In order to use Mendeley applications you must first create a Mendeley account:

• Go to the Mendeley website.
• Click on Create account.
• We recommend that you do not sign in through your Institution but directly with your email, use the Access another way option if prompted to sign in through your institution
• If you want to keep your Mendeley account beyond your time at university, use a  personal email to create an account
• Enter your email address, name and password to create your account.
• Once you have created your account you will be prompted to download Mendeley Reference Manager, the desktop programme.

Open Mendeley Reference Manager from the start menu. If prompted, log in with your Mendeley account.

You might be presented with a window prompting you to download the Web Importer and / or the Word plugin (Mendeley Cite). If you have not already installed these, follow the on-screen instructions. These tools will allow you to use Mendeley to its full functionality.

Desktop Mendeley                                                                                                                                                                                Mendeley Reference Manager

The left-hand pane shows options for organising your library. Here you will find groups and folders for All Documents (All References on the Reference Manager), Recently Added references and Favourites

Under Folders (Collections on the Reference Manager) you will see any collections you create to organise your references. Further down you will see Groups,  for any private groups you join or create. At the top, left corner you will see some menus for performing tasks such as exporting references, searching for articles and more. There is also a link to help pages.

Use the Notebook button on the toolbar, to open your Notebook, where you may store notes and PDF annotations relating to a particular reference, or a number of references together.

The Library Table on Mendeley Reference Manager

The central pane - called the Library table - displays all of the references in your selected collection or group. In the top, right of this pane is a search box, to search your Mendeley library. If no references have been added, this section will be empty. On Mendeley Reference Manager to the right of this is an icon (three horizontal lines of decreasing length, shaped like a down-pointing arrow) to filter your library by either author or tag. The filter feature on Mendeley desktop is on the lower left hand side of the screen, where you can select from a drop down menu what filter to use. 

The Library Table on Mendeley Desktop

On Mendeley Reference Manager by clicking in the check box(es) to the left of one or more references,  the Action panel appears.

Using the Action panel, you can add or remove references to /from a collection or group, mark as a favourite (or unmark), export or delete (to Trash). To do something similar on the desktop application you must right click on the reference.

Your Mendeley account gives you access to your Mendeley library via the desktop app and online. Synchronising the two means you’ll see the same references in either application.

At the top, right corner of your Mendeley Reference Manager display window, to the left of your profile name, is an icon (rotating arrows) which you can use to sync any changes you make to the cloud. It is important to remember to Sync your library, so that any changes are fully saved.

When you open Mendeley Reference Manager, it will automatically synchronise with the web app and add any new references you have added there.

If you use the web app whilst the desktop app is open, you can tell it to synchronise by clicking on the Sync icon.