Accessing Footnote Text in a Macro

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 6, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

Gary would like to process the information stored in footnotes using a macro. However, he cannot figure out how to do so. He wonders how to step through each footnote and access just the text of the footnote, not the footnote's number.

The key to accessing footnotes in VBA is to use the Footnotes collection, which contains all of the footnotes in the document. This means you can use a For...Each loop to step through each of your footnotes, in this manner:

Sub DoFootnotes()
    Dim fn As Footnote
    Dim sTemp As String

    For Each fn In ActiveDocument.Footnotes
        sTemp = fn.Range.Text
        '
        ' Do something here based on contents of sTemp
        '
    Next fn
End Sub

Note that the value in the .Text property is the text of your footnote, and this macro code assigns that to the sTemp variable. You can then slice and dice sTemp in any way you want to do your processing. You can also, if desired, stuff information back into the .Text property to change the contents of the footnote.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13521) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021.

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

Searching Comments

Need to find that misplaced comment in your worksheet? It's easy to do using the Find and Replace capabilities of Excel.

Discover More

Updating Fields in Locked Forms

Updating form fields in Word can be confusing, especially when the fields are locked in a form. This tips explains why ...

Discover More

Retaining Explicit Formatting after Applying Styles

The formatting in a document is often a mix of styles and explicit formatting, applied over time. You may want to apply ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Getting Rid of Hyperlinks in Footnotes

When you add hyperlinks to a document, Word makes them active, meaning you can click them to open the target of the ...

Discover More

Changing Space between the Footnote Separator and Footnotes

When you add footnotes to a document, Word separates those footnotes from the document body with a separator line. Here's ...

Discover More

Converting Hyperlinks to Footnotes

If you have a document that contains a lot of active hyperlinks, you can use a macro to convert those hyperlinks to ...

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 9 + 3?

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.