EndNote X8 Keeps Crashing on Mac

Just another user having what appears to be the exact same problem!

This all started for me when I updgraded my Macbook Pro to the Sierra OS. Prior to this Endnote had no issues at all despite my library containing close to 2000 references, many of them quite large PDF documents. 

Some notes:

Crashes appear to occur at random. They may happen an hour into me opening Endnote, or in the first few minutes. Oftentimes, endnote will simply be open in the background and when I go to insert a reference I will find that it has hung (pinwheel of death)

The only way to get Endnote working again is to force close and reopen. 

Crashes happen for me typically anywhere between 5 and 15 times per day. This is INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING. Seriously thinking of moving to a new referencing platform. 

Please help!!!

Same problem here even after X8.0.1 update!

This is ridiculous! I was already annoyed with Endnote after the iPad app kept making duplicates aof all my references. Now I have to buy X8 because I updated to macOS Sierra but all I get in return is a buggy useless program.

I dont want to change to Mendley, but if the attitude of Endnote does not change I will seriously have to consider.

I am having the same problem soon after an update, my endnote now is basically useless, everytime I use it it crashes both Endnotes and Word

any suggestion?

Likewise, I’ve been having this problem for months - multiple crashes during different actions. Running Endnote X7.7.1 on Mac Air 10.12.5. I had this problem on my previous OS also. 

Has anyone had any experience using Mendeley or other programs with Mac successfully? I like(d) Endnote but it’s impossible to work with. Thanks. 

LIkewise, it’s been going on for months, even on my previous OS version (currently on 10.12.5). 

Has anyone had good experiences using other programs like Mendeley? I can’t work like this anymore and it doesn’t seem like Endnote is making any progress fixing this. 

I have the same problem with Endnote X8 on Mac during the last months and have been in contact with technical support at Clarivate Analytics since the beginning of May. We have tried a lot of different solutions but all of them end ut with Endnote chrashes now and then. The first explanation for the support was that my library is corrupt, but since I’m not alone with the problem I think that it is something else.

/Lars

Okay this is it! Before it only crashed once a day now it crashes almost instantly after opening!

The ignorance and neglect by Endnote regarding this major issue is just mind-boggling. Its not only a nuisance but the program become useless.

I’ve lost my patience and I will move to an other reference manager. I won’t recommend Endnote to anyone anymore!

I have also been having this problem (hangs almost immediately on open, before would hang during the sync process randomly, but almost daily) fairly consistently on X7, then X8, then X8.0.1 and before and after the most recent Sierra update on 2 machines. I had started using the same library on my Parallels without any obvious issues, which remains my backup plan.

It’s now been working for the past 24hr, though I’m afraid I could get a pinwheel at any moment. This requires you to already be synched to the web and will overwrite your “date modified” field, which was one way I had kept things organized, but whatever, I couldn’t do work at all as it was. It sounds like some people have tried variants of this, so YMMV.

Here’s what I did:

Force quit Endnote if it’s hung

Restart computer

move enl file and data folder to the trash (i actually zipped a copy first, but not necessary) point is to “hide” the file so endnote won’t try to open it

Open Endnote

Go to preferences:

   Turn off automatic sync

   Switch option to “do nothing” on open (rather than open the library)

Create a new library

Sync it 

Wait for everything to get downloaded (I did this on 2 computers and, on each, something seemed to hang along the way, but a force quit got things back on track)

Get back to work with fingers crossed! I might turn the auto sync back on, because I don’t know if that was actually a problem. that was when it would pinwheel, though

TL;DR: try this if already synched: turn off autosync, delete local library, rebuild from endnoteweb

I have also been having this problem (hangs almost immediately on open, before would hang during the sync process randomly, but almost daily) fairly consistently on X7, then X8, then X8.0.1 and before and after the most recent Sierra update on 2 machines. I had started using the same library on my Parallels without any obvious issues, which remains my backup plan.

It’s now been working on the Mac side for the past 24hr, though I’m afraid I could get a pinwheel at any moment. This requires you to already be synched to the web and will overwrite your “date modified” field, which was one way I had kept things organized, but whatever, I couldn’t do work at all as it was. It sounds like some people have tried variants of this, so YMMV.

