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: Deleting Footnotes and Endnotes.

Deleting Footnotes and Endnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 12, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


If you have previously inserted footnotes or endnotes into your document and you want to later delete one of them, follow these steps:

  1. Highlight the footnote or endnote reference mark in your document. (In the document itself, not in the footnote or endnote area.)
  2. Press either Del or Ctrl+X.

The footnote or endnote is deleted, and if you are using auto-numbered footnotes or endnotes, the remaining notes in your document are renumbered.

You should note that it does no good to delete the footnote or endnote text; you must delete the footnote or endnote reference itself.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1684) 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: Deleting 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. ...

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