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:

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

Figure 1. The Footnote and Endnote dialog box.

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

Figure 2. The Convert Notes dialog box.

Make sure the Convert All Footnotes to Endnotes radio button is selected.
Click OK to close the Convert Notes dialog box. (This is when the actual conversion occurs.)
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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Simplifying the Font List

Excel normally displays the font list on the toolbar or using the very fonts it is displaying. Here's how to change that ...

Discover More

Jumping to a Page within a Section

In long documents it is often helpful to jump directly to a particular page. Word provides several tools you can use to ...

Discover More

Selecting Random Names

Got a ton of names from which you need to select a few random names? There are several ways you can extract what you ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing Endnote Numbering Style

Endnotes normally appear as superscripted characters followed by a space and the endnote text. In this tip you'll find ...

Discover More

Endnotes in a Separate Document

When you add endnotes to a document they are normally positioned (as one would expect) at the end of the document. You ...

Discover More

Comments in Endnotes

Able to add comments everywhere, except in endnotes? This seems to be a limitation in Word, but here are some ways to ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 0 + 7?

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.