Where Does Mendeley Store Its Database?
Mendeley Desktop database and downloads folders on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Last updated
Mendeley Desktop keeps a local SQLite database plus a Downloads folder of PDFs under a Mendeley data directory. The cloud library is authoritative for metadata.
PDFs are the fragile half. Database rows without their files produce entries with missing attachments, so copy both halves.
Where Mendeley stores this, by platform
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Mendeley Ltd\Mendeley Desktop
Holds the local database and downloaded PDFs. Close Mendeley before copying. Metadata resyncs from the account; PDFs need the file copy.
~/Library/Application Support/Mendeley Desktop
Same role. Use Go to Folder in Finder.
~/.local/share/data/Mendeley Ltd./Mendeley Desktop
Same layout. Confirm the live data path in Tools > Options when customized.
Frequently asked questions
How do I move my Mendeley library?
They sync from your Mendeley account; the local database is a cache. Sign in on the new machine and the library downloads. Local PDFs in the Downloads folder need separate copying.
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