Switching from Citavi to Zotero

It's best to get started with Zotero right away. You can find more information about Zotero on our website.

Especially if you haven't worked with the Word Add-In before, you can usually switch from Citavi to Zotero without any problems. It is therefore best to switch to Zotero straight away. You can find instructions for switching from Citavi to Zotero here.

If you have only been using Citavi to collect references, you can usually switch from Citavi to Zotero without any problems. You can find instructions for switching here.

It is generally possible to switch from Citavi to Zotero, but you will need to do this manually. Please refer to our instructions.

The current Citavi Campus license runs until 31.05.2025. If you finish your writing project before 31.05.2025, there is no need for action and you can continue working with Citavi as usual. Before starting a new writing project, we recommend switching to Zotero.

We recommend switching from Citavi to Zotero before the next writing phase. You can find instructions for switching from Citavi to Zotero here.

References in your text that were created with Citavi cannot currently be automatically linked to Zotero. The cleanest and most problem-free solution is to reset all references. To do this, we recommend copying the document, deleting all references in the copy and then using the Zotero plugin to reset them. The original document serves as a template.

After the campus license expires, Zotero is available as a free alternative. You can find instructions for switching from Citavi to Zotero here.

Unfortunately, there is currently no way to automatically convert Citavi fields in your text document into Zotero references.

The cleanest and most problem-free solution when switching to Zotero is to reset all references. To do this, it is advisable to copy the document, delete all references in the copy and then reset them using the Zotero plugin. The original document serves as a template.

Alternatively, when citing in the text with author-year reference or in footnotes, you can simply continue citing with Zotero. Please make a backup copy of your Word document beforehand. The references that were only added to your document using Citavi must then be added to the bibliography using "Add/Edit Bibliography". However, this will not work with a numerical citation style and all entries will have to be reset.

The TU Berlin University Library provides instructions for moving from Citavi Web to Zotero.

Please note that when exporting projects from Citavi Web, only the title data, PDF files and PDF markers can be exported. All citations and other knowledge elements cannot be transferred. We therefore recommend exporting from the Citavi desktop application. You can find instructions here.

If you are unable to install the desktop application, please contact literaturverwaltunguni-greifswaldde.

During the move, the project is first backed up locally and then imported into Zotero. You can find detailed step-by-step instructions here.

Literature sources with all bibliographic details and attachments such as PDF documents including annotations are transferred.

Knowledge elements (e.g. quotations and comments) and tasks are stored as notes, tasks are tagged #todo. Please note that manual rework may be necessary in each case. Further information can be found in our FAQ and in our further instructions.

Keywords become tags in Zotero.

Citavi categories are mapped via the folder structure in Zotero. When importing into Zotero, make sure that the option Place imported collections and items into new collection is selected. The original Citavi categories will then be displayed as subcollections in Zotero.

Illustrations are not included. Image quotations are included without the illustration.

References between literature sources are not retained.

Knowledge elements (e.g. quotations or comments) are inserted as a note and assigned to the respective reference. The information as to whether it is a literal quotation, an indirect quotation, a summary or a comment, for example, is not included. Links to the source and assignments to categories and keywords are also not retained. Knowledge elements can be inserted as a note in Word, but without the corresponding source citation. Manual reworking is therefore required if necessary. Please refer to our instructions.

Tasks are also transferred as a note. However, the reference to the title or project is lost, so that a subsequent manual assignment is required.

Locations are transferred, but if you have entered multiple locations for a reference in Citavi, only one location will be transferred. The shelf names of private collections are not transferred.

Collected editions must be linked to the respective articles again. Please follow our instructions for this.

Once the campus license expires, you will no longer have access to your cloud projects. To regain access, you may need to purchase a single-user license. Further information can be found on the provider's website.

You can also move your local projects after the campus license expires. The Citavi backup file, which is created manually according to our instructions, is also created automatically by Citavi at certain intervals. You can find the files in your Citavi 6 folder (by default under My Documents/Citavi 6). Then go to the Backup subfolder and then to the folder with the name of the project you want to move. Then start on page 7 of our instructions.

Install a program on your computer that can unzip .bak files. We recommend the program 7-Zip.

You must unzip the .ctv6bak backup file before importing it into Zotero. Use the 7-Zip program to do this. Unzip the .ctv6bak file into a folder of your choice. You can now import the unzipped .ctv6 file into Zotero.