Mendeley Integration

Link your Mendeley account, import a library into a .bib file, cite from it, refresh it and unlink.

Import a Mendeley library into a project as a .bib file, then cite from it as usual. The file is a copy: it changes only when you click Refresh.

If you see no Mendeley option in Account settings, ask your administrator to turn on Mendeley Integration.

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Link your Mendeley account

You do this once.

1. Open your account settings

   Click Account, then Account settings. Under Reference managers, find Mendeley and click Link to Mendeley.

   

   Mendeley in the account settings

   The Mendeley card in the editor’s Integrations panel takes you to the same place, in the same tab.

   

   The Integrations panel

2. Authorize on Mendeley

   Mendeley opens. Sign in if you are asked to, then authorize the application.

3. Check the link

   You are back in the account settings. A green message says Reference manager linked, and the button now says Unlink.

   

   Your Mendeley account is linked

If you do not allow access on Mendeley, the same section says Sorry, something went wrong. Click Link to Mendeley to try again.

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Create a file from your library

1. Open the Add files dialog

   Open a project. In the file tree, click New file, then From Mendeley. This entry is only there once your account is linked.

2. Choose the file name and the library

   File Name starts as mendeley.bib. Keep the .bib ending: without it you get no preview, and neither \cite nor \bibliography finds its entries.

   Library starts as My Library, and also lists your groups. One file holds one library.

   

   A file from your personal library

3. Click Create

   The dialog closes and the file is in the file tree. Click it: it shows when it was imported, and its entries. You cannot edit it in the editor.

   

   The imported file

   If Create seems to do nothing, a file with that name already exists. Choose another name.

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Import a group

Do the same again, with a file name of its own, and choose the group under Library. A project can have several of these files.

A file from a group

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Cite from the file

1. Start a citation

   In a .tex file, type \cite{. The list shows the entries of all the .bib files in the project. Click one to insert it.

   

   The entries of the imported files

2. Or search by title or author

   Click Search under the list, or press Ctrl+Space inside the braces. Type to filter, click one or more entries, then click Insert.

   

   The reference search

3. Add the bibliography

   Add these lines before \end{document}, using the name of your file without .bib. For several files, separate the names with commas.

   \bibliographystyle{plain}
   \bibliography{mendeley}
   

   Click Recompile. The reference appears in the PDF.

   

   The compiled reference

Imported files are not offered in Settings under References, Main bibliography file for this project, so the list stays empty if the project has no other .bib file. You can still cite from them.

The empty list is expected

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Refresh the file

Changes in your Mendeley library do not reach the project on their own.

1. Open the file

   In the file tree, click the imported file.

2. Click Refresh

   The whole file is imported again from the library you chose when you created it: new entries appear and removed ones disappear. The time at the top changes.

   

   The refreshed file

3. Recompile

   Click Recompile to update the PDF.

Each file refreshes on its own: refresh your group’s file separately. For who can refresh a file in a shared project, see the notes for administrators.

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Unlink your Mendeley account

In Account settings, under Mendeley, click Unlink, then Unlink again in the dialog. The button says Link to Mendeley again.

Unlink your account

The files you imported stay in your projects and still compile. From Mendeley is gone from the Add files dialog, and Refresh shows an error until you link your account again.

Refreshing without a linked account

After you link again, Refresh works on the same files.

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If something goes wrong

Could not load references from Mendeley, please re-link your account and try again, or There was an error accessing your Mendeley data in the Add files dialog: Overleaf can no longer read your library, for example because you removed its access on Mendeley. In Account settings, click Unlink, then Link to Mendeley. Create also fails until then, with the message The project that contains this file is not shared with you, even in your own project.

Overleaf can no longer read your library

The remote service produced an error when you click Refresh: the request to Mendeley failed. The file keeps its content. Click Refresh again later.