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Chicago Author-Date Website Citation with No Date
In Chicago Author-Date, if a webpage gives no publication date and no revision date, write n.d. in the year position after the author or organization, keep the rest of the webpage entry in the normal order, and add an access date to show when you consulted the page.
Use this guide for the reference list entry. If you need the matching in-text form, see Chicago Author-Date In-Text Citation with No Date. If the same webpage also has no author, use Chicago Author-Date Website Citation with No Author.
When a Chicago Author-Date webpage has no date
Check first for any publication, updated, revised, or last modified date that clearly belongs to the page.
If no usable date appears, put n.d. in the year position immediately after the first element of the entry.
Missing a date does not move the title to the front. If the page has an author or organization, keep that author-first structure.
Add an access date for an undated webpage and keep that access date separate from n.d..
Use the same author and n.d. combination in the matching in-text citation.
Need the broader Chicago website pattern for pages that do show a publication or revision date?
See the Chicago Author-Date Website Citation Guide.
If you want to build the entry from a URL, use the URL Citation tool.
Chicago Author-Date Rules for Website Citations with No Date
Check carefully before deciding that the webpage is undated
Chicago uses n.d. only when the source does not list a publication date or a revision date you can cite. Before you treat a page as undated, look for a posted date, an updated note, or a last modified line that clearly belongs to the page.
Many webpages place that information below the headline, near the author line, or at the end of the article rather than at the top.
If the page gives a publication or revision date, this is no longer a no-date citation.
Put n.d. in the year position right after the first element
Chicago 17 keeps the year slot visible in author-date references. When no date can be determined, that slot becomes n.d..
If the webpage has a named author, place n.d. after that person. If an organization is the author, place n.d. after the organization name.
Missing a date does not change the first element. A webpage with an author still begins with the author. Title-first treatment belongs to no-author cases.
Keep the ordinary website structure after n.d.
After the author and n.d., give the webpage title in quotation marks, then the website title as a separate element when it helps identify the source.
Because the page is undated, there is no later month-day publication detail to add. The next useful recovery detail is usually the access date, followed by the URL.
If the same webpage also has no author, Chicago allows a title-first entry or, in some cases, a clearly responsible site owner as author. That scenario is covered in Chicago Author-Date Website Citation with No Author.
Add an access date for an undated webpage
In Chicago 17, access dates are used for sources without a date of publication or revision. For an undated webpage, the access date records when you consulted the version you saw.
Place the access date after the title information and before the URL in the form Accessed Month Day, Year.
If you saved a public archived version through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine or a similar service, Chicago also allows citing that archived version instead of a live access-date URL.
The access date gives readers extra recovery information. It does not replace n.d. in the year position.
Keep the in-text citation aligned with the undated reference
The matching in-text citation also uses n.d.. Chicago does not swap in your access date as the year in parentheses.
If the reference list entry begins with an author or organization, the in-text citation begins with that same element. If the reference begins with a title because the page has no author, the in-text citation begins with a shortened title.
For the in-text rule in full, use Chicago Author-Date In-Text Citation with No Date.
How Chicago Handles No-Date Webpages Differently
Chicago keeps the year position visible even when the source is undated. That makes it different from MLA, which normally omits the date element instead of writing n.d..
Chicago also differs from APA in the form of the entry. APA uses (n.d.) in parentheses, while Chicago uses plain n.d. after the author or organization and keeps the webpage title in quotation marks.
How to Format a Chicago Author-Date Website Citation with No Date
Use this sequence when a webpage shows no publication date and no revision date.
- Check the page one more time for a publication, revised, updated, or last modified date.
- Identify the first element you would normally use, usually the author or organization.
- Write n.d. immediately after that first element.
- Add the full webpage title in quotation marks.
- Add the website title when it helps identify the source.
- Insert Accessed Month Day, Year. because the page is undated.
- Finish with the direct URL.
- If you used a public archived version, cite that archived link instead of the live page URL.
- Use the same first element and n.d. in the matching in-text citation.
- If the webpage also has no author, switch to the no-author pattern rather than forcing an author-first entry.