Here’s what I did:

Force quit Endnote if it’s hung

Restart computer

move enl file and data folder to the trash (i actually zipped a copy first, but not necessary) point is to “hide” the file so endnote won’t try to open it

Open Endnote

Go to preferences:

   Turn off automatic sync

   Switch option to “do nothing” on open (rather than open the library)

Create a new library

Sync it 

Wait for everything to get downloaded (I did this on 2 computers and, on each, something seemed to hang along the way, but a force quit got things back on track)

Get back to work with fingers crossed! I might turn the auto sync back on, because I don’t know if that was actually a problem. that was when it would pinwheel, though

TL;DR: try this if already synched: turn off autosync, delete local library, rebuild from endnoteweb

…just deleted a post with a method I thought worked (delete local library and rebuild from endnoteweb) because I got the pinwheel again. I may have found 1 particular PDF that was causing the pinwheel. After removing it, things seem to be working again, but I don’t know how anyone could replicate the dumb luck that caused me to find this PDF.

Backup plan is use the same library in Windows using Parallels. 

Hi All,

Thank you for all the notes that make me feel less alone!  I am also experiencing EndNote X8 crashing several times a day, often without saving important changes I have made.  I just upgraded last week and this is really not okay!  I don’t use the web features of EndNote, just my computer (so nothing on the cloud or anything).  

I have been reading that some people are considering switching programs, and though I have been using EN devotedly, I"m also considering this now, though it would really rather not!  

I’m wondering if anyone has successfully fixed this problem and/or switched successfully to another program.

Thanks and happy writing everyone :slight_smile:

Deborah

Hi, also just going to leave it here that I’m experiencing the same thing, several times a day. 

In fact, I JUST force quit Endnote on my MBP, after finding this thread while Endnote froze for the nth time today… 

Will check back in to see if there are any solutions…

I recommend two things for those on this thread experiencing either a beachball, crash, etc., to:

  1. Update to Mac X8.0.1, EndNote X8 menu option -> Check for Updates 

  2. Contact EndNote Support, http://endnote.com/support to get an individualized diagnosis if the behavior continues

There may be different reasons that each of you is experiencing issues and the best course of action, after updating to the most recent version of EndNote X8 for Mac, would be to get an individualized diagnosis. I apologize for your troubles. 

Thanks all,

Meredith M. 

Meredith, 

You all have to be working on a fix for this. I’m seriously contemplating leaving endnote. What are you all doing about this? What have you found???

Thank you,

K

I am also desperate to see if theer is any alternative. I have been long time user but cannot cope any longer with a system whcih doesn’t work.

Any alternative that works woudl be good at this stage.

I am also desperate to see if there is any alternative. I have been long time user but cannot cope any longer with a system which doesn’t work. Any alternative that works would be good at this stage.

Although I am not on a MAC - on my PC windows 7 pro x64 with endnotex8.0.1, everytime I attempt to do a find reference updates on more than a couple of records the program crashes.  I have reported this multiple times to support.  I update approximately 1000 publications daily, so this has not been a tenable situation.

Updating to EN version X.8.0.1 does not help. 

There are many of us experiencing what appears to be the same problem. 

Can’t a patch be issued?

So despite the X8.0.1 update the problem persists. I am in contact with the Customer Care Support for two weeks now - they instructed me to try different things like switching Cloud Off, moving my EndNote library, recovering the library, moving the pdf folder of the library… ALL OF WHICH DID NOT WORK. So dear EndNote, are you guys working on a pug fix for this or is this going to be the status quo??

Can’t afford the time and energy loss from these 3482938 crashes a day. If anyone successfully switched programmes and has some good experiences to share with another software, I would appreciate it :)! Thanks!

There are several threads on this. This problem is a complete disaster. It is been continuous for the last several months. I am in touch with tech support and despite software updates, it persists. I originally spent several hours on the phone w/ them and tried everything and was told to wait for an EndNote software update. That came and it didn’t help.

I was just told the crashing happens with applications that rely on Apple’s PDFkit and they are waiting for an update from Apple. Perhaps, but no other application I use has this problem. I am dumbfounded such a critical error could go on for so long. This is supposed to be a mature software package… it has been around for years. It is doing something very simple… like what iTunes did over a decade ago for music files. It has always been a little unstable - a source of frustration - however, this problem is deadly.

  

I have since gotten a brand new computer and intalled a fresh copy of EndNote. Same problem.

If I did not invest hundreds (thousands?) of hours building up my EndNote libraries, I would quickly switch to a different product. I held out for years putting my PDFs in EndNote b/c I have always been hesitant about trusting the clunky old-fashioned feeling application to manage all my scientific papers. Now my fears have turned into a nightmare.