Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Converting Footnotes to Endnotes.

Converting Footnotes to Endnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 15, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


Footnotes and endnotes are an important part of many documents. If you have a document that includes many footnotes, you may need to convert all those footnotes to endnotes. This is a common occurrence to meet the needs of different audiences—some prefer footnotes, and some prefer endnotes.

To convert all your footnotes to endnotes, follow these steps:

  1. Display the References tab of the ribbon.
  2. Click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Footnotes group. Word displays the Footnote and Endnote dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Footnote and Endnote dialog box.

  4. Click the Convert button. Word displays the Convert Notes dialog box. (See Figure 2.)
  5. Figure 2. The Convert Notes dialog box.

  6. Make sure the Convert All Footnotes to Endnotes radio button is selected.
  7. Click OK to close the Convert Notes dialog box. (This is when the actual conversion occurs.)
  8. Click Cancel to close the Footnote and Endnote dialog box.

At this point all your footnotes are dutifully converted to endnotes and your entire document is repaginated to reflect the change in layout.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8615) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Converting Footnotes to Endnotes.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Conditionally Highlighting Cells Containing Formulas

Excel's conditional formatting feature allows you to create formats that are based on a wide variety of criteria. If you ...

Discover More

Colors in an IF Function

You can use the IF worksheet function to test for a number of different conditions or values. You can't use it to check ...

Discover More

Calculating an Average Time

When working with elapsed times, you may want to calculate an average of those times. This tip demonstrates just how easy ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Multiple References to an Endnote

Adding endnotes in a document is easy in Word. If you want to create multiple references to a single endnote, you can do ...

Discover More

Numbering Endnotes and Adding Chapter Headings

In a document that utilizes endnotes, you need to be concerned with the positioning and how the notes are actually ...

Discover More

Converting Endnotes to Regular Text

If you have a document with lots of endnotes, you may need them converted to regular text so that they can be used ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 5 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.