Zotero can be used to add in-text citations and bibliographies in Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs. Word and LibreOffice add-ons can be installed/reinstalled through Zotero desktop app: "Edit > Settings > Cite > Word Processors". The Google Docs -tool is part of the Zotero Connector browser extension on Google Chrome. In Word, the Zotero add-on appears in the toolbar as its own tab called "Zotero".
- Word processor add-ons get the reference data from Zotero's desktop app. Therefore you don't sign in separately to the add-on. The desktop application must be installed and active to be able to use the word processor add-ons.
- You can select a reference style under "Document Preferences". There are about a dozen default styles, but you can add styles to the list through the desktop app. If you change the reference style, in-text citations and bibliography are updated automatically in the new style.
- The "Add/Edit Citation" button adds and edits in-text citations to the text. You can also add page numbers to citations, and you can hide the author's name if you want the in-text citation to be a year only.
- The "Add/Edit Bibliography" button makes a bibliography that automatically includes all the sources referenced in the text. The bibliography is updated automatically when you add new in-text citations.
- Use the "Refresh" button to update with new and modified reference data from the desktop app.
- With the "Unlink Citations" button, you can unlink the Word-file from Zotero. You should do this only when you are finished writing the text. Unlinked citations cannot be returned. In-text citations and the bibliography change to regular text after you unlink the file. After unlinking you can edit the citations and bibliography manually.
If you don't want or can't use one of the word processor add-ons, Zotero can also be used to make copy-pasteable bibliographies. Create a folder for the desired references, select all references in the folder, right click and choose "Create Bibliography from Items". Choose the reference style you want to use. You can save the bibliography as a file or copy it to the clipboard and paste it into the program you want.