MeSH FTP Directory Structure:

MeSH data files are organized in folders by release year with the most recent files being stored in the MESH_FILES dirctory.

MeSH FTP Folders	Description
1999-2010	Includes all annual release files from 1999-2010
2011             |          2XXX	Separate folders for MeSH years 2011 through last year
MESH_FILES	The most recent MeSH files, updated Monday - Friday

Subfolders included under year folder

Folder Name	Description
asciimesh	MeSH ASCII files
meshtrees	Headings with Tree Nodes
mtms	MeSH translation files
marc	MeSH/MARC files
newterms	New MeSH terms and term changes
xmlmesh	MeSH files in XML format

 

MeSH data files always include the MeSH Year. Below are example files for the 2016 MeSH year:

ASCII MeSH File Names	Description
c2016.bin	Supplemental Records for year 2016
d2016.bin	Descriptor Records for year 2016
q2016.bin	Qualifier Records for year 2016
mtrees2016.bin	MeSH headings with tree nodes for 2016
meshnew2016.txt	New Descriptor preferred terms for 2016
mnchg2016.txt	Tree changes for 2016
mshd2016.txt	All Descriptor preferred terms for 2016
replace2016.txt	Deleted and replaced Descriptor headings

XML* MeSH File Names	Description
desc2016.xml	Descriptor Records for year 2016
supp2016.xml	Supplemental Records for year 2016
qual2016.xml	Qualifier Records for year 2016
pa2016.xml	Pharmacological Actions of MeSH chemicals
*Note files ending with gz, and zip are compressed XML files

MeSH/MARC File Names*	Description
20160901_label_marc_change.bin	MeSH/MARC Update Label File for Sept 1, 2016
20160901_label_marc_full.bin	MeSH/MARC Full Label File for Sept 1, 2016
20160901_marc_change.bin	MeSH/MARC Update File for Sept 1, 2016
20160901_marc_full.bin	MeSH/MARC Full Release Files for Sept 1, 2016
*Note MeSH/MARC files now start with YearMonthDate. i.e. 20160101 = Jan 1, 2016

 

 

Need help? Please visit our: Customer Support Site

Last Reviewed: July 9, 2025