Free online NBIB to TXT converter

People convert NBIB files when a script, text editor, archive, or document system accepts plain text but does not recognize the .nbib extension. A TXT copy also makes PubMed citation records easier to open, search, edit, and share without reference-management software.

What the NBIB format is

NBIB is a plain-text bibliographic exchange format used by PubMed and other NCBI services. Its records contain tagged fields such as PMID- for the PubMed ID, TI - for the title, AU - for authors, DP - for the publication date, and AB - for the abstract.

Researchers, librarians, reference managers, and biomedical research software use NBIB files to transfer citation records. PubMed produces them when selected records are sent using Send to → Citation manager. One file can contain a single citation or a batch of citations.

What the TXT format is

TXT is a generic plain-text format with no required citation fields, styling, or page layout. It can be opened by Notepad, TextEdit, code editors, command-line tools, scripts, document-management systems, and most operating systems.

TXT is suitable for simple searching, manual editing, archiving, and systems that reject specialized filename extensions. Converting NBIB to TXT normally preserves the tagged NBIB content; it does not automatically create a formatted bibliography.

How to convert an NBIB file to TXT

Using a text editor

1. Open the .nbib file in Notepad, a code editor, or another plain-text editor. In TextEdit on macOS, use plain-text mode rather than rich text.
2. Choose File → Save As.
3. Set the filename extension to .txt, for example pubmed-records.txt.
4. Choose UTF-8 encoding when the editor provides an encoding option. UTF-8 best preserves accented names and non-English titles.
5. On Windows, select All files as the file type if the editor would otherwise append an extra extension such as .txt.txt.
6. Save the new file and keep the original NBIB file unchanged.

The TXT file will retain fields such as PMID-, TI -, and AU -. Renaming or saving the file does not translate those fields into a different citation format.

Using the command line

Because NBIB is already plain text, copying it is sufficient when no content transformation is required. On macOS or Linux, run:

cp records.nbib records.txt

In Windows Command Prompt, run:

copy records.nbib records.txt

These commands create a TXT-named copy without changing the citation tags. They do not validate the records or convert the character encoding.

Using the 101convert.com converter

You can convert the file for free on 101convert.com without installing software. Upload the NBIB file, select TXT as the output format if prompted, start the conversion, and download the resulting file. Do not upload records containing confidential information or data restricted by an institution or research project.

Quality and compatibility considerations

The conversion usually retains the citation text because both NBIB and TXT store characters rather than visual page layouts. Saving through an editor can still change line endings, remove or add a final newline, or misrepresent characters if the wrong encoding is selected. Check several names, titles, abstracts, and non-English characters after conversion.

A TXT result can remain internally structured as NBIB. If you need APA, Vancouver, MLA, or another reader-oriented citation style, import the original file into a compatible reference manager such as Zotero or EndNote and export a bibliography in the required format. A filename change alone does not create formatted references.