EndNote process for recovering library files

https://support.clarivate.com/Endnote/s/article/EndNote-The-proper-process-for-recovering-library-files?language=en_US

Sync Specific Note: If you are working with the Sync feature in EndNote X7 and later, this does not interact with the sync process. If the online library is still intact, you can open a new local blank library and synchronize by clicking Tools > Sync. Please contact Technical Support for further assistance.

For non synced libraries, the following steps can be used:
Standard Recovery:

With the library closed, in EndNote go to "Tools > Recover Library". Click OK to the notice that comes up, then select the library file you would like to recover (you may need to browse to the folder on your computer in which the library is located). After selecting your library, you will be prompted to save the new library that will be created. By default, EndNote will add "-Saved" to the end of the original name. After this, the recovery process will begin.

 

Once completed, EndNote will inform you of the number of references that were recovered into the Saved library. You can now use this Saved version of the library in place of the original, damaged library.

 

Advanced Recovery Options:

If the standard recovery does not work, you can try these steps on the Windows side:

1. Right click on the .Data folder and select Properties.
2. Uncheck the "Read-Only" box.
3. Click Advanced.
4. Make sure both Archive and Index options are checked ("Folder is ready for archiving" and "Allow files in this folder to have contents indexed in addition to file properties.")
5. Make sure both "Compress or Encrypt attributes" are unchecked ("Compress contents to save disk space" and "Encrypt contents to secure data.")
6. Click OK to close the Advanced Properties.
7. Click OK again to close the Properties.
8. When prompted to confirm, make sure the option to "Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files" is checked and click OK.

Once this is done, try the standard recovery process above.
 

Instructions for rebuilding the library with just the .Data folder. Creating a new .enl file:
 

There are occasions where the normal library recovery won't work or won't be enough. Specifically, if you are noticing that your EndNote library searches, Cite While You Write is not finding the right reference or sorting is not working properly. In these cases, it may be necessary to recover the library with just the .Data folder portion while creating a new .enl file.

Additional information about the .Data folder can be found in this article.

Windows:

1. First, create a new folder on your desktop (Right click in empty space on the desktop and choose New/Folder).
2. Locate the library in your machine through Windows Explorer.
3. Copy the .Data folder for your library into a new folder on your desktop by itself.
4. In the folder you moved the .Data folder into, create a new text file (Right click in empty space of the desktop and choose New/Text Document).
5. Rename the text file, with the extension, to the name of the original .enl file.

If you do not see the .txt at the end of the file name, you will need to change your Windows preferences to show the extensions.

1. In the folder, go to the Tools menu on top. If you don't see the tools menu, tap the Alt key on your keyboard once.
2. Go to Folder Options.
3. Go to the View tab.
4. Uncheck the box labeled,"Hide extensions for known file types."
5. Press Ok.
6. Rename the text file, with the extension, to the name of the original .enl file.

Run the recover library on the newly created .enl file.

Example:

If your library files are:
MyEndNoteLibrary.enl
MyEndNoteLibrary.Data

Move MyEndNoteLibrary.Data to a new folder
Create a new text file in the same folder you moved the MyEndNoteLibrary.Data folder to. This file will be called:
New Text Document.txt

Rename from
New Text Document.txt
to
MyEndNoteLibrary.enl

Recover the MyEndNoteLibrary.enl using the normal steps at the top of this page.

Mac OS X:

1. You will need to first back up your library to another location then you can repair this as follows:
2. Create a new folder on your desktop.
3. Locate your library on your computer using Finder. This is usually in the Documents folder, but could have been created or moved anywhere.
4. Copy the .Data folder for your library into a new folder by itself.
5. In the folder you moved the .Data folder into, create a new text file. Use the Applications / Text Edit program to create a new, blank text file then just save it into the folder you created on the desktop using File / Save As.
6. Single click on the text file you created to select it.
7. Press command and i on your keyboard at the same time.
8. In the Name & Extension field, rename the text file and extension to the name of the original .enl file.
9. Press OK.
10. Run the recover library on the newly created .enl file.

Example:

If your library files are:
MyEndNoteLibrary.enl
MyEndNoteLibrary.Data

MyEndNoteLibrary.Data to a new folder
Create a new text file in the same folder you moved the MyEndNoteLibrary.Data folder to.

Rename the file to
MyEndNoteLibrary.enl
Making sure to change the extension from .txt to .enl. This should make the file take on the EndNote icon as well.

Recover the MyEndNoteLibrary.enl.

Note: If you've saved your EndNote library as a package file (.enlp extension), you'll need to extract the package library's internal .enl file and Data folder before recovering:

1. Quit EndNote.
2. Use Finder to navigate to the folder where your .enlp library file exists.
3. Hold down the "control" key on your keyboard while clicking the package library file.  Choose "Show Package Contents" from the resulting menu.
4. Now that you're looking at the contents of your package library, drag and drop the .enl file and .Data folder from this Finder window and place the two library components elsewhere, such as your Desktop.
5. Proceed with the library recovery process as listed above by selecting the .enl file that you dragged out of the package library.