JabRef
v4
v4
  • JabRef Bibliography Management
  • General information about JabRef
    • Entry Editor
    • Best Practices
    • Command line use and options
    • Automatic Backup (.sav and .bak) and Autosave
    • Remote operation
    • Installation
  • About BibTeX and its fields
    • URL and DOI links in JabRef
    • File links in JabRef
    • Links to other entries
    • The 'owner' field
    • Time stamped fileds
    • Journal abbreviations
    • Special Fields
    • Set/clear/rename fields
    • Field content selector
    • Strings
  • Finding, Sorting, and Cleaning Entries
    • Searching within the library
    • Searching externally using Online Services
      • ACM Portal
      • arXiv
      • CiteSeerX
      • DBLP
      • DOAJ
      • Google Scholar
      • GVK
      • IEEEXplore
      • INSPIRE-HEP
      • MathSciNet
      • MEDLINE
      • SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System
      • Springer
      • Unpaywall
      • zbMATH
    • Searching externally using Publication Identifiers
      • DiVA
      • DOI -- Digital Object Identifier
      • IACR eprint IDs
      • ISBN number
      • Medline
      • RFC document
      • SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System
      • Title of the paper
    • Add unlinked PDFs including BibTeX data into the database
    • Synchronize file links
    • Cleanup entries
    • Save actions
    • Check integrity
    • Get BibTeX data from DOI
    • Find duplicates
    • Merge entries
    • Groups
    • Replace string
  • Import and Export
    • Import
      • JabRef Browser Extension
      • Custom import filters
      • Import from Microsoft Word -- MS Office Bibliography XML format
      • Import inspection window
      • New subdatabase based on AUX file
      • New entry from plain text
    • Export
      • Custom export filters
      • EndNote Export Filter
      • Export to an External SQL Database
      • Export to Microsoft Word -- MS Office Bibliography XML format
    • Other integrations
      • LaTeX Citations Tab
      • OpenOffice/LibreOffice integration
      • Pushing to external editor application
      • XMP metadata support in JabRef
    • Knowledge
      • Comparison of the Medline (txt), Medline (XML), and RIS format
  • Collaborative Work
    • Sharing a Bib(La)TeX Database
    • Shared SQL Database
    • Migration of pre-3.6 SQL databases into a shared SQL database
  • Configuration of JabRef
    • Customize the BibTeX key generator
    • Customize entry types
    • Customize general fields
    • Customize key bindings
    • Database properties window
    • Entry preview setup
    • Manage external file types
    • Manage protected terms
    • The string editor
  • Frequently Asked Questions and Howtos
    • General FAQs
    • Contributing
    • Sharing
    • How Tos
      • How to expand first names of a BibTeX entry
      • How to Improve the Help Page
      • How to translate the JabRef User Interface
    • FAQs on Operating Systems
      • Linux
      • Mac OS X
      • Windows
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  • Automatic saving of the current library
  • Automatic backup of current library edits
  • Backup of last library version

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  1. General information about JabRef

Automatic Backup (.sav and .bak) and Autosave

PreviousCommand line use and optionsNextRemote operation

Last updated 3 years ago

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The autosave and backup features is available since JabRef 3.7.

To reduce the amount of configuration options, the possibility to disable the creation of .bak files was removed in JabRef 5.1.

JabRef generates .sav and .bak files while working. .sav is the automatic backup feature: Each 15 seconds, the current state of the library is saved. .bak preserves the last state of the library after saving. Thus, one can go back one save command in the history.

By using the service, you can generate an appropriate .gitignore file by opening .

In addition to .bak and to .sav, JabRef offers automatic saving of the library. No need to click on File --> Save or pressing Ctrl+S anymore: The opened database are saved automatically without manual intervention.

Automatic saving of the current library

In case the .bib file should automatically be saved on each change, you can direct JabRef to do so. This feature needs to be activated in the preferences:

Automatic backup of current library edits

This functionality runs in the background while you are working on a BibTeX database. It makes a backup copy (in a .bib.sav file) and keeps that up-to-date on every user interaction. For instance, when you change a field the new value would get saved into the backup copy. Assuming that JabRef crashes while you are working on a BibTeX database. When you try again to open the file JabRef crashed with you will get the following dialog:

Now you have the possibility to restore your changes which would normally get lost.

When JabRef gets closed normally the .sav file will be removed. Otherwise, this file is going to be used for database restoration next time.

Backup of last library version

The .bak file preserves the last state of the library before saving. Thus, one can go back one save command in the history. For more advanced history, we recommend to use .

git as version control system
gitignore.io
https://www.gitignore.io/api/jabref
Screenshot of the autosave preferences
Screenshot of the backup dialog