Whilst there is no upper limit in terms of the number of references which can reside in a Reference Manager database the developers recommend that each individual database file does not exceed 100,000 records. Even if your database contains fewer references it is important to monitor the overall size in megabytes of the .RMD and .RMX files which are used by Reference Manager - if these are excessively large then you will experience poor network performance.

Firstly, ensure you're on the latest version of Reference Manager 12, which is 12.03 To update RefMan, click Help > Update and follow the on-screen instructions.

A number of customers have reported a noticeable improvement in performance if a sort is performed on the database when it is first opened. This is particularly effective if you sort by Author Name by clicking the appropriate column in the database.


As a last resort you may wish to try rebuilding the index file of your database. This is achieved as follows:

Note: Please ensure that no-one is using the database and make a backup of both the .RMD and .RMX files

1. Launch Reference Manager and close any databases which are open.
2. Click on Tools > Rebuild Database and select the database you are having a problem with by clicking on "..." to browse to it's location.
3. Click on the Rebuild option and accept the warning message.

Once your database is rebuilt check to see if the performance has improved.