Opening EndNote 2025 Libraries in an Earlier Version of EndNote

EndNote X9.3 introduced a new database engine. Libraries created in EndNote X9.3 or later are not backwardly compatible with older versions of EndNote. If you work in an environment with multiple versions of EndNote, you can convert your libraries to the new database engine using the instructions below.

Forward Compatibility to EndNote X9.3 and Later

To use libraries created with EndNote X9.2 and earlier, convert the library by opening it in EndNote X9.3 or later. To do this, in EndNote X9.3 or later select File > Open Library, and then select the old EndNote library file you wish to convert. EndNote X9.3 or later will create a new library and leave the original library unchanged.

Backward Compatibility with Earlier EndNote Versions

If you are not already syncing an EndNote library, using EndNote Sync would be the easiest way to access the library on a machine with an older version of EndNote. (If you are already syncing a library, syncing another library would merge the libraries. See Merging Libraries through Sync.)

If you choose to sync the library, create a new empty library in the older version of EndNote, then enable EndNote Sync with that library open as the active library. See The Sync Feature for information on syncing a library for the first time. You would be able to use the library on both computers and have your changes sync back and forth between the versions.

Note: When syncing libraries, record numbers will be different on the different computers. See Record Numbers for more information.

Exporting the Data for Import to an Older Version of EndNote

EndNote X9.3 and later libraries are not backward compatible with previous versions. To use EndNote X9.3 and later libraries with an older version of EndNote without using Sync:

  1. Export the EndNote X9.3 or later library to a XML file (.xml) by changing the File Type during export. See Exporting to EndNote XML for details.
  2. In the older version of EndNote, select Import > File from the File menu
  3. In the Import dialog, click Choose. Locate and select the filename.xml to be imported.
  4. Select EndNote Generated XML as the Import Option.
  5. Set the Duplicates option to match your preferences.
  • Import All: Imports all references, including duplicates.
  • Discard Duplicates: Imports all references except duplicates.
  • Import into Duplicates Library: Duplicate references are imported into a library called File-Dupl.enl, where ”File" is the name of the library into which you are importing.

By default, a reference is considered a duplicate when the Author, Year, Title, and Reference Type match a reference already in the library. See Duplicates Preferences if you would like to change the duplicates criteria.

  1. Set the Text Translation to No Translation and then click on Import.
Compatibility Issues

The older version of EndNote will not import any groups from the EndNote X9.3 or later version of the library.

In order to have access to the file attachments the PDF subfolder of the EndNote X9.3 or later version of the library would need to be added to the new library created from the imported references.