How do I fix unformatted (hashtag) citations in EndNote?
Usually when you insert a citation to a Word document using EndNote, it will show up immediately in the body of the document using the selected style (such as Harvard Manchester), and appear in the references list at the end. Sometimes, you might see strange codes appear instead, with curly braces, a hash symbol and a number. This is the internal code for the citation.
If you use the Instant Formatting feature, you should never see these internal codes. However, you may still see some citations written like this if the Instant Formatting feature was turned off when you inserted the citation. In such cases, the citation may be missing from the references list at the end of the document.
To fix these codes, turn 'Instant Formatting' off and on again with these steps:
- Go to the EndNote ribbon menu in Word.
- In the 'Bibliography' group, click the 'Instant Formatting' button to turn the feature off if it is currently on.
- Click the 'Instant Formatting' button again to turn it on.
- Check that your citations and reference list have been updated.
For more information, see the Clarivate support post for EndNote online. These instructions apply to EndNote Desktop and online for Windows and macOS.
