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: Changing the Footnote Separator.

Changing the Footnote Separator

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 16, 2017)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you are using footnotes in Word, you have control over where they appear in your document. In other issues of WordTips you learned that you can place them at the end of the text on a page, or at the bottom of the page itself. Regardless of the placement, Word can print a separator between your main document text and the footnotes. The default separator is a solid line, but you can either change or delete the footnote separator, as desired.

To change the footnote separator, follow these steps:

Make sure you are viewing your document in Normal view.
Select Footnotes from the View menu.
If you are using Word 2000 or a later version and you have both footnotes and endnotes defined in your document, Word displays the View Footnotes dialog box. (See Figure 1.) Click on the View Footnote Area radio button and then click on OK.

Figure 1. The View Footnotes dialog box.

Using the Notes drop-down list at the top of the Footnotes window, choose Footnote Separator. Word displays the current separator in the window.
Change or delete the separator, as desired.
When you are satisfied with the appearance of the separator, close the footnote window.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1847) 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: Changing the Footnote Separator.

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

Getting the Names of Defined Bookmarks

When creating a macro, you may need to determine the names of the bookmarks in the document. You can do this using the ...

Discover More

Moving a Worksheet to Another Workbook

One of the organizational tools provided by Excel is the ability to move worksheets from one workbook to another. Here's ...

Discover More

Vertically Aligning Text and an Image

Getting your images and text positioned exactly where you want them can be a challenge. Here are the settings you need to ...

Discover More

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!

More WordTips (menu)

Inserting and Deleting Footnotes

Footnotes are essential in some types of writing. When you need to add footnotes to your documents, you'll appreciate the ...

Discover More

Different Layouts for Footnotes

If you want to have footnotes appear in a different number of columns than what your text appears in, you may be out of ...

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

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 1 + 9?

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.