Word, How to Change Endnote Page by Page: Custom Pagination for Citations

Custom endnote placement in Word feels like a hidden superpower. I spent years manually adjusting citations until I discovered this foolproof method that takes under 5 minutes once you know the path.

The trick lives in the References tab, buried under Footnote settings. You’ll need to break the document into sections first—Word’s section breaks are the key to controlling where each endnote appears. No special tools required.

You’ll end up with citations appearing exactly where you want them, page by page. The process survives document edits and formatting changes, unlike manual workarounds that break with every tweak.

Works in Word 2016 through 365. Here’s the exact click path and settings to make it happen.

What Youll Need

Instructions

Here’s the procedure I follow to customize citation placement without disrupting document flow.

Open your document and verify the References tab is visible in the ribbon. If it’s missing, right-click any tab and select Customize the Ribbon, then ensure the References checkbox is ticked. This tab contains all the citation and bibliography tools you’ll need.

Click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Footnotes group to open the Footnote and Endnote dialog. Here’s where you’ll configure the core settings for your custom pagination approach.

Place your cursor at the start of the page where you want the endnote to appear. Navigate to the Layout tab and click Breaks, then select Next Page under Section Breaks. This creates a new section that can have its own numbering scheme.

Verify the break was inserted correctly by checking for a double line in draft view. The section break ensures that changes to footnote or endnote placement won’t affect other parts of your document.

Return to the References tab and click the dialog launcher in the Footnotes group again. In the Footnote and Endnote window, select the Endnote radio button if it isn’t already chosen.

For the Endnotes dropdown, select At end of section instead of the default At end of document. This forces Word to place the endnote at the end of the current section rather than at the document’s end. Click Apply and then OK.

Place your cursor where you want the citation to appear and insert your endnote as usual (typically Ctrl+Alt+D or via the Insert Endnote button). The endnote marker appears in the text, and the note itself should now appear at the end of its designated section.

Scroll to the end of that section to confirm the endnote appears where intended. If it’s not in the right place, check that you inserted the section break correctly and that the endnote setting is configured for At end of section.

If you need to restart endnote numbering for each section, go back to the Footnote and Endnote dialog. Under Numbering, select Restart each section. This ensures each section’s endnotes begin with 1 rather than continuing from the previous section.

For formatting changes, use the Number format dropdown to switch between numeric, Roman numeral, or letter styles. These settings apply globally unless you’re using section-specific configurations, so plan your formatting scheme in advance.

Tips and Common Mistakes

These practical insights will help you avoid pitfalls when customizing endnote placement in Word.

Dialog Box Navigation: In Step 1, don’t overlook the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Footnotes group—it’s easy to miss but essential for accessing the Footnote and Endnote dialog where you’ll configure all your settings. I’ve seen many users waste time searching through menus when it’s right there in the ribbon.

Section Break Verification: After inserting your section break in Step 2, always switch to draft view to confirm the break appears as a double line. This visual check prevents the common mistake of thinking you’ve created a new section when you haven’t, which would cause your endnotes to appear in the wrong location.

Placement Confirmation: In Step 4, scroll to the end of your designated section immediately after inserting an endnote. It’s surprising how often the note ends up at the document’s end instead of the section’s end, even when you’ve selected “At end of section” in Step 3. This quick check saves you from having to redo your formatting later.

Numbering Strategy: For Step 5, if you’re working with multiple sections, consider whether you want continuous numbering or to restart each section. I recommend restarting each section for most academic papers—it makes citations easier to track and prevents confusion when sections have vastly different numbers of endnotes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Changing endnote pagination in Word is a breeze once you master section breaks and page numbering! Now you can customize citations per page with confidence. 💡 Try applying these steps to a sample document to solidify your skills—practice makes perfect!