How Can We Help You?

Which Windows versions does ResearchVault support?

Windows 10 version 1809 (October 2018 Update) and later, and all versions of Windows 11. It is a native 64-bit desktop application and needs no browser or separate runtime.

Where is my research stored?

In a vault folder at C:\Users\<you>\ResearchVault by default — your database, plus ordinary folders for Papers, Projects, Images, Documents, Datasets, Inbox and Backup. You can open it in File Explorer whenever you like. It sits outside the application's own folder deliberately, so uninstalling ResearchVault never takes your research with it.

Does ResearchVault need an internet connection?

No. Every research feature works offline. The only outbound request is DOI lookup, which runs when you press Look up DOI and sends nothing but the identifier you typed. Adding a paper by hand does the same job with no network at all.

Do I need an account?

No. There is no account, no sign-in and no registration. Install it and start working.

How do I back up my vault?

Settings → Backup → Back up now writes your whole vault into a single ZIP in the Backup folder. Copy that somewhere safe. Restoring it asks you to close and reopen the app, because a database cannot be replaced while it is open.

Can I keep my vault in OneDrive or Dropbox so it syncs between machines?

We recommend against it. Cloud sync can copy a live database and its journal file at different moments, which can corrupt it — this is a general property of SQLite databases in synced folders, not something specific to ResearchVault. Use a ZIP backup to move between machines instead: it is a consistent snapshot, taken at one instant, and restoring it on another computer works properly.

Can I search inside my PDFs?

Yes. When a PDF is imported its text is extracted into the local search index, so Ctrl+K finds phrases inside the paper, not just in its title. One limitation to know: a scanned PDF is a picture of a page and contains no text to extract, so it will not be searchable. OCR is on the roadmap.

Does highlighting modify my PDF?

Never. Highlights and comments are stored separately in your vault, and your PDF stays byte-for-byte as it arrived — which matters if you later need to cite or share it.

Which citation styles are supported?

APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago and BibTeX, generated offline from the fields you have stored. Where a field is missing the citation degrades honestly and tells you what to fill in, rather than printing "n.d." in the wrong place. Always check a citation before you publish it — metadata from a DOI lookup is sometimes wrong at source.

Can I change the interface language?

Yes — Settings → Languages offers English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, and the change applies immediately. Your research content stays in whatever language you wrote it in.

What does the paid upgrade actually change?

It removes the sponsored banner at the foot of the window. Nothing else. Every research feature — projects, papers, PDF reading, notes, search, backup, export, all six languages — is in the free edition, with no storage limit beyond your own disk.

How do I request a feature?

Email [email protected] and tell us what you are trying to do and why the current tools get in the way. Describing the problem is far more useful to us than describing a solution — we read all of it.