Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 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: Deleting Footnotes and Endnotes.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 16, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365
If you previously inserted footnotes or endnotes into your document and you want to later delete one of them, follow these steps:
Figure 1. Select the footnote reference in the document, not in the footnote.
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. You can freely edit the text in the footnote or endnote, but you cannot delete it completely unless you delete the footnote or endnote reference, as described above.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (754) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Deleting Footnotes and Endnotes.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 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:
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