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.
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.
Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!
Depending on whom you are writing for, you may want your footnote and endnote references to appear a specific way. Word ...
Discover MoreNeed to make a cross-reference from one footnote to another footnote? You can do it if you throw bookmarks into the mix, ...
Discover MoreWhen you insert footnotes in a document, Word allows you to modify the formatting applied to the footnote references. ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
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: 
Comments