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: Copying and Moving Footnotes.

Copying and Moving Footnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 3, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Word implements a full-featured footnote system that allows you almost total control over where and how footnotes are printed. If you have previously inserted footnotes into your document and you want to duplicate a footnote, you can use techniques you already know for copying regular text. To copy a footnote, follow these steps:

Highlight the footnote reference mark in your document.
Press Ctrl+C. The footnote reference mark and the associated footnote are copied to the Clipboard.
Position the insertion point at the location where you want to copy the footnote.
Press Ctrl+V. The footnote reference mark is inserted in your document, and the associated footnote is added to the footnotes section. If you are using auto-numbered footnotes, all the footnotes in your document are renumbered.

If you instead want to move a footnote to another location in your document (or even in another document), you can use similar techniques. All you need to do is use Ctrl+X in step 2 instead of the noted Ctrl+C.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1150) 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: Copying and Moving 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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Determining How Many Windows are Open

You can open multiple documents at the same time in Word, and each document occupies its own document window. Here's a ...

Discover More

Adjusting a Path Based on System and User

It is not uncommon to set variables in a macro based on other values, such as time or date. You could also set variables ...

Discover More

Word Count in Multiple Selections

Getting a word count for an entire document is easy. What you may not know is that some versions of Word can also provide ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Adding Information after the Endnotes

Endnotes appear at the end of the document, right? Not always, as Word provides a way that you can actually add as much ...

Discover More

Using Cross-References in Footnotes

Need to make a cross-reference from one footnote to another footnote? You can do it if you throw bookmarks into the mix, ...

Discover More

Mixing Note Numbering

When inserting footnotes and endnotes in a document, most of us don't give much thought to the format used in the ...

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 6 - 0?

2016-05-06 22:29:01

Garry Munday

I have a document that has been formatted to add footnotes to the bottom of the relevant pages. I wish to change that to having them at the end of each chapter.
I don't seem to be able to find it in your tips. Can you help, please.
Garry

2015-10-13 04:04:06

Merry

Moving text that has footnotes presents a problem if you don't remember to mark the footnotes first (not always a priority when editing).

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.