Helpdesk Baruch College

How to Use Footnotes and Endnotes in Microsoft Word

Whether you use Microsoft Word for individual or professional writing, in some cases you may wish to add supplemental notes to sections of your work. Perhaps you wish to make a side discuss one of your arguments, or you need to point out another author’s work without sidetracking from the main text. Thankfully, Word has useful tools for including footnotes and endnotes to your writing.

What Are Footnotes and Endnotes?

Footnotes and endnotes are both methods of including additional bits of information to your composing outside of the main text. Think of them like spoken asides, only in writing. You can use footnotes and endnotes to add side remarks to your work or to cite other publications like books, short articles, or websites. The only distinction between footnotes and endnotes is where they appear in your file.

As the name recommends, footnotes are connected to the bottom of the page containing the sentence they represent. Endnotes, on the other hand, are contributed to the end of a section or file. Which one you should utilize in your composing depends on your personal choice or– if you’re composing for school or work– your organization’s publication standards.

How to Insert Footnotes and Endnotes

Fire up Microsoft Word, and then open the file to which you ‘d like to include footnotes (or develop a brand-new file if you’re just starting). Change to the “References” tab on Word’s Ribbon.

Here, you’ll discover a bunch of beneficial features for annotating your text, consisting of tools for inserting a table of contents, including citations, and producing a bibliography. The second group on this tab contains the footnote and endnote features we want.

To add a footnote, location your insertion point in your text where you want the footnote to appear, and after that click the “Insert Footnote” button.

Word adds a small superscript number where you placed the insertion point.

And then immediately moves focus to the footnote pane and puts the insertion point at your brand-new footnote, so you can begin typing it right now.

Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page beneath a brief horizontal line. Each time you include a footnote on this page, another number will be contributed to the list.

When you’ve added your footnotes, you can hover your cursor over each sentence’s reference marker to see a sneak peek of the footnote within the text.

You can also quickly tab between footnotes in both the primary text and the footnote list at the bottom of the page by clicking the “Next Footnote” button in the navigation bar.

Or, click the dropdown menu arrow on the “Next Footnote” button to choose a various navigation alternative. You can select to go to the previous footnote or browse to the next or previous endnote.

The steps for inserting endnotes are essentially the same. Put your insertion point where you ‘d to annotate, and after that click the “Insert Endnote” button on the “References” tab of Word’s Ribbon.

Similar to with footnotes, Word attaches a superscript number consisting of an endnote. However this time, the list of notes it creates appears at the end of the existing area or completion of the file (you can personalize where they appear, and we’ll talk more about that in a bit).

How to Configure Footnotes and Endnotes in Word 2016

Word has basic default settings for footnotes and endnotes, but you can change these settings at any time from the menu on the References tab.

Click the arrow in the lower best corner of the “Footnotes” menu.

This raises a Footnote and Endnote window where you can tailor the location, appearance, and format of all your footnotes and endnotes.

By default, Word puts footnotes at the bottom of the page and endnotes at the end of the document, but you can change where these notes appear.

Under “Location” in the Footnote and Endnote menu, discover the “Footnotes” option (it must be picked by default when you first open the menu). Open the dropdown menu to the right of that alternative and you can change your footnote area to either the bottom of the page or listed below the text. If you select the latter choice, Word places your footnotes right away after the primary body of text rather of at the bottom of the page.

To change the default place of endnotes, select the “Endnotes” alternative, and then open the dropdown menu to its right. There, you can change endnote positioning to the end of the existing area or completion of the document.

Another alternative is to convert all of your footnotes to endnotes or vice versa. Instead of altering each one separately, this alternative lets you alter them simultaneously. If you’re working on a file with a lot of notes, this option can come in handy.

Under the “Location” section of the Footnote and Endnote menu, click the “Convert” button.

The Convert Notes dialog box pops up, offering you three options: 1) Convert All Footnotes to Endnotes, 2) Convert All Endnotes to Footnotes, and 3) Swap Footnotes and Endnotes. Select the alternative you desire, and then click the “OKAY” button.

By default, Word develops footnote and endnote lists with the very same layout as the page on which they appear. You can change this from the Footnote and Endnote window by clicking the “Columns” dropdown menu and choosing the number of columns you ‘d like to utilize.

