How to Add Citations and a Bibliography in Word
Formatting references by hand is fiddly and easy to get wrong. Word can store your sources, insert citations in the right style and build the bibliography for you — then reformat everything if your tutor asks for a different style.
Quick reference
| What you want | How |
|---|---|
| Choose a referencing style | References → Style |
| Add a citation | References → Insert Citation |
| Create a bibliography | References → Bibliography |
| Update it | Click it → Update Citations and Bibliography |
1. Pick your referencing style
Go to the References tab and open the Style drop-down. Choose the style you've been asked to use — APA, MLA, Harvard – Anglia, Chicago, IEEE and more.
2. Add your first citation
1. Click at the end of the sentence that needs a reference.
2. Go to References → Insert Citation → Add New Source…
3. Choose the Type of Source — book, journal article, website and so on.
4. Fill in the author, title, year, publisher or URL.
5. Click OK.
2. Go to References → Insert Citation → Add New Source…
3. Choose the Type of Source — book, journal article, website and so on.
4. Fill in the author, title, year, publisher or URL.
5. Click OK.
Word inserts the citation in the right format, for example (Smith, 2024).
3. Cite the same source again
Click Insert Citation and your saved sources appear at the top of the list. Just click one.
To add a page number, click the citation, then the small arrow → Edit Citation → type the Pages.
4. Create the bibliography
1. Click at the end of your document (add a page break first with Ctrl + Enter).
2. Go to References → Bibliography.
3. Choose Bibliography, References or Works Cited.
2. Go to References → Bibliography.
3. Choose Bibliography, References or Works Cited.
Every source you've cited is listed and correctly formatted.
5. Keep it up to date
Added more citations? Click anywhere in the bibliography and choose Update Citations and Bibliography at the top of its box.
6. Switch to a different style
Change the Style drop-down and every citation and the whole bibliography reformat instantly.
7. Manage all your sources
References → Manage Sources shows every source you've ever entered. Copy them from the Master List into the current document to reuse them in your next essay.
Troubleshooting
The bibliography turned into plain text. It was converted to static text. Undo, or insert a new bibliography.
My university's style isn't listed. Pick the closest match and check your guide, or use a reference manager such as Zotero or Mendeley, which plug into Word.
Wrapping up
Pick the style first, use Insert Citation as you write, and add the Bibliography at the end. Word does the formatting.