Author Last Name, First Name. n.d. “Title of Webpage.” Website Title. Accessed Month Day, Year. URL. Organization Name. n.d. “Title of Webpage.” Website Title. Accessed Month Day, Year. URL. Organization Name. n.d. “Title of Webpage.” Archived Month Day, Year, at Archived URL. “Title of Webpage.” n.d. Website Title. Accessed Month Day, Year. URL. Chicago Author-Date Website Citation Examples with No Date
These examples focus on the reference list entry first. For the matching in-text form, use Chicago Author-Date In-Text Citation with No Date.
Undated webpage with a named author
Keep the author first, then use n.d. and an access date.
Reference list entry
Molina, Rachel. n.d. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Undated webpage with an organization author
Use the organization as the first element when it is clearly the author of the page.
Reference list entry
State Climate Lab. n.d. “Seasonal Heat Readiness Checklist.” Public Weather Resources. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.publicweatherresources.gov/heat-readiness-checklist.
No author and no date on the same webpage
When both pieces of information are missing, the title moves to the first position and the in-text citation begins with a shortened title.
Reference list entry
“Transfer Housing Arrival Checklist.” n.d. North Harbor Student Life. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.northharbor.edu/student-life/transfer-housing-checklist.
Matching in-text start
The matching in-text citation could begin with ("Transfer Housing" n.d.).
Archived version of an undated webpage
If you saved a public archived copy, Chicago allows that archived link in place of the live access-date version.
Reference list entry
State Climate Lab. n.d. “Seasonal Heat Readiness Checklist.” Archived April 2, 2026, at https://web.archive.org/web/20260402121500/https://www.publicweatherresources.gov/heat-readiness-checklist.
Matching in-text citation for an undated webpage
The access date stays in the reference list. The in-text citation keeps n.d..
Reference list entry
Molina, Rachel. n.d. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Parenthetical citation
(Molina n.d.)
Narrative citation
Molina (n.d.)
Page that looks undated but actually is not
If the page shows a revision date, use that date instead of forcing a no-date entry.
Correct approach
Molina, Rachel. 2025. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. September 14. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Common Mistakes in Chicago Author-Date Website Citations with No Date
Leaving the year position blank
Chicago keeps the year slot visible. When the webpage is undated, that slot becomes n.d..
Wrong
✕ Molina, Rachel. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Correct
✓ Molina, Rachel. n.d. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Turning your access date into the publication year
The day you visited the page is not the page's publication year. Keep n.d. in the year position and place the access date later in the entry.
Wrong
✕ Molina, Rachel. 2026. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Correct
✓ Molina, Rachel. n.d. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Moving the title to the first position when the page has an author
A missing date does not make the source a no-author citation. If the webpage has an author, keep that author in the first position.
Wrong
✕ “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” n.d. Campus Writing Exchange. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Correct
✓ Molina, Rachel. n.d. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Using n.d. even though the page shows a revision date
Chicago reserves n.d. for webpages that do not list a publication or revision date. If the page gives one, cite it.
Wrong
✕ Molina, Rachel. n.d. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Correct
✓ Molina, Rachel. 2025. “Planning a Quiet Study Retreat.” Campus Writing Exchange. September 14. https://www.campuswritingexchange.org/study-retreat.
Need the matching Chicago Author-Date in-text form for the same source?
Official Chicago 17 References Used for This Page
We grounded this page in official Chicago 17 guidance on no-date author-date entries, access dates for undated online sources, and the related no-author website pattern.
- The Chicago Manual of Style Online Q&A: How do I cite a website that has no publication date?
- The Chicago Manual of Style Online Q&A: How should an undated website source be cited in the text?
- The Chicago Manual of Style Online Q&A: Author-date example for an undated document on a website
- The Chicago Manual of Style Online Q&A: Access dates are recommended only for undated documents
- The Chicago Manual of Style Online Q&A: Can a website without an author begin with the article title?
This guide stays focused on the reference list entry for an undated webpage. For the broader Chicago website pattern, use Chicago Author-Date Website Citation. For the matching in-text rule, use Chicago Author-Date In-Text Citation with No Date.
Related Chicago Author-Date Guides
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