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: Moving Footnote Text into the Document.

Moving Footnote Text into the Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 13, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Footnotes are used quite often in some types of documents, such as scholarly papers or those where it is important to document supporting information. If you have a footnote whose text you want to move into the main body of the document—and thereby do away with the footnote—then you typically follow these steps:

  1. Select all the text in the footnote.
  2. Press Ctrl+X to cut the selected text to the Clipboard.
  3. Position the insertion pointer before the footnote reference.
  4. Press Ctrl+V to paste the text into the document.
  5. Delete the footnote reference, thereby removing the footnote.

Doing this once or twice is OK; doing it many times can be a pain. The solution to make the process faster is to use a macro. The following macro essentially automates the above steps:

Sub MoveFootnote()
    If Selection.Footnotes.Count = 1 Then
        Selection.Footnotes(1).Range.Copy
        Selection.Collapse direction:=wdCollapseStart
        Selection.Paste
        Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
        Selection.Delete Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
    End If
End Sub

In order to use the macro, select the footnote reference before you run it. The macro checks to make sure that there is a single footnote reference in the selection. If there is, it copies the footnote text, pastes it in front of the footnote reference, and then deletes the footnote reference. The result is that you move the footnote text into the document at the same point where the footnote reference used to be.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (313) 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: Moving Footnote Text into the Document.

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

Using Multiple References to a Single Comment

Find yourself repeating the same comment over and over? Here's a couple of ways you can save some typing by simply ...

Discover More

Blocking the First Sentence from File Info

When you save a file, the information from the start of the file is saved in the properties for the document and can be ...

Discover More

Comma-Delimited Differences for PC and Mac

When you choose to save worksheet data in CSV format, Excel gives you three choices for file formats. Those choices are ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Where Do You Want Your Endnotes?

Endnotes can be placed in a couple of different places in your document, not just at the very end. Here's how you can ...

Discover More

Inserting Endnotes

Endnotes appear at either the end of a section or the end of an entire document. It is just as easy to insert an endnote ...

Discover More

Brackets around Footnote References

When you insert footnotes in a document, Word allows you to modify the formatting applied to the footnote references. ...

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 nine minus 4?

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.