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, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

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, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365.

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

Putting Your Index after Your Endnotes

Endnotes are supposed to be at the end of your document, right? Not necessarily. You may want something else at the end, ...

Discover More

Adding Dashes between Letters

When processing some text data, you may need to perform some esoteric function, such as adding dashes between letters. ...

Discover More

Inserting a Frame

Frames are an object you can place in your document. They go back to the earliest days of Word, before text boxes were ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Continuous Formatting for Footnotes

If you've got a lot of short footnotes in a document, you might be looking for a way to save space by "crunching up" 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

Viewing Footnotes

Adding footnotes to a document is essential for some types of writing. How you view those footnotes depends on the ...

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 five less than 9?

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.