Home Tools EndNote Library ViewerEndNote to BibTeX

EndNote to BibTeX

Turn an EndNote library into a BibTeX .bib file for LaTeX and Overleaf, or RIS and EndNote XML for Zotero and Mendeley, right in this browser and without EndNote installed.

EndNoteOpenFreeNo signupOn your device

Opening the tool…

What this tool does

Convert an EndNote .enl or .enlx library to BibTeX, RIS, EndNote XML or CSV in your browser, without EndNote. Groups kept as tags. Nothing is uploaded.

How to use it

Choose the .enlx or .enl file, or a ZIP of the .enl with its .Data folder. It stays on your device.
Check the references in the list. Pick a group or search if you only want part of the library.
Press BibTeX for a .bib file, or Download RIS, EndNote XML or CSV for other programs.

Common uses

Moving from EndNote to LaTeX usually means opening EndNote, choosing an export style, exporting a text file and fixing it by hand, and none of that works without an EndNote licence. Many people only discover they need the .bib file after their student licence has ended, or when a co-author who uses Overleaf asks for the references behind a shared thesis or review. This page skips EndNote entirely and writes the files straight from the library.

The BibTeX file uses the right entry type for each reference, such as article, book, incollection, inproceedings, phdthesis and techreport, and fills author, title, journal, year, volume, number, pages, publisher, DOI, URL, ISBN, abstract and keywords. Keys are built from the first author, the year and the first word of the title, like Shannon1948Mathematical, and are kept unique, so citing is easy. Special characters are escaped for LaTeX, page ranges use the double dash, and titles are wrapped so their capitals stay as written.

For Zotero and Mendeley, RIS and EndNote XML carry the same references with notes, research notes and file names. EndNote groups are written into every reference as a keyword like Group: Chapter 2 Methods, so after import you can rebuild the folders from tags in a minute. The CSV has one row per reference with authors, year, title, journal, DOI, keywords, groups and abstract, which is handy for PRISMA screening sheets or for counting sources by year in Excel.

A search or a group choice limits the export to what is on screen, so you can make a .bib for one thesis chapter or send a co-author only the studies included in a review. A library of six thousand references converts in well under a second on a laptop.

Private, and the limits

Conversion happens on your computer. The library is read in this tab and each export is handed to your browser as a download, with nothing sent to TaskNinja and no record of file names or contents.

Exports follow the fields EndNote stored. Custom fields and author addresses go into the XML and CSV, and some programs put fields they do not know into a note. Formatting such as italics inside titles becomes plain text.

Official sources

Last checked 2026-10-26.

FAQ

How do I convert an EndNote library to BibTeX without EndNote?

Open the .enlx or .enl file here and press BibTeX. The .bib file is made in your browser and works in LaTeX, Overleaf and JabRef.

Will the BibTeX keys be unique?

Yes. Each key is the first author, year and first title word, and a letter is added when two references would share a key.

Which format is best for importing into Zotero?

EndNote XML keeps the most fields and is what Zotero recommends. RIS also works well and is read by almost every reference manager.

Can I export only one group?

Yes. Pick the group in the list first. The download buttons then save only the references in that group, and the file name ends in selection.

Is the library uploaded to convert it?

No. Nothing is sent anywhere. The converter runs inside this tab and the files are saved straight to your downloads.

EndNote library viewer GraphPad Prism viewer JMP file viewer All tools