Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. 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: Viewing Footnotes.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 13, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021
Word implements a full-featured footnote system that allows you total control over where and how footnotes are printed. If you are viewing your document in Print Layout view, the footnotes appear at the bottom of your document, the same as how they'll print.
If you are viewing your document in Draft view, however, the footnotes are not normally visible. Word opens the footnotes pane at the bottom of the document window whenever you insert a footnote. Most users, when they are through entering the footnote text, close the footnotes window so they will be able to see more of their document at once. If you later want to view the footnotes pane, you can display the References tab of the ribbon and click Show Notes in the Footnotes group. When you click the tool, the footnotes pane is displayed. You can then make changes to footnotes in the window, if you so desire.
To close the footnotes pane, you can either click on the Close button at the top of the footnotes pane, or you can again click the Show Notes tool. You can also double-click on the border between the document window and the footnotes window to close the footnotes pane in Draft view.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9996) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Viewing Footnotes.
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!
If you need to move footnotes or endnotes from one location to another in a document, you can use editing techniques you ...
Discover MoreMost footnotes in a document start numbering with the number 1 and proceed from there through the rest of your document. ...
Discover MoreWhen your document includes footnotes, Word adds a line between the main text and those footnotes so that they are ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2024 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. 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:
Comments