Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Viewing Footnotes.

Viewing Footnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 21, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Word implements a full-featured footnote system that allows you total control over where and how footnotes are printed. If you are viewing your document in Print Layout view, the footnotes appear on your document the same as any other text.

If you are viewing your document in Normal view, the footnotes are not normally visible. Word opens the footnotes pane at the bottom of the document window whenever you insert a footnote. Most users, when they are through entering the footnote text, close the footnotes window so they will be able to see more of their document at once. If you later want to view the footnotes pane, you can use the Footnotes option from the View menu. When you select this, the footnotes pane is displayed. You can then make changes to footnotes in the window, if you so desire.

To close the footnotes pane, you can either click on the Close button at the top of the footnotes pane, or you can again choose Footnotes from the View menu.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1101) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Viewing Footnotes.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Ordering Worksheets Based on a Cell Value

Need to sort your worksheets so that they appear in an order determined by the value of a cell on each worksheet? Using a ...

Discover More

Changing the Starting Page Number

Word normally numbers pages in a document starting at one and extending as far as the number of pages you have. If you ...

Discover More

Word 2013 Styles and Templates (Table of Contents)

Styles are at the heart of Word's formatting power. Understanding how to use styles can greatly increase your ability to ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (menu)

Footnotes within Footnotes

Need to add footnotes to your footnotes? It's actually allowed by some style guides, but Word doesn't make it so easy.

Discover More

Controlling Endnote Placement

Endnotes are often used in technical and scholarly documents. You can control exactly where the endnotes appear in your ...

Discover More

Copying and Moving Footnotes and Endnotes

If you need to move footnotes or endnotes from one location to another in a document, you can use editing techniques you ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 1 + 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.