BibDesk offers a variety of ways to browse, organize, and search your bibliographic database. BibDesk allows you to group references in a BibTeX file, similar to the way in which Apple Mail allows you to group messages in folders, or iTunes in playlists. Field Groups, Smart Groups and Static Groups are the easiest way to keep a large file separated into distinct categories without managing many small files scattered around your hard drive.
| Field Groups | Grouping references based on a particular field. | |
| Smart Groups | Grouping references based on specific criteria. | |
| Static Groups | Grouping arbitrary sets of references. | |
| External Groups | Importing groups of items from an external source. | |
| Web Group | Detecting bibliographic information in web pages. |