EndNote 8.1 seriously slow on MacOS 10.13

Not for me to find a definitive solution as I’m just a user like you. But when it gets unusable I just restart EndNote and it works better again for a short period. Rinse and repeat.

To EndNote tech support: it’s seems to be quiet here and no real official feedback. You might want to take control of this as to my mind, this is kinda embarrassing. And the longer this persists (like I said, it’s been an issue for a long time now), the more users will defect. I’d do it myself if it were practical. C’mon!

Using Endnote 8 on my 5 year old mac and it has been INTOLERABLY slow. Wasn’t sure if it was Endnote or my computer. Restarting endnote helped, but not enough.

The helpdesk at my university’s library recommended I contact this number:

1-800-722-1227

I just spoke with the most helpful person named Steve. Basically, the problem was that my endnote library was being saved in a folder that was being backed up on Google Drive. I can’t give as thorough of an explanation as he did because I don’t fully understand why this is problematic, but he said that most people having issues with Endnote being slow can fix it by just saving their library somewhere else that is not being backed up by a 3rd party server.

This includes anything like Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, etc…

I did it and problem SOLVED! Who knew the fix could be so simple.

Hope it helps some of you guys having a similar problem. If not, I’d recommend calling the number above!

Thanks. Will try that. But that is pretty dumb; given how important a library like this one is, why shouldn’t it be backed up in the cloud? Did they give any indication that this bug (and it is a bug) will be addressed? 

Doesn’t seem to be a bug. He said something about how because a library contains so many small files, any time a change is made, all of them have to be re-sync’ed. He also said that saving it to a cloud can lead to corruption/other weird things happening at random times. I am planning to save a copy of my library to Google Drive after making signficant changes.

One other thing he mentioned, but I forgot to have him explain how to set it up, was backing up the library through EndNote Online. I quickly googled and found something (website from RMIT University). Explains (with video) how to set up the online backup. Looks like you can back up unlimited references and 5,000 groups. This website also says not to back up your library to a cloud.

Another thing: If you use a PDF Auto Import Folder, it IS okay for that to be on a cloud, so at least PDFs are safe.

Computers aren’t my thing and I only use Endnote occasionally/have superficial knowledge about it, but the person I spoke to was very helpful. I’d call them if you’re still having trouble. Good luck!

I already back up to endnote web anyway, and I recall from many years ago that a particular cloud service (not Dropbox or any of the ones people today actually use) had issues with my EN library, so in some ways this doesn’t surprise me. But folks work with Outlook databases, etc. that are also constantly updated, and those items are also often backed up to Dropbox etc, so why is EndNote so odd in that way? Also, I never had issues before EN8. So something must have changed in the architecture of EN with the current main release (X8).

Thanks… will also try taking the endnote package out of a Google Drive sync’d folder to see if speeds increase… I wish I had known about this awhile ago as EndNote has been terrifyingly slow for the last year with X8… 

Will try and report back.

Didn’t quite work for me. Still getting spinning beachballs on basically every click. It’s quite infuriating and frankly unusable. 

indeed my EndNote stopped working correctly once I upgraded to macOS High Sierra 10.13.4

there’s an automate message sendind to a page to explain that 32Bit apps are no longer compatible

Endnote slow reactivity to comply with changes announced years in advance is endemic

felix

To be honest, that is not quite correct. 32-bit apps in general still are compatible with macOS but the warning is just to alert folks that at some point in the next major OS release, they will no longer be compatible. Endnote will indeed need to be updated but that is not the issue at present. 

Just attached a 3MB PDF to a record in my Endnote X8 library and it took literally 10 minutes to complete the operation. This obviously isn’t workable …

I’m running Endnote X8.2 on my mac os x 10.13.4. I have not enabled web syncing, my library is stored locally and is not synced anywhere.

Any further suggestions for dealing with this slowdown?

I just attached a single PDF to a record in my endnote X8.2 library and the operation literally took 10 minutes to complete …

Running endnote X8.2 on mac os x 10.13.4.

Any further suggestions for dealing with this problems, as this is clearly unworkable …

I moved my Endnote libraries out of any folder backed up to Dropbox. But the spinning beachballs persist unless and until I restart Endnote. Cloud sync is NOT the issue.

The lack of tech support input here is pretty discouraging. 

I need a solution that works, and would appreciate the input of Endnote support here as I’d not gotten any solutions by contacting support directly. They just blame Apple. 

Solution that worked for me: Using OS10.13.3, X8.2 BLD 13302:  Moved the styles, filter and connections folders to a subfolder in my applications folder.  My filter and connection folders were in a folder that was backed up by dropbox, which would be consistent with some of the comments above.  Styles folder was not but moved it to the same subfolder as the other two to keep it tidy.  My endnote library is saved directly in my applications folder.  Hope this holds up for me!  And helps some of you!

PS my applications folder is not backed up to anything but time machine.

Thanks but those folders are all with the app in my Applications folder and are not backed up to any cloud service. Right now nothing related to Endnote is backed up/synced to Dropbox yet the app slows down over time and becomes unusable (you know-the status quo these days with Endnote) until and unless I quit ENX8 and restart it. No other app, and I have apps that also are database-driven like Endnote, behaves this way.

how to install mac os ? please information …

I have been using 8.2 and OS 10.13.4 and the performance is just getting slower with every entry. Yes the coloured ball appears all the time and scrolling through the entries takes for ever!!!

I have used old version not on a Mac with no issues.

Thanks. Moving all of the Styles to the EndNote subfolder in the Application folder also worked for me!

Does anyone have any other suggestions? 

I am running X8.2 with 10.13.4.

I have moved all folders off Dropbox and put them on the local drive. 

STILL PAINFULLY SLOW!

Yup. Me too. And having moved my libraries I now can’t sync with endnote Web. There is no way on a Mac to change the sync folder location in preferences. That field isn’t editable. Dumb. Really really dumb. I despise this crappy software.

I feel the same. I am test driving some other solutions.