Here’s the scenario: You’ve just completed a twenty-page report with seventy-five footnotes when you realize that several of those footnotes should be endnotes. Rather than deleting those footnotes and manually creating new endnotes, follow the steps below to convert individual footnotes to endnotes in Microsoft Word. These steps can also be used to convert individual endnotes to footnotes.
The steps for converting all footnotes to endnotes and vice versa also appear at the bottom of this tutorial.
This information only applies to notes created with Word’s footnote and endnote tool. For easy-to-follow instructions on using that tool, visit “How to Insert Footnotes and Endnotes in Microsoft Word.”
Please note that these steps are for Word 2019 and Word 2016. The steps are similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010.
Convert Individual Footnotes to Endnotes (or Convert Individual Endnotes to Footnotes)
1. Ensure that your document is in Print Layout view.
Shortcut Alert: Step 2 through Step 6 explain how to move to individual notes. If your document is short, you can scroll directly to the note you want to convert and skip to Step 5.
2. Select the References tab in the Ribbon.
3. Select Show Notes in the Footnotes group.
4. Select View footnote area or View Endnote area from the Show Notes dialog box. (You won’t see this dialog box if your document has only footnotes or only endnotes.)
5. Select the OK button.
6. Select Next Footnote repeatedly until you arrive at the note you want to convert. Or, select the Next Footnote down arrow and choose an option from the drop-down menu: Next Footnote, Previous Footnote, Next Endnote, or Previous Endnote.
7. Right click on the individual note and select Convert to Endnote or Convert to Footnote from the shortcut menu.
Convert All Footnotes to Endnotes (or Convert All Endnotes to Footnotes)
1. Select the References tab in the Ribbon.
2. Select the Footnote and Endnote dialog box launcher in the Footnotes group.
3. Select the Convert button in the Footnote and Endnote dialog box.
4. Select the option you want from the Convert Notes dialog box:
- Convert all footnotes to endnotes
- Convert all endnotes to footnotes
- Swap footnotes and endnotes
5. Select the OK button.
6. Select the X to close the Footnote and Endnote dialog box.
For an in-depth look at footnotes and endnotes, visit my previous post “What Are Footnotes and How to Use Them.”
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