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: Jumping to a Relative Endnote.

Jumping to a Relative Endnote

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 29, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


If you are using endnotes in your document, you may have a need to jump from one endnote to another. Word makes it easy to jump to an endnote relative to the endnote at which you are currently located. You do this in the following manner:

  1. Press F5. Word displays the Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
  2. In the list of items at the left side of the dialog box choose Endnote. This action informs Word what you want to go to. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

  4. In the Enter Endnote Number box, enter a plus or minus sign followed by the number of endnotes you want to jump. Plus is forward; minus is backward. For instance, you could jump backward three endnotes by entering -3. Word changes the Next button to a Go To button.
  5. Click on the Go To button.

Obviously this approach to navigating among endnotes will be valuable only if you have a document that has many endnotes. If you only have a few (perhaps up to a page or two of endnotes), then it may be easier to just move among them by using the arrow keys on the keyboard or scrolling with the mouse.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10914) 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: Jumping to a Relative Endnote.

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. ...

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