Center-column Footnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 15, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Word has a powerful footnoting and endnoting system that allows you to place references of your choosing within your document and link them to footnotes or endnotes that can appear at a couple of different places in your document. Unfortunately, a "center column" is not one of the places you can automatically place footnotes. This precludes you from using footnotes to place references between columns of text, as is done in some editions of the Bible.

This does not mean that you cannot place your notes between columns, just that you cannot use Word to do it automatically. For instance, instead of using footnotes, you could manually place your "footnote" reference marks, and then manually place a simulated footnote in the center column. You, of course, would be responsible for figuring out placement on the page and controlling page breaking—not a trivial task, by any means.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1484) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

File Sizes in Word

The size of files created by Word depends on the version of the program you are using. Here's an analysis of the minimum ...

Discover More

Default Numbering Format for Endnotes

The default format for endnote numbers is lowercase Roman numerals. If you want the numbers to use a different format, ...

Discover More

Setting Decimal Tabs in a Table Using the Keyboard

Most people use the mouse to set tab stops in the paragraphs in a table. If you prefer to not use the mouse, then you'll ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Using Multiple References to the Same Footnote

Do you want to have multiple footnote references to the same actual footnote in a document? The easiest way to do this is ...

Discover More

Automatically Adding Tabs in Footnotes

When you add a footnote to a document, Word's normal formatting adds a space after the footnote number and before the ...

Discover More

Formatting Footnote Reference Marks

The reference marks that appear for footnotes in a document are normally just superscripted digits. If you want to change ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 2 + 2?

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.