Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 6, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365
Francesca is writing a macro that she will use to format the footnote numbers in a document and in the actual footnotes. If, for instance, she wants to make the footnote numbers (in both places) bold and red, she wonders how to do that.
There is actually an easier way to do this than with a macro. Before getting to that, however, let's look at the way you would do it if you choose to use a macro. The following is one approach to doing the formatting:
Sub FormatFootnoteNumbers() Dim i As Long Dim rngFootnote As Range Dim rngText As Range 'Set variables For i = 1 To ActiveDocument.Footnotes.Count Set rngFootnote = ActiveDocument.Footnotes(i).Reference Set rngText = rngFootnote.Range 'Format footnote number rngText.Font.Bold = True rngText.Font.Color = RGB(255, 0, 0) Next i End Sub
The macro steps through each footnote, sets rngText to the appropriate reference text, and then makes it bold and red. The macro runs very quickly, and will need to be re-run whenever you add any new footnotes to your document.
Now, for the non-macro approach—rely on styles. Whenever you insert a footnote into your document, Word automatically formats the footnote references—both within the main document and within the footnotes themselves—using the Footnote Reference style. Thus, if you want the footnote references to look different, just modify the style used to format them. Follow these steps:
At this point, all of the footnote references in the document are updated to match the changes made in step 5. And, if you insert any additional footnotes in your document, they reflect the desired Footnote Reference style, as well.
Note:
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