How to control where Word puts endnotes

By default, Word places endnotes at the end of the document, which is what most of us want. But you’re not stuck with that arrangement. Word will position endnotes at the end of a section, if you tell it to. Most of us won’t ever need this much flexibility, but if you do, you’ll appreciate this feature.

Here’s how to position endnotes at the end of a section, instead of at the end of the document:

1. From the Insert menu, choose References and then select Footnote.
2. In the resulting Footnote and Endnote dialog box, click the Endnotes option.
3. Choose End of Section from the Endnotes dropdown list.
4. Click Apply.

If you’re using Word 2007, follow these steps:

1. Display the References ribbon.
2. In the Footnotes group, click the small icon at the bottom-right.
3. In the resulting Footnote and Endnote dialog box, click the Endnotes option.
4. Choose End of Section from the Endnotes dropdown list.
5. Click Apply.

Simply enter text and notes as you normally would. When you’re ready to start a new section, enter a break by choosing Break from the Insert menu and then selecting the Next Page option (Section Break Types) in the Break dialog box. Left to the default setting, Word will let you enter text after an endnote, but it will interpret it as part of the endnote, and not a new section.

I use this feature to group notes at the end of their respective chapters. This arrangement suits me be better than traditional footnotes or grouping all notes at the end of a manuscript.