructions for updating EndNote X7 with the latest patch can be found here.
Ensure that you are not installing too many output styles, filters, connection files during installation. I keep mine to <200 and that is borderline. I make a copy of the C:programs/endnote styles, filters and connection folders (in my case we actually repoint registry location to our network drive so everyone in the institute has access to the same core and updated output styles) and then I delete those I will never use from that location and add a few that aren’t in the “default” download list. Then additional ones can be retrieved from the endnote website as needed.
Like I say, I don’t have performance issues, but am still working on a Windows 7 machine without any fancy memory updates. But some of my students have upgraded machines. We are all running X7.5 on our PCs (not sure the current version for the Macs in the institute).
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I have tried your suggestions on both my computers this week but have seen to improvement. It still takes 40 seconds to add a reference/format bibliography.
I tried reformatting the document. But I am not sure what you mean by this, I have cleared all formatting in Word (which seems like a counter productive step). If I unformat using the Convert to Unformatted Citations then I need to reconvert them which just gives me another problem in terms of time if I have 100+ references in a document.
I have upgraded to EndNote 7.5x
I deleted almost all output styles (which is crazy as most of them were installed when I installed EndNote), there are no connection files and filters marked.
I have seen online that there are other users with similar problems but no real solutions. I hope I am missing something, any help you can provide is appreciated.
If there are corrupt fields, then the steps outlined here should helphttp://endnote.com/kb/81143 . Not just convert to temporary then update, but also clean up fields steps.
Not just unselect styles/filters/connections but delete the excess from the program folder (I copy the folders to another location first). But that is unlikely to be the problem. – We could try sharing the document thru dropbox or google drive to see if I have the same problem with it? PM me if you would like to try that.
I also have huge performance issues. Endnote has becoming very slow. (Mac OS 10.10.5 and Word 2011). If CWYW is slow (but this can be understandable in a PhD with more than 1500 citation, but still not much acceptable) my main problem is speed in the library itself with all the pdf I have. Many articles and reports. Some of them are heavy. I have reduce size of all my pdf before importing them in Endnote. But still Endnote is slow. I have quite permanently the colored wheel.
Endnote X7 began to be absurdly slow for me just after the X7.7.1 update. As I am in the final review of my doctoral thesis, this couldn’t have come at a worse time. In searching for solutions in other forums, I tried the following:
Configuring Instant Formatting (EndNote X7 tab in MicroSoft Word > Bibliography tools) by deselecting the Scan for temporary citations and Check for Citation Changes. Result: No change.
I turned Instant Formatting Off. Result: An unformatted citation appears. In other words, instead of the citation being placed in the text in APA 6th style like this: (Allen, 2016) - it looks like this: {Allen, 2016 #427} . This is quick and without that time lag but not a great solution. The logical thing to do after this is to select “Update Citations and Bibliography” in the Bibligraphy tools, but it takes forever to update again to the correct style.
I saw that I upgraded to X7 over 30 months ago, so in desperation, I spent the $100 to upgrade to X8. Mistake. The problem persists in this new version, so it has got to be a problem with Word, correct?
P.S. I went through the steps that Leanne suggested in her post - those found at the URL in the KB portal - Result: No change and a waste of time except for a momentary panic as the instructions omitted Step 7: Go to the EndNote tab and choose “Update Citations and Bibliography.” Step 6 of the instructions should also read: Open a new document with the design and Styles of the original document and press [Ctrl]+V to paste.
I saw that I upgraded to X7 over 30 months ago, so in desperation, I spent the $100 to upgrade to X8. Mistake. The problem persists in this new version, so it has got to be a problem with Word, correct?
…
This whole thing makes me very sad. :(
I am having similar issues with X8 and am annoyed that I upgraded. Using the library is almost unbearable. Navigating the side bar is slow and unresponsive, and moving/selecting any reference brings up the mac spinning disc. This is on top of issues that I am having with PDF annotation that I have separately reported to Technical Support.
No Solution to that until now…you guys are nothing more than incapable losers.
You who programmed that are our slaves who have to serve us, the researchers.
Never forget that you are totally worthless without us.
I work 12 hours a day as a doctor and adding to this I am doing research. If I encounter a problem I need to solve it now. If you have a problem, you dont get it solved for years.
Thats the difference between you=slaves and us=bosses
No Solution to that until now…you guys are nothing more than incapable losers. You who programmed that are our slaves who have to serve us, the researchers. Never forget that you are totally worthless without us. I work 12 hours a day as a doctor and adding to this I am doing research. If I encounter a problem I need to solve it now. If you have a problem, you dont get it solved for years. Thats the difference between you=slaves and us=bosses I am tired to write. So bring us a solution. now
No Solution to that until now…you guys are nothing more than incapable losers.
You who programmed that are our slaves who have to serve us, the researchers.
Never forget that you are totally worthless without us.
I work 12 hours a day as a doctor and adding to this I am doing research. If I encounter a problem I need to solve it now. If you have a problem, you dont get it solved for years.
Thats the difference between you=slaves and us=bosses
No Solution to that until now…you guys are nothing more than incapable losers.
You who programmed that are our slaves who have to serve us, the researchers.
Never forget that you are totally worthless subjects without us, the people who are using you.
I work 12 hours a day as a doctor and adding to this I am doing research. If I encounter a problem I need to solve it now. If you have a problem, you dont get it solved for years.
Thats the difference between you slaves and us masters
Maybe a bit late, but I guess people are still experiencing a crazy slow EndNote (at least, I did).
Here’s how I fixed the problem : in Word, turn off default hyperlinking (Configure bibliography - Untick Link in-text citations to references in the bibliography). Seems to work for me so far. Not at hyperspeed yet, but at least I’m no longer staring at a ‘Not responding’ box every time I dare make a change…
Maybe a bit late, but I guess people are still experiencing a crazy slow EndNote (at least, I did).
Here’s how I fixed the problem : in Word, turn off default hyperlinking (Configure bibliography - Untick Link in-text citations to references in the bibliography). Seems to work for me so far. Not at hyperspeed yet, but at least I’m no longer staring at a ‘Not responding’ box every time I dare make a change…
Endnote X8.1; MacOS 10.12.6 (Sierra); MS Word is not open
Endnote X8 kept crashing every 10 minutes on my computer. After the X8.1 update I don’t have this problem anymore, but Endnote became extremely sluggish. I takes 2 minutes for the reference details and the .pdf preview to appear after clicking on a reference itself. I have many groups and group sets, but no smart groups.
I’m super disappointed about how Endnote treats its paying costumers. I wonder why is this? Since the last year I exprience a new problem with the sowtware every monthly (crashing Endnote, corrupted library, references get doubled online) and there is never a quick solution.