Endnote only saving/exporting a portion of my references whatever I do

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1

Good morning,

I’ve been trying for a couple of days to move my library to a new computer. My library has 4 groups with a total of around 200 references, but whatever I do, I only end up with 2 groups on the new computer, one with 94 references and the other one empty. What I’ve tried so far:

  • Using Endnote sync (it won’t sync the missing references, they are not visible online)
  • Copying the library and .data file (only 94 references show up on the new PC)
  • Saving a copy of the library (same story)
  • Exporting a compressed version of each group separately (saving a compressed library and then selecting “references from X group” in the menu) - same story again; even when I explicitly select group 2 to compress, when I open the file on the new computer, it will contain group 1 with the same old 94 references.

At this point, I’m at the end of my wits and am hoping someone can help me figure out what’s going on and how I can resolve this problem without having to copy 100+ references manually. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

The only thing I can still think of is trying to export the library to citavi or mendeley on the old computer and then re-importing it from there…?

Info: On the old computer, I have Endnote X9 installed, whereas the new one has Endnote 21 (due to licensing of two different institutions I’ve worked at). Both computers run Windows 11.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Edit: I’ve installed Endnote X9 on the new computer and tried opening the compressed files with this version, but it still had the same issue. So it seems the error occurs during compression/copying the files and not a compatibility issue. I really don’t understand why I cannot save/move/compress the other references…

2

Have you reached out to the Endnote help team from www.endnote.com?

If you are moving the libraryname.enl file and the entire libraryname.DATA folder, it shouldn’t behave the way you are describing. Endnote9.3 or an earlier version of Endnote9? Are you absolutely sure you are moving the most recent library’s .DATA folder? the enl “pointer file” should be in the same folder as the .DATA folder, not IN the .DATA folder.

3

Thank you leanne,
I’ve reached out to the support now. Let’s see what they’ll say!

Yeah, I’m 100% sure I’m copying the right folder. I’m using Endnote X9.3.

4

Have you tried exporting using File → Compress Library (.enlx) … ? From its options you would choose All References and Include Attachments options. That should create a single file that contains the entire library and attachments.

5

Depending on how the attachments are referenced relative to the root folder, copying the .enl file and .data folder may not allow the copied library to find them.