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: Jumping to a Relative Footnote.

Jumping to a Relative Footnote

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 25, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you are using footnotes in your document, you may have a need to jump from one footnote to another. Word makes it easy to jump to a footnote relative to the footnote at which you are currently located. You do this in the following manner:

Press F5. Word displays the Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

In the left side of the dialog box, choose Footnote. This informs Word what you want to go to. The Enter Page Number box is relabeled as the Enter Footnote Number box.
In the Enter Footnote Number box, enter a plus or minus sign followed by the number of footnotes you want to jump. Plus is forward; minus is backward. For instance, you could jump forward four footnotes by entering +4. Word changes the Next button to a Go To button.
Click on the Go To button.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1848) 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: Jumping to a Relative Footnote.

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

Viewing Footnotes and Endnotes

Footnotes and endnotes are normally visible with the rest of your document, but such visibility is dependent on which ...

Discover More

Field in Footer Won't Update

Word provides a handy shortcut that allows you to update the fields in any text you've selected. When you select your ...

Discover More

Making Data Universally Accessible to Workbooks

If you are using Excel as a repository for data used in your business, you may want to figure out a way to make that ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

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

Converting Footnotes to Endnotes

When you spend a lot of time creating footnotes, how can you convert all of them to endnotes without entering them all ...

Discover More

Disappearing Footnotes

Footnotes can be an integral part of many documents, particularly those written for a scholarly audience. If those ...

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 0 + 7?

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.