Saving Search Strategies
The Save Search and Load Search commands on the Search Options drop-down menu allow you to save the settings currently on the Search panel and recall them for later use. Most of the options on the Search panel are saved, including the search terms; however, the target of the search (the EndNote library or online database) is not saved.
To save a search:
- Configure the Search panel.
- From the Search Options drop-down select Save Search.
- A dialog appears, prompting you to name the search strategy. Enter the name and click Save. The search files are saved by default in the C:\Users\[YourProfileName]\AppData\Roaming\EndNote\Searches folder. You may save them elsewhere if you prefer, but EndNote will open to this Searches folder when you choose to Load a saved search. (Note that the AppData folder is a hidden folder in Windows by default.) EndNote adds .enq as the file name extension for saved searches.
To load a saved search:
- On the Search panel, from the Search Options drop-down select Load Search.
- In the dialog that appears, select the search strategy that you would like to use, and click Open.
- The contents and settings of the Search window change to reflect the saved search. Click Search to initiate the search.
Saved searches are especially useful if you use EndNote's connection files to search online databases. When saving search strategies for online databases, it is helpful to include an abbreviation of the online database name the search is intended for in the file name. See How to Search an Online Database for information on using connection files.
You can save the search results (the set of matching references) as a group. You can use saved search strategies to set up Smart Groups. Smart groups are updated as you add references to your library. Or, you can save specific results to Custom Groups. Custom groups are not updated as you add references to your library.