How to Add Footnotes in Word
Important formatting for research papers
Have you heard the one about the author who said if he practiced yoga long enough he’d be able to pick up a pencil with his toes? He said, “Then I’ll be able to write footnotes.” (Sorry.)
Seriously, though, there are lots of reasons you might want to add footnotes to a Word document. In academia, footnotes are frequently used to cite sources. In other kinds of writing, footnotes are a way to add information without detracting or distracting from the main text. Even popular fiction authors like Terry Pratchett and Junot Díaz put footnotes to good use in their novels.
Microsoft Word has had built-in support for footnotes for decades. Below we’ll walk you through how to add footnotes in your Word document, and we’ll add a couple tips and tricks to try. These instructions should work on any modern version of Word.
How to Insert a Footnote Into a Word Document
Repeat the steps above to add multiple footnotes to your document. Footnotes will always appear at the bottom of the page they’re used on. Anyone old enough to have used a typewriter might remember how hard it was to predict how much space to leave at the bottom of the page to fit footnotes. Luckily, Word figures all that out for you and automatically adjusts.
If you add a new footnote to the middle of your document before one or more existing footnotes, Word will renumber your footnotes accordingly.
Viewing Footnotes in the Main Document Text
Once you’ve added a footnote in Word, you can hover your mouse over the superscript footnote reference number within the main document text to quickly view a popup of that footnote, making it easy to read the footnote without scrolling to the bottom of the page.
To find the next or previous footnote within the main document text, select theNext Footnotebutton on the References tab of the ribbon.
If you select the dropdown arrow to the right of theNext Footnotebutton, you’ll see thePrevious Footnotebutton.
Formatting and Customizing Footnotes in Microsoft Word
To customize the format and other aspects of footnotes, selectReferencesand thepopout arrowin the Footnotes section of the toolbar.
The Footnote and Endnote options panel will display. This is where you can make the following customizations:
When you’re finished adjusting these options, select theApplybutton.
A good way to format footnotes in Word is to select them all and apply a style to them. Better yet, adjust Microsoft’s built-in style for Footnotes. Here’s how.
If you’re using a desktop version of Word, then you can customize the line that separates the footnote section of each page containing footnotes.
Get the Most You Can Out of Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word has been around for so long that even people who have been using it for decades don’t know all its secrets. Expand your Word expertise by learninghow to create a mail merge, finding thebest add-ins, oradding new fonts.
Maggie Marystone is a freelance technology writer, human rights worker, and storyteller based in Chicago.Read Maggie’s Full Bio
Welcome to Help Desk Geek- a blog full of tech tips from trusted tech experts. We have thousands of articles and guides to help you troubleshoot any issue. Our articles have been read over 150 million times since we launched in 2008.
HomeAbout UsEditorial StandardsContact UsTerms of Use
Copyright © 2008-2024 Help Desk Geek.com, LLC All Rights Reserved
