Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Creating a Bibliography from Footnotes.

Creating a Bibliography from Footnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 9, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


Renata is typing a dissertation with over 450 footnotes. She's inserted them in the regular manner for creating footnotes, and wonders if there is a way to easily generate a bibliography in the proper order from the footnote information.

Unfortunately, there is no way to do this within Word. It is possible that a macro could be created that would do the compilation for you, but it would be quite involved and very specific to the way in which you are creating your footnotes. (Different style guides call for different specifications for both footnotes and bibliographies.)

Another option is to look for third-party software that may fit the bill, but a quick search turned up nothing that sounded promising in this area.

This means that you are left with approaching the task manually. To make the job a bit easier, try these general steps:

  1. Make a copy of your dissertation. (You don't want to work on the original to do these steps.)
  2. Open the copy and convert all the footnotes to endnotes.
  3. Position the insertion point just before the first endnote. (The actual endnote text, not the reference in the main body of the document.)
  4. Scroll to the end of the endnotes, so you can see the last one on the screen.
  5. Hold down the Shift key as you click at the end of the last endnote. All the endnotes in the document should now be selected.
  6. Press Ctrl+C to copy the endnotes to the Clipboard.
  7. Open a new, blank document and paste (Ctrl+V) the endnotes to the new document. You now have a document that just has all the endnotes in it, and nothing else.
  8. Sort the paragraphs in the document alphabetically.
  9. Work your way through all the endnotes, deleting all the text and references you don't need in the bibliography.
  10. Structure and format as desired.

That's it; you now have your bibliography, manually created. It may not be easy, but it is easier than cutting and pasting the text from each of your footnotes individually. It is also less prone to errors in missing something during the compilation.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11203) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Creating a Bibliography from Footnotes.

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

Getting Help in Dialog Boxes

Dialog boxes are prevalent in a program like Word, and they can contain dozens (if not hundreds) of options. This tip ...

Discover More

Multi-Page Print Preview

Many users rely on Print Preview to show them what their printout will look like. When using Print Preview, you aren't ...

Discover More

Using the Camera in VBA

The camera tool allows you to capture dynamic "pictures" of portions of a worksheet. If you want to use the camera tool ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Turning Off Printing of Document Properties

Getting to a printed document is often the entire purpose of using Word. The program, however, allows you to print out ...

Discover More

Heavy-Duty Footnotes

Word allows you to add footnotes to a document, but they are rather straightforward and simple in their application. If ...

Discover More

Changing the Footnote Continuation Separator

When you add a really long footnote to a document, it could be that the entire footnote might not fit on the page where ...

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 7 + 9?

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.