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: Jumping to a Relative Footnote.

Jumping to a Relative Footnote

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 7, 2023)

If you are using footnotes in your document, you may have a need to jump from one footnote to another. Word makes it easy to jump to a footnote relative to the footnote at which you are currently located. You do this in the following manner:

Press F5. Word displays the Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. 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. The Enter Page Number box is relabeled as the Enter Footnote Number box.
In the Enter Footnote Number box, enter a plus or minus sign followed by the number of footnotes you want to jump. Plus is forward; minus is backward. For instance, you could jump forward four footnotes by entering +4. Word changes the Next button to a Go To button.
Click on the Go To button.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11325) 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: Jumping to a Relative 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...

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