Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Jumping to a Footnote.

Jumping to a Footnote

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 3, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365

You can use the Go To function of Word to jump to a specific footnote in your document. This is done in the following manner:

Choose Go To from the Edit menu, or press F5. Word displays 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. (See Figure 1.)

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

In the Enter Footnote Number box, enter the footnote number to which you want to jump. If you want to go to the next footnote, leave the box blank.
Click on the Go To button or the Next button. (This is the same button. The name changes depending on whether you entered a footnote number in step 3.)

If you want to go to a footnote relative to the one you are currently viewing, you can enter a + or - in step 3. For instance, if you want to jump ahead three footnotes, you would enter +3 in the Enter Footnote Number box. Likewise, if you wanted to jump back 2 footnotes, you would enter -2.

If there are no footnotes in the document, or if you enter an invalid footnote number, Word positions you at the beginning of the 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 (9191) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Jumping to a 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

Turning Off AutoFill for a Workbook

Don't want people using your workbook to be able to use AutoFill? You can add two quick macros that disable and enable ...

Discover More

Canceling a Command

Need to cancel a command you've already started? It is as easy as pressing a single keystroke.

Discover More

Making Sure a Document Always Has an Even Number of Pages

For some documents, you may want to make sure that a printout always has an even number of pages. Word has no intrinsic ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Removing Spaces before Footnote References

If you need to remove a space before a footnote reference, doing so may seem an impossible task. However, you can use two ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of Extra Spaces at the End of a Footnote

If you use Find and Replace to get rid of trailing spaces in a paragraph, you may have noticed that it doesn't work ...

Discover More

Inserting Footnotes

Footnotes appear at the bottom (or foot) of each page. It is an easy task to insert a footnote at any point you desire, ...

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 five more than 8?

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 ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.