RResearchAlts

How to switch from Mendeley to Zotero

Checked against the official docs on

Zotero can import your whole online Mendeley library, folders included, using File → Import → “Mendeley Reference Manager (online import)”.

  1. Sync everything to Mendeley

    Make sure all your data and files are on Mendeley's servers. With Mendeley Reference Manager they already are; with Mendeley Desktop, check the sync settings and that you can open your PDFs in the online library.

  2. Update Zotero

    Make sure you're on the latest Zotero (Help → Check for Updates…).

  3. Start the online import

    In Zotero, go to File → Import and choose “Mendeley Reference Manager (online import)”.

  4. Log in to Mendeley

    Sign in when asked so Zotero can run the import. Zotero says it never sees or stores your Mendeley password.

Watch out for

  • Group libraries can't be imported directly: copy the group items into a collection in your own Mendeley library first.
  • Citations made with Mendeley Cite can't be read by Zotero; citations from Mendeley Desktop's Word or LibreOffice plugin can be relinked by Zotero's plugins.
  • If you log in to Mendeley with institutional (Shibboleth) credentials, you may need a separate Mendeley account connected to it.

Sources: zotero.org/support/kb/mendeley_import. Menus and options can change between versions; if a step doesn't match what you see, follow the linked page.