Browser extension settings

You can customize how the Paperpile browser extension works by adjusting settings both in the web app and directly in the extension popup. These settings help you tailor the extension to your research workflow and control which websites and databases integrate with Paperpile.

Extension settings in the web app

To change the browser extension settings, click your profile picture in the top right and go to Settings > Browser extension:

One-click import

Turn on one-click import to save references with a single click of the Paperpile button in your browser.

Google Docs integration

When turned on, you can insert citations directly into your Google Docs. See Get started with Paperpile and Google Docs.

Website and database integrations

Paperpile integrates with a wide variety of academic databases and websites. Choose which databases and websites show Paperpile buttons.

You can turn individual integrations on or off by clicking the checkbox next to each integration, including:

• Search engines like Google, Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar
• Academic databases like PubMed, JSTOR, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and library catalogs
• Preprint servers like arXiv, bioRxiv, and medRxiv
• AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and NotebookLM
• Literature discovery apps like Connected Papers, Consensus, Litmaps, and Research Rabbit.

Keyboard shortcut

Set a custom keyboard shortcut to quickly open the Paperpile extension popup. You can set this in your browser settings: visit chrome://extensions/shortcuts in Chrome, or navigate to the extension settings page in other browsers.

Extension settings in the browser popup

Click the Paperpile button in your browser and click the gear to access the extension settings.

One-click import

Turn on one-click import to save references with one click of the Paperpile button. This setting mirrors what's available in the web app settings.

Keyboard shortcut

View and modify the keyboard shortcut for opening the extension popup. This setting mirrors what's available in the web app settings.

Automatically save PDFs with references

The option “Automatically save PDFs with references” is turned on by default. Paperpile tries to automatically find and download PDFs when you save a reference with the browser extension. When turned off, references are saved without attempting to download the PDFs.

Turn on/off for current website

Turn off the Show Paperpile buttons on… switch to deactivate the Paperpile integration for the website you are currently viewing.

Turn on/off proxy connection

Turn on your library or organization proxy connection to download PDFs with restricted access while off-campus. Click Configure proxy connection to enter your institution proxy details to download PDFs that require a subscription through your university or organization. For full instructions, see Configure and use your library proxy.