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:

If you are working in Draft view, display the References tab of the ribbon and click Show Notes. Otherwise, skip to step 3.
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.)

Figure 1. The Show Notes dialog box.

Right-click on the footnote or endnote you want to convert. Word displays a Context menu.
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).
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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Controlling Repagination in Macros

Want to turn off document repagination while your macro does its work? Here are two approaches you can use.

Discover More

Starting Out Formulas

When you enter a formula from the keyboard, Excel only knows it is a formula if you start it with an equal sign. You can ...

Discover More

Filling References to Another Workbook

When you create references to cells in other workbooks, Excel, by default, makes the references absolute. This makes it ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Reference to a Range of Endnotes

When multiple endnote references are used at a given point in your document, you may wonder if there is a way to compress ...

Discover More

Automatically Applying Custom Styles to Footnotes

Word is great in that it allows you to create styles that define how you want your text to appear. If you spend a great ...

Discover More

Word Adds Extra Space before Footnote Marker

When using full justification of your text, you may get extra spaces in places you never wanted. This tip examines one ...

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 2 + 2?

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.