Exporting from Zotero to a Different Citation Manager

You may want to transfer your entire library (or some of its contents) from Zotero to some other tool, such as a different citation manager or systematic review software.

Select all articles that you'd like to export and right-click (on Windows) or double-tap (on Mac) over the top of them in the center column. From the menu that appears, select 'Export Items.'

The Zotero program, with a set of articles selected in the center column and 'Export Items' highlighted in the menu.

You can choose from one of many formats in the dropdown box that appears. If the name of the new program of your choice appears in the list (for example, EndNote XML), select that option. If you don't the name of your program, select RIS.

The Zotero program, with the 'Export' menu appearing. A drop-down box with 'RIS' is selected

Save that file to your computer, and then import it into your program of choice. Do note that RIS files to do allow you to export associated PDF files or transfer the folder structure of your Zotero library to a different tool. That's why you should check for your program's name from the drop-down box list first, because those file formats may allow you to do either or both of those things.