Linking a File to an EndNote Reference

To link a file to the File Attachments field in a reference:

  1. Select a reference in the Reference List.
  2. From the References menu, select File Attachments > Attach File.
  3. On the file dialog, select a file to link to the selected reference.
  1. Click the Options button.

Note the checkbox along the bottom titled, "Copy this file to the default file attachments folder and create a relative link." This gives you the option to:

  • Select the checkbox to copy the original file and place the copy in the .Data/PDF folder that is part of your EndNote library. Files in the .Data folder will sync and can be shared.
  • Deselect the checkbox to always have EndNote look in the original folder for the inserted file. Files that are in their original locations, not in the .Data folder, will not be synced and cannot be shared. If the original file is moved, the link will break and you will not be able to open it from EndNote.

For more information about this option, see Selecting a Relative Path or an Absolute Path for File Attachments.

  1. Click Open.

EndNote will display an icon indicating the type of file inserted. You can insert up to 45 files into the File Attachments field.

Note: Another way to link a file to the File Attachments field is to drag and drop the file onto the reference in the Reference List. Whether the file is saved with the database or is linked with an absolute path is determined by the default file attachment setting. See URLs and Links Preferences.

Note: Never rename attached files within the DATA folder. EndNote assigns each file a unique name that helps link it to a specific reference.

Note: In order to maintain cross-platform compatibility, any of the following characters in a filename will be replaced by an underscore when EndNote saves a copy of the file in the DATA/PDF folder with a relative path.

These characters are
replaced with an underscore
\  back slash
/  forward slash
:  colon
*  asterisk
?  question mark
"  quotation mark
<  less than
>  greater than
|  vertical bar