Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Converting Individual Endnotes and Footnotes.

Converting Individual Endnotes and Footnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 5, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

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 Normal view, select Footnotes from the View menu. Otherwise, skip to step 3.
If you are using Word 2000 or a later version, and you have both footnotes and endnotes defined in your document, Word displays the View Footnotes dialog box. (See Figure 1.) Click on the type of note from which you want to convert and then click on OK.

Figure 1. The View Footnotes 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 Normal 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 (1884) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) 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

Understanding Default DATE Field Formatting

The DATE field is one of the most commonly used fields for placing dynamic information in your document. It is helpful to ...

Discover More

Segregating Numbers According to Their Sign

Remember your number line from your early years in school? Some numbers can be below zero (negative numbers) and others ...

Discover More

Mysterious Blue Line between Paragraphs

Do you ever have mysterious lines show up between paragraphs either on your screen or on your printouts? It could be ...

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 (menu)

Creating a Bibliography from Footnotes

Most scholarly papers need to have both footnotes and a bibliography. The two are closely related, as they provide ...

Discover More

Changing the Footnote Continuation Notice

When a footnote needs to span two printed pages, Word prints a continuation notice at the end of the footnote being ...

Discover More

Changing the Way Footnotes Are Numbered

Most footnotes in a document start numbering with the number 1 and proceed from there through the rest of your document. ...

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 four less than 7?

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 menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.