How to insert Endnote in word (Step-by-Step)

Need to insert an endnote in Word?

In MS Word, endnotes and footnotes serve the same purpose – just that they are located differently. Endnotes appear at the bottom of individual pages whilst footnotes appear at the end of all the pages (end of the document).

In my previous post, I explained what a footnote is and how you can insert one in MS Word.

In this tutorial, I explained how you can also insert an endnote into MS Word.

How to insert endnote in word

Without further ado, below is a step by step guide to add endnotes into your Word document:

First press Ctrl+Alt+D (shortcut) on the keyboard; these keystrokes will shoot the insertion pointer to the bottom area of the document waiting for you to type in some text; type the endnote text; and that’s it, the endnote reference number will be superscripted to the main text as well as before the reference text.

For more detailed steps, obey the instructions below:

• Select the text you want the Endnote to reference. Or place the insertion pointer at the location you want to add the reference.

• Go to Reference > Footnotes > Insert Endnote. Alternatively, just press Ctrl+Alt+D on the keyboard.

As soon as you click on the Insert Endnote command, MS Word will superscript a reference number by the selected text. The insertion pointer then moves to the bottom area of the document, waiting for you to type your Endnote text. The horizontal line separates the main text from the Endnote text.

• Type the Endnote text
• You can add as many endnotes as you wish.

• Click back into your document main text and continue editing.

The above steps just explained the easiest way to insert an endnote in Word.

How to use Endnote in word

As mentioned before, an endnote is used to cite references at the end of a document.

There are two easy ways you can use to read endnotes in Word: One involved clicking the reference number to jump to the note and the other involved hovering over the reference number to see the note on a tooltip.

1. Endnote on Tooltip: If your document is onscreen as in MS Word, you can view endnotes on a tooltip without having to navigate all the way to the bottom of the document. To use this tip, just hover over the reference number in the body text to view the note as a tooltip.
2. Jump to Endnote section: Aside from hovering the mouse pointer for a tooltip, you can also click on the reference number to jump to that particular endnote at the bottom of the document.

These are the two ways to use endnotes in Word.

Change Endnote number format

Microsoft Word’s Endnote has a habit of numbering your Endnotes as you add them into your document. You can change the number format of the Endnote so that it can use either roman numerals or other numbering options.

To change the number format of your document’s Endnote:

• Click on the more options command for Endnotes under the Reference tab.

• The Endnote and Footnote dialog appears. Under the Format category, click to select the number format of your choice, then click Apply to save the settings.

More on Footnotes and Endnotes

• Endnote shortcut in Word is Ctrl+Alt+D and Footnote shortcut is Ctrl+Alt+
• Endnotes and Footnotes are similar concepts. The only difference between these two concepts is that a footnote is a reference at the bottom of the page whilst endnotes appear at the end of all the pages (end of the document). Endnotes and endnotes are both referred to as notes. The only difference is their location in the document.
• Use either footnote or endnote for your document. Don’t use the two in the same document.
• If you hover over the superscripted reference number in the body of your text, the Endnote or footnote text will appear in a tooltip.
• By default, MS Word uses numbers to reference Endnotes and Footnotes. But you can change this option to use symbols or other number formats
• Word count doesn’t include Endnotes and Footnotes. You can, however, change this behavior so that Endnotes will be included in the word count.