Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, 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: Converting Individual Endnotes and Footnotes.

Converting Individual Endnotes and Footnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 22, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365


Word is flexible on whether a note is considered an endnote or a footnote. You can easily convert between the two, but the way you do the conversion is not necessarily intuitive. To convert from an endnote to a footnote (or vice versa), follow these steps:

  1. If you are working in Draft view, display the References tab of the ribbon and click Show Notes. Otherwise, skip to step 3.
  2. If you have both footnotes and endnotes defined in your document, Word displays the View Footnotes dialog box (Word 2007) or the Show Notes dialog box (Word 2010 or a later version). Click on the type of note from which you want to convert and then click on OK. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Show Notes dialog box.

  4. Right-click on the footnote or endnote you want to convert. Word displays a Context menu.
  5. Select the appropriate choice on the Context menu, which should either be Convert to Endnote or Convert to Footnote (depending on what you right-clicked on).
  6. If you are working in Draft view, click Close when you are finished converting.

As you convert each endnote or footnote, it is moved to the other window and the reference marks for the note are updated to what is currently being used for the series (footnote or endnote) to which you are converting.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11757) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Converting Individual Endnotes and 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

Picking Worksheets Quickly

If your workbook contains a multitude of worksheets, the worksheet tabs at the bottom of the program window start to ...

Discover More

Defeating Exponent Parsing

When you enter data in a worksheet, Excel tries to figure out what type of data you are entering and treat the entry ...

Discover More

Using the SYMBOL Field

The most common way of adding symbols to a document is to use the Symbol dialog box. There is another way, however, that ...

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)

Automatically Adding Tabs in Footnotes

When you add a footnote to a document, Word's normal formatting adds a space after the footnote number and before the ...

Discover More

Jumping to a Footnote

Jumping to a specific footnote can be very handy if your document has a lot of footnotes in it. Word provides the ...

Discover More

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
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 1 + 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.