Zotero Integration

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

Import a Zotero 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 Zotero option in Account settings, ask your administrator to turn on Zotero Integration.

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Link your Zotero account

You do this once.

1. Open your account settings

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

   

   Zotero in the account settings

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

   

   The Integrations panel

2. Authorize on Zotero

   Zotero opens. Sign in if you are asked to, then authorize the application. It only asks to read your library and your groups, so it cannot change anything in Zotero.

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 Zotero account is linked

If you do not allow access on Zotero, the same section says Sorry, something went wrong. Click Link to Zotero 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 Zotero. This entry is only there once your account is linked.

2. Choose the file name and the library

   File Name starts as zotero.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 group libraries. 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 library

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 library

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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 names of your files without .bib, separated by commas:

   \bibliographystyle{plain}
   \bibliography{reading-group,zotero}
   

   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 Zotero library do not reach the project on their own, and compiling does not fetch them.

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

   New entries are in the \cite{ list right away. 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 Zotero account

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

Unlink your account

The files you imported stay in your projects and still compile. From Zotero 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 Zotero, please re-link your account and try again, or There was an error accessing your Zotero data in the Add files dialog: Overleaf can no longer read your library, for example because you removed its access on Zotero. In Account settings, click Unlink, then Link to Zotero. 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 Zotero failed. The file keeps its content. Click Refresh again later.