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: Understanding Footnotes and Endnotes.

Understanding Footnotes and Endnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 4, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Footnotes are referenced items that appear outside the main flow of the text in your document. Typically footnotes are used to cite a source or provide additional information about a quote or some such item within a document. Footnotes normally appear on each page of your printed document, at the foot (or bottom) of the page.

Endnotes are very similar to footnotes and serve the same general purpose. The difference is that endnotes do not appear at the bottom of each page, but at the end of each chapter of a book or at the end of the book itself.

Word allows you to create both footnotes and endnotes. You have complete control over placement and appearance of both of these note types in your document.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1681) 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: Understanding Footnotes and Endnotes.

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

Copying Comments to Cells

Need to copy whatever is in a comment into a cell on your worksheet? If you have lots of comments, manually doing this ...

Discover More

Minimizing the Ribbon for a Document

Want the ribbon to be minimized for a particular document? Word may not allow you to get the exact result you want, as ...

Discover More

Stepping Through a Non-Contiguous Range of Cells

Using macros to step through each cell in a selection is a common occurrence. What if that selected range is made up of ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Including Footnotes and Endnotes in Word Counts

When you have Word calculate how many words there are in a document, it normally doesn't pay attention to text in ...

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

Selectively Changing Endnotes to Footnotes

Want to turn some (but not all) of your endnotes into footnotes. Rather than do it manually, you can apply the shortcut ...

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 three less than 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.