### Set a citation key manually in Better BibTeX
## Metadata
**Status**:: #x
**Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting
**Created**:: [[2026-07-26]]
## Synopsis
Better BibTeX for Zotero generates citation keys automatically, but once a key has been assigned, it won't change on its own. To pin a custom key to an item, you need to do two things.
Add this line to the item's **Extra** field:
```
Citation Key: mycustomkey
```
Adding the line alone is not enough — Better BibTeX won't override an already-generated key just from Extra. You must right-click the item, open the **Better BibTeX** sub-menu, and choose **Pin BibTeX key**. This applies the custom key and moves it out of Extra into Better BibTeX's own storage.