Free online CSV to ENW converter

Reference data exported from spreadsheets or databases often arrives as CSV, while EndNote can import tagged citation records from ENW files. Converting the rows lets you transfer bibliographic fields into a reference library instead of re-entering them manually.

What CSV is

CSV (comma-separated values) stores tabular data as plain text: each line is a row, and commas separate columns. Quoted fields can contain commas or line breaks. Spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel and LibreOffice Calc, databases, and catalog systems commonly export CSV files.

CSV does not define bibliographic field meanings. A column named Title or Author is just a label until an importing program maps it to a citation field.

What ENW is

ENW is EndNote’s plain-text tagged reference format, used to import bibliographic records into EndNote and compatible reference-management tools. Tags identify fields such as reference type (%0), author (%A), title (%T), and year (%D); a record contains one or more tagged lines.

Unlike CSV, ENW carries citation-field labels rather than a general table structure. It is useful when transferring references into a citation library, but it does not preserve arbitrary spreadsheet columns unless they are mapped to supported reference fields.

Convert online on 101convert.com

1. Upload the CSV file on the 101convert.com converter page.
2. Choose ENW as the output format and start the conversion.
3. Download the converted file. The page supports batch conversion; its per-file size limit is displayed there.

Convert offline with desktop software

Python’s standard library can convert a comma-delimited CSV without uploading it or installing a third-party package. Save the following as csv_to_enw.py. It expects headers named Author, Title, Journal, Year, Volume, Issue, Pages, DOI, URL, Publisher, Keywords, and Abstract; missing columns are skipped. Separate multiple authors with semicolons.

import csv
import sys

source, destination = sys.argv[1:3]
fields = [
    ("Title", "%T"), ("Journal", "%J"), ("Year", "%D"),
    ("Volume", "%V"), ("Issue", "%N"), ("Pages", "%P"),
    ("DOI", "%R"), ("URL", "%U"), ("Publisher", "%I"),
    ("Keywords", "%K"), ("Abstract", "%X"),
]
records = []

with open(source, newline="", encoding="utf-8-sig") as csv_file:
    for row in csv.DictReader(csv_file):
        record = ["%0 " + (row.get("Reference Type") or row.get("Type") or "Journal Article").strip()]
        for author in (row.get("Author") or "").split(";"):
            if author.strip():
                record.append("%A " + author.strip())
        for column, tag in fields:
            value = (row.get(column) or "").strip()
            if value:
                record.append(tag + " " + value)
        records.append("\n".join(record))

with open(destination, "w", encoding="utf-8", newline="\n") as enw_file:
    enw_file.write("\n\n".join(records))
    if records:
        enw_file.write("\n")

Run py csv_to_enw.py references.csv references.enw on Windows, or python3 csv_to_enw.py references.csv references.enw on macOS or Linux. In EndNote, use File → Import → File and select the generated ENW file; choose the EndNote import filter if EndNote asks for an import option.

Check field mapping and compatibility

Match the script’s expected header names to the CSV’s actual headers, or edit the column names in the script. The example treats every record as a journal article unless a Reference Type or Type column supplies another type. It splits authors only on semicolons, so adapt that rule if the source uses a different separator. Check a few imported records for author order, dates, and missing fields; CSV-to-ENW conversion cannot infer bibliographic meaning from unlabeled or inconsistently populated columns.