Why is my bibliography empty?

Word's bibliography only includes sources added through References > Insert Citation > Add New Source. Manually typed citations won't appear. You need to add each source through Word's citation manager first.

Fix: Bibliography Not Generating or Updating in Word

Why the Bibliography Won’t Generate

Word’s built-in bibliography tool relies on its citation manager. If you typed citations manually or used a different tool, the bibliography generator won’t find them.

Schritt-für-Schritt-Lösung

Step 1: Check Your Citation Sources

Go to References > Manage Sources
Verify your sources appear in the Current List (right side)
If they’re only in the Master List (left side), select them and click Copy → to add them to the current document

Step 2: Insert or Update the Bibliography

Place your cursor where you want the bibliography
Go to References > Bibliography
Choose a format (Bibliography, References, or Works Cited)
The bibliography generates from all sources in the current document

Step 3: Update an Existing Bibliography

If you’ve added new citations since inserting the bibliography:

Click inside the bibliography
Click Update Citations and Bibliography at the top of the field
Or right-click > Update Field

Step 4: Fix Missing Sources

If some citations don’t appear in the bibliography:

Go to References > Manage Sources
Make sure each source has been cited in the document (via Insert Citation)
Sources that haven’t been cited won’t appear in the bibliography
Use the Citation placeholder feature if you haven’t finished adding source details

Step 5: Change Citation Style

Go to References > Style dropdown
Choose your required format (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.)
The bibliography automatically reformats

Häufige Fehler vermeiden

Typing citations manually instead of using Insert Citation
Having sources in the Master List but not the Current List
Not clicking Update after adding new citations
Using a third-party citation manager that conflicts with Word’s built-in tool