The fastest way to add a footnote

Open your document and click at the end of the word or sentence where you want the footnote to appear. Go to the References tab at the top of the screen, then click Insert Footnote. Word automatically numbers the footnote, places a small number in your text, and creates a matching number at the bottom of the page where you can type your note. The footnote moves with your text if you edit the document later.

If you prefer using the keyboard, position your cursor at the footnote location and press Alt + Ctrl + F on Windows or Fn + Command + Option + F on Mac. This does the same thing as clicking the button — Word inserts the number and opens the footnote area for you to type.

You can also right-click at the location where you want the footnote and select Insert Footnote from the menu that appears. All three methods produce the same result.

Key Takeaways

  • Click at the end of your text, go to References tab, and click Insert Footnote to add a numbered note at the bottom of the page.
  • Word automatically numbers footnotes in order and renumbers them if you add or delete footnotes later.
  • You can switch between footnotes and endnotes in the References tab, and endnotes appear at the end of the document instead of at the bottom of each page.
  • Customize how footnotes look by right-clicking a footnote number and choosing Note Options to change the numbering style or starting number.

The difference between footnotes and endnotes

A footnote appears at the bottom of the page where you inserted it. An endnote appears at the very end of your document. Both are numbered automatically, and both work the same way — the only difference is where Word places them.

To insert an endnote instead of a footnote, click the small arrow next to Insert Footnote in the References tab and select Insert Endnote. If you have already added footnotes and want to convert them all to endnotes, right-click any footnote number, select Note Options, and choose Endnotes from the Location dropdown.

Most academic papers use endnotes or footnotes at the end of the document, while some business writing uses footnotes on each page. Choose whichever matches the style guide you are following.

How to edit or delete a footnote

To change the text in a footnote, scroll to the bottom of the page (for footnotes) or the end of the document (for endnotes) and click directly on the note text. Edit it like you would any other text in your document. The footnote number in your main text stays the same.

To delete a footnote, find the small number in your main text where the footnote starts and delete that number. Word automatically removes the footnote and renumbers all the remaining footnotes. Do not delete the footnote from the bottom of the page — deleting the number in the text is the only way to remove it completely.

If you cannot see the footnote numbers clearly, go to the Home tab and click the pilcrow symbol (¶) to show all formatting marks. This makes footnote numbers visible throughout your document.

Changing how footnotes are numbered

By default, Word numbers footnotes 1, 2, 3, and so on. You can change this by right-clicking any footnote number and selecting Note Options. In the dialog box, click the Number format dropdown to choose from options like Roman numerals (I, II, III), letters (a, b, c), or symbols (*, †, ‡).

You can also change the starting number. If you want the first footnote to be number 5 instead of 1, open Note Options and change the Start at field. This is useful if you are working on one chapter of a longer document and want numbering to continue from a previous section.

These changes apply to all footnotes in your document at once. If you need different numbering styles in different sections, you will need to separate those sections and change the settings for each one individually.

Moving between footnotes and your main text

Click any footnote number in your main text to jump directly to that footnote at the bottom of the page. Click the footnote number at the bottom of the page to jump back to where that footnote appears in your text. This makes it easy to check what you wrote without scrolling back and forth.

You can also use the Next Footnote and Previous Footnote buttons in the References tab to move through your footnotes one at a time. This is helpful if you are reviewing all your notes in order.

Printing footnotes correctly

Footnotes print at the bottom of the page where they appear in your document. Endnotes print at the very end. When you print or create a PDF, Word automatically adjusts page breaks so footnotes do not get separated from the text they belong to.

If a footnote is very long and does not fit at the bottom of the page, Word moves it to the next page or converts it to an endnote depending on your settings. You can control this behavior by going to References, clicking the small arrow next to Insert Footnote, and selecting Note Options. Under Location, you can choose whether footnotes stay at the bottom of the page or move to the end of the section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have different footnote styles in the same document?

No, all footnotes in a single document use the same numbering style and format. If you need different styles, you must divide your document into separate sections and apply different settings to each section. You can do this by inserting section breaks in the Page Layout tab.

What happens to footnotes if I copy and paste text to another document?

The footnote and its number come with the text when you paste it. However, the numbering may change to fit the new document's existing footnotes. If the pasted text had footnote 3 but your new document already has 10 footnotes, the pasted footnote becomes number 11.

Can I make footnotes appear as superscript numbers?

Yes, they already do by default. The small raised numbers in your text are superscript. If they are not displaying that way, select the footnote number in your text, go to the Home tab, and click the superscript button (x²) to format it.

How do I prevent a footnote from moving to the next page?

Word automatically keeps footnotes with the text they belong to. If a footnote is moving unexpectedly, check your page break settings and make sure you have not inserted a manual page break right before the footnote. You can also convert it to an endnote, which always stays at the end of the document.