You can set your footnotes and endnotes to display in as much as 4 various columns on the page.

Word also lets you pick from several choices for formatting how your footnotes and endnotes are numbered. It’s generally a good idea to choose a different numbering system for each note type, specifically if you’re using a mix of footnotes and endnotes in the very same document. This assists you and your reader quickly compare the 2 at a glimpse.

In the Format section, click the dropdown arrow to the right of the “Number Format” alternative. Select your wanted number format.

You can also identify your notes with a custom-made sign rather of a standard numbering system. Beside the Custom Mark option, click the “Symbol” button.

The Symbol menu will open. Select the sign you ‘d like to utilize to label your notes, and after that click the “OK” button.

Your picked icon should appear in the “Custom Mark” box, and Word will now use this symbol to identify your notes.

By default, Word numbers footnotes and endnotes in private series starting at “1” (or a, i, I, etc.) and continuing throughout the document. You can customize both the starting point and continuity of your notes.

If you want your footnotes or endnotes to start somewhere besides the first number in the series (for instance, 2 rather of 1), click the arrows in the “Start At” dropdown box to increase or decrease the beginning value. One example of where this might be helpful is if you’re writing a book that contains endnotes and you’re conserving each chapter as a different Word document. You might set up each chapter’s file to start numbering endnotes where the last chapter left off.

To change the connection of your numbering series, click the dropdown menu arrow beside the “Numbering” option.

You’ll see 3 options for numbering your footnotes and endnotes: Continuous, Restart Each Section, and Restart Each Page. If you desire your footnotes and endnotes to be numbered constantly from the start of your file to the end, pick the “Continuous” alternative. If you ‘d prefer to have your notes numbered by chapter or section, choose the “Restart Each Section” option. Or choose “Restart Each Page” to number your notes by page.

After configuring the above options, you’ll require to choose how you want your changes used to your document. At the bottom of the menu, click the dropdown menu arrow next to the “Apply Changes To” option.

If you desire your changes to use to every page and area of your document, pick the “Whole Document” choice. Or select “This Section” to use modifications only to the section of the document you’re currently in. (Note that this alternative will not appear if you have no area breaks in your file.)

When you’re satisfied with your settings, click the “Apply” button in the bottom right of the menu.

You can likewise place a brand-new footnote using your chosen settings by clicking the “Insert” button in the lower left corner of the menu.

How to Cross-Reference Footnotes and Endnotes in Word 2016

If you want to utilize the same footnote or endnote more than when throughout your text, there’s an easy method to do it without needing to insert the same thing over and over once again.

Put your insertion point where you desire a reference inserted into the text. On the References tab, click the “Cross-Reference” button.

In the Cross-Reference window, choose either “Footnote” or “Endnote” from the “Reference Type” dropdown menu.

Next, click the “Insert Reference To” dropdown menu.

The “Footnote Number” option inserts the variety of the footnote in regular text, while the “Footnote Number (Formatted)” alternative inserts the variety of the footnote in superscript. The “Page Number” alternative inserts the variety of the referenced page instead of the footnote number. The “Above/Below” choice inserts either the word “Above” or “Below” depending on where the initial footnote appears in relation to the cross-reference. Select your preferred alternative.

Word lets you produce hyperlinks between cross-references so you can quickly find the exact same footnote all over it appears in your file. The “Insert as Hyperlink” option is checked by default, so you can click any cross-reference and immediately be required to the part of the file including the original footnote. We recommend leaving this option inspected, but you can uncheck it if you choose.

Under the “For Which Footnote” option, pick the footnote you ‘d like to cross-reference, and after that click the “Insert” button at the bottom of the menu.

Under “Location” in the Footnote and Endnote menu, discover the “Footnotes” option (it should be picked by default when you first open the menu). The Convert Notes dialog box pops up, providing you three options: 1) Convert All Footnotes to Endnotes, 2) Convert All Endnotes to Footnotes, and 3) Swap Footnotes and Endnotes. Word likewise lets you select from several alternatives for formatting how your footnotes and endnotes are numbered. If you desire your footnotes and endnotes to be numbered constantly from the start of your document to the end, pick the “Continuous” choice. The “Footnote Number” alternative inserts the number of the footnote in routine text, while the “Footnote Number (Formatted)” alternative inserts the number of the footnote in superscript.

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