Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
The EndNote extension for Chrome is EndNote Click. It is the browser plugin EndNote documents for Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Opera: it finds access to the full text of an article you are viewing and can hand the reference and PDF to EndNote Desktop. This page covers the install, the sign-in, the hand-off to your EndNote library, and the problems readers most often hit. Facts below come from EndNote’s own install page and the EndNote 2025 user guide, both checked on 2026-10-29.
What the EndNote Chrome extension is used for in research
People search for a “chrome endnote plugin”, “endnote plugin for chrome” or “endnote chrome extension” and usually mean one tool: EndNote Click. EndNote’s user guide states that “the EndNote Click plugin is available for Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera”, and that you must create an account to use it. Its two research jobs are finding access to the full text of an article you are looking at, and sending the reference with its PDF into EndNote Desktop.
It is a separate piece of software from the EndNote Word tools. If the plugin you want adds a toolbar to Microsoft Word for citing while you write, that is a different install: see our guide to installing EndNote Cite While You Write for Word. For what EndNote Click retrieves, how it was formerly branded and who configures institutional access, see EndNote Click explained. This page is the install, use and fix companion to that background.
Install or access the extension (official source only)
Chrome: install manually from EndNote Click
EndNote’s page click.endnote.com/install-manually gives the Chrome route. This is the exact sequence it describes:
- Download the extension using the link on that page.
- Open
chrome://extensionsin Chrome. - Turn on developer mode, which the page places in the top right of Chrome’s extensions page.
- Drag the downloaded extension into the extensions page. EndNote’s wording is “from the bottom toolbar” of the browser download.
Other install routes mentioned in a university guide
The University of Birmingham’s library guide to EndNote Click says the extension is available from the browser’s extension store (Chrome and Microsoft Edge), and that EndNote Desktop users who do not get it installed automatically can choose Install EndNote Click Browser Extension from the Tools menu in EndNote. That is one library’s description, not EndNote’s own page, so the manual route above is the one to cite as official.
Edge and Opera
The EndNote 2025 user guide lists Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Opera. For Opera it adds that you first need “Chrome Extensions for Opera”. The install page above mentions only Chrome.
Step-by-step: sign in, then save an article to EndNote
- Create the free account and pick your institution. After installing, go to click.endnote.com/get-started, create an account and select your institution. The user guide says setup also asks you to choose EndNote as your citation software.
- Check it works. Open an article page and click the EndNote Click button, as the install page instructs, to verify the extension is running.
- Handle the sign-out notice if you see it. The install page shows the notice “You have been signed out in order to comply with the Regulations on Cross-Border data flows.” If you see it, sign in again and read the data transfer consent form that appears in the sign-in window.
- Open the PDF. The user guide says to use the View PDF button, located at the lower left of the window.
- Send it to EndNote. Select Export to EndNote Desktop. If your browser asks how to open the file, choose EndNote.
- Find the reference. It appears in the temporary Imported References group in EndNote, with the PDF attached.
- Fill missing details. Choose References > Find Reference Updates, the step the guide gives for completing missing reference data.
Output and how to read it
The result is a normal EndNote reference with a PDF attachment, sitting in the temporary Imported References group rather than in a library group you chose. Treat that group as an inbox: review the reference, run Find Reference Updates if fields are empty, then move or organise it. For the library side of your workflow, see our guide on how to use EndNote.
How access is decided: on campus and off campus
According to the EndNote 2025 user guide, on campus your subscriptions are detected automatically from your IP address. Off campus, access works if your library supports EZproxy, OpenAthens or Shibboleth, and you log in to your library the first time you use it.
Troubleshooting
Signed out unexpectedly
See step 3 above: the vendor page attributes the sign-out to cross-border data flow regulations and the fix it describes is signing in again and reading the consent form in the sign-in window.
Off-campus article will not open
Confirm that you completed the first-time library login and that your library uses EZproxy, OpenAthens or Shibboleth, the three methods the user guide names. On campus, the guide says subscriptions are detected from your IP address.
No PDF found for an article
The Birmingham guide notes that some articles are not found when access runs through an incompatible platform or when an article is only available as HTML. That is a limit of the tool, not a fault in your install.
The extension is not appearing after a manual install
Return to chrome://extensions, confirm developer mode is on and that the extension is listed and enabled. Birmingham’s guide says you can right-click the EndNote Click icon and choose Remove from Chrome to uninstall it, or Manage Extension to switch it off, so you can also remove it and repeat the drag-in step.
Auto-saving PDFs
The Birmingham guide says that automatic saving of PDFs to your EndNote Click locker can be switched off in the Settings of your EndNote Click account. Check those settings if PDFs appear in the locker that you did not choose to keep.
You want to install EndNote itself
The extension does not install EndNote Desktop. For the Word add-in, follow our Cite While You Write install guide, and for how the two relate see EndNote Click explained.
Alternatives that also run in Chrome
If you do not use EndNote, or your library does not support EndNote Click, a browser connector from another reference manager covers part of the same job. The row below is limited to what its source states.
| Extension | What the source says it does | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Zotero Connector | Described by Zotero as “Save from your browser with a single click”; Chrome, Firefox and Edge connectors are offered on Zotero’s download page, with desktop-only support. | zotero.org/download, checked 2026-10-29 |
For how these fit together, see Zotero setup and troubleshooting, Google Scholar Button and Scholar PDF Reader explained, and EndNote alternatives for researchers.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an EndNote plugin for Chrome?
Yes. EndNote’s user guide states that the EndNote Click plugin is available for Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Opera. Searches for “endnote chrome plugin”, “endnote plugin chrome” or “endnote extension for chrome” all point to it.
How do I install the EndNote extension in Chrome?
Per EndNote’s install page: download the extension, open chrome://extensions, enable developer mode, and drag the file into the page. Then create an account at click.endnote.com/get-started and select your institution.
Do I need an account?
Yes. The user guide says you must create an account to use EndNote Click.
Does the extension install EndNote on my computer?
No. The extension finds full text and exports references to EndNote Desktop; it is not the installer for EndNote itself. The Word add-in install is covered in our Cite While You Write guide.
How do I get an article into my EndNote library?
Click View PDF, choose Export to EndNote Desktop, and look in the Imported References group. Use References > Find Reference Updates to complete missing details.
Is EndNote Click free?
EndNote’s user guide describes EndNote Click as a free browser plugin, and the install page tells you to create a free EndNote Click account. Whether your library or EndNote Desktop licence adds anything else is a question for your library.
Sources
- EndNote Click, manual install instructions (checked 2026-10-29).
- EndNote 2025 user guide, EndNote Click (Windows edition; the macOS edition says the same; checked 2026-10-29).
- University of Birmingham library guide, EndNote Click (checked 2026-10-29; used only for the points attributed to it above).
- Zotero, Download (checked 2026-10-29).
