Search Command Tips
Canceling Searches
Pressing Esc cancels a search in progress.
Finding Tabs and Carriage Returns
For special search items, such as tab or paragraph break characters, try copying and pasting them from Notepad. Copying from Notepad assures special characters will be copied without extra formatting.
Searching for Numbers
When you search for a number, EndNote looks for that exact text string in your reference text. For example, a search on "Any Field" which "Contains" the search text "0025" will match the numbers 00025 and 0025, but it will not match 25.
There is an exception for record numbers. Record numbers, which are assigned by EndNote, cannot include leading zeros. When you search Any Field for a number, EndNote looks for an exact match in all text fields; however, leading zeros are stripped from your search text before comparing it to record numbers. Only an exact match of a record number will be returned. So, a search of the Record Number field for "0025" will match record number 25. It will not match record number 250.
Searching for Dates Records Were Added to the Library or Updated
Although EndNote displays the dates records were added to the library or last updated in local time, the dates recorded in the library will be set to the UTC time zone (Coordinated Universal Time, formerly Greenwich Mean Time), which means the dates remain consistent within the program when a person moves from one time zone to another, even though the dates displayed change. This can affect search results.
For example, if a record was added to the library at 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time on April 1, 2025, it would be internally recorded as being added at 5:00 a.m. UTC on April 2, 2025. This means a user located in California would see the April 1 date displayed in their library because they were located in the Pacific Time zone, but if they searched for records added to the library only on April 1, 2025, the record would not be found.
Similarly, if a record was added to the library at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time on April 1, 2025, it would be internally recorded as being added at 8:00 p.m. UTC on March 31, 2025. This means a user located in California would still see the April 1 date displayed in their library because they were located in the Pacific Time zone, but if they searched for records added to the library only on April 1, 2025, the record would again not be found.
However, if they built the search below, the record would be found because it would include all the UTC times for any record displaying the April 1, 2025 date locally in California, even if the UTC date for that record was not April 1, 2025.
| Added to Library | Is greater than or equal to | 4/1/2025 | |
| Or | Added to Library | Is less than or equal to | 4/2/2025 |
Author Fields
The field names in the Field list are EndNote’s "Generic" field names, which means that Author represents Reporter, Editor, Artist, or any other variations of the Author field used in the different reference types.
If you wish to search for author initials, make sure to include a space between the first and second initial. For example:
Smith, J P
If you do not include a space between initials, EndNote will assume that JP is a complete first name.
The Year Field
When searching in the Year field, a search for "1994" retrieves only references published in 1994, whereas a search for "94" retrieves references from the 1940s and 1994.
Finding Empty Fields
EndNote can search for empty fields. Select the desired field from the Field list, select "Is" as the comparison operator, and leave the search term blank. Click Search and EndNote finds references in which the chosen field is blank.
Finding File Attachments
You can easily search for a specific file attachment by name. Search for:
| File Attachments | Contains | [name of the file] |
To search for all references that include file attachments, enter these two search lines:
| Record Number | Is greater than or equal to | 1 | |
| Not | File Attachments | Is | [blank] |
The first line ensures that all references are searched and gives EndNote something to apply the NOT command against, and the second line looks for references in which the File Attachments field is not blank.
Note: Another easy way to see references with file attachments is to click on the paper clip header in the Library window to sort those references at the top of the list of references.
Setting and Restoring Defaults for the Advanced Search Panel
Use the Search Options drop-down and select Set Default to save the current configuration of the Search panel as your default. The default configuration will appear whenever you first display the Advanced Search panel.
The layout of the window (such as the number of search lines) is saved, as are all of the operators and field names. The search terms are not saved.
Use the Search Options drop-down and select Restore Default to clear out all of the search terms currently entered in the Search panel, and reset all of the settings back to the default configuration.