The Mendeley suite consists of two platforms; a desktop software called the Mendeley Reference Manager and an online web page, Mendeley.com. It is compatible with Windows, macOS , Linux and mobile devices. More compatibility information can be found further below.

To start using it, you have to create an online account with Mendeley. 

Once you register, your login credentials can be used to access your references and PDFs from any device and physical location.

NOTE: Mendeley is not affiliated with or supported by Imperial ICT for the moment so please avoid creating an account with your Imperial login credentials.

To download the Manager on your personal machine visit the Mendeley Reference Management webpage.

If you want to access your Mendeley library on any Imperial computer please access it via Mendeley.com, and log in using your Mendeley credentials. These are not your Imperial account details but your login credentials used to register with Mendeley online.

Mendeley Desktop will no longer be available for download from 1st September 2022.  As you have Mendeley Desktop installed you will still be able to sign in and use it as normal after this date.  For more information see https://blog.mendeley.com

LaTex is a standard typesetting system for writing technical and scientific papers in which references are exported and imported in a BibTeX format. We currently hold an Institutional subscription to Overleaf from where you can link your Mendeley account, simply from your Overleaf account settings select Link to Mendeley and provide your Mendeley login details when prompted. 

Overleaf has created a detailed video on how to upload your Mendeley references onto an Overleaf project and detailed guidance on linking Mendeley with Overleaf.

For more information on reference management for LaTeX users please also see our BibTeX for LaTeX webpage.

Mendeley Reference Manager

Web Browsers
The last 2 versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge.
Note: The Mendeley Web Importer does not work with any versions of Safari.

Text processing

• Windows: Word 2016, Word 2019, Office 365
• MacOS: Word 2016, Word 2019, Office 365
• iOS: Microsoft Word for iPad
• Web Versions: Word Online, Office 365
• Overleaf

• Mendeley Support Center and FAQs
• Book on to one of the Library Lunchtime Mendeley workshops.
• Become a more experienced user with the Mendeley Guidesand videos.
• Or for advice and 1:1 support please contact your Subject Librarian.

1) Is there any unique feature on Mendeley?

The Notebook is a note-taking feature where you can create pages of specific topics and link your notes, highlighted text or quotations from multiple .pdf files while retaining these links back to the original articles.

2) Is there any better software than Mendeley?

It all depends on the level of your studies and your research requirements however, if you are looking for high-quality and free referencing software, Zotero is an open-source and user-friendly solution to meet most of your requirements. 

If you are conducting a systematic review, Endnote might be a better option due to its advanced complexity and unlimited storage. 

To find out which reference management software package is right for you try our Reference management software comparison‌ (pdf).

Visit our Zotero page

Visit our Endnote page

3) What will happen with the Mendeley Desktop older version?

Mendeley Desktop will no longer be available for download as of 1 September 2022. Existing Mendeley Desktop users will not be affected, you will still be able to sign into and use your existing installation of Mendeley Desktop. The company developers have plans for Mendeley Desktop to be stopped in the future but plenty of notice will be given. In the meantime, if you are working with the older Desktop version your references will be synced via Mendeley.com once you sync your library.