Mendeley: The Basics

This guide is no longer be updated as of December 2021.

We recommend transferring your references to EndNote or Zotero, which we do support.

When you download Mendeley to you computer, you will be prompted to create a Mendeley account.  You can use this account to access your Mendeley library online from any computer with internet access.  Mendeley Web allows you to take advantage of the social networking features of Mendeley, such as joining groups, following people, and creating your own profile.

To log in to Mendeley Web, go to: www.mendeley.com, and click the Sign in button in the upper right-hand corner of the page. 

Navigating Mendeley Web

• Feed: View updates from the people or groups you follow, suggested articles, or post comments.
• Library: Your Mendeley library.
• Suggest: Personalized recommendations of articles you may want to read.
• Stats: Citation metrics for the articles you have authored, based on your Scopus Author Profile.
• Groups: Access your own groups, or search for groups to follow. 
• Data: Space to upload and share research data.
• Careers: Searchable database of science and technology jobs.

Edit Your Mendeley Profile

Click on either your name or initials in the upper right corner of Mendeley Web.

Publications in the My Publications folder will be displayed in your profile.  Other fields must be entered manually.

Change the privacy setting for your profile by selecting Privacy from the account drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner of Mendeley Web.

Mendeley has free apps for both iOS and Android devices.  At present, Mendeley recommends that you use these apps as a companion to Mendeley Desktop, for reading and annotating articles when you are away from your computer.  The app syncs with Mendeley on your desktop via your online account.

To get started, download the app from the appropriate store and log in with your Mendeley username and password.

For more information, see Mendeley iOS Guide and Mendeley Android Guide.

Syncing Mendeley Desktop with your Mendeley Web account will allow you to access your references from any computer, or the Mendeley app on your mobile device.

When you open Mendeley on your computer, it will automatically sync with your web account.  Otherwise, you must sync manually when working in Mendeley Desktop.  To do so, click the Sync button (Windows)  (Mac) in the toolbar.  You do not need to sync manually when working in Mendeley Web because the web version syncs automatically each time you make a change.

Online Storage

With the free version of Mendeley, you have 2 GB of online personal storage and 100 MB of online group storage.

To view available space and choose the folders for which you want to synchronize the attached documents, select Edit Settings at the top of the center panel in Mendeley Desktop.

View available storage space and edit synchronization settings in Mendeley Desktop