About footnotes and endnotes

Footnotes and endnotes are used in printed documents to explain, comment on, or provide references for text in a document. You might use footnotes for detailed comments and endnotes for citation of sources.

Footnotes and endnotes in a document

Callout 1 Footnote and endnote reference marks

Callout 2 Separator line

Callout 3 Footnote text

Callout 4 Endnote text

A footnote or an endnote consists of two linked parts — the note reference mark (note reference mark: A number, character, or combination of characters that indicates that additional information is contained in a footnote or endnote.) and the corresponding note text.

You can add note text of any length and format note text just as you would any other text. You can customize note separators, the lines that separate the document text from the note text.

ShowAutomatic numbering

Microsoft Word automatically numbers footnotes and endnotes for you, whether you use a single numbering scheme throughout a document, or different numbering schemes within each section (section: A portion of a document in which you set certain page formatting options. You create a new section when you want to change such properties as line numbering, number of columns, or headers and footers.) in a document. After you insert the first footnote or endnote in a document or in a section, subsequent footnotes and endnotes are automatically numbered with the correct format.

ShowViewing and printing footnotes and endnotes

If you're viewing the printed document on-screen, you can view notes by resting the pointer on the note reference mark in the document. The note text appears above the mark. When you print the document, footnotes appear where you specified: either at the end of each page or directly below the text. In the printed document, endnotes also appear where you specified: either at the end of the document or at the end of each section (section: A portion of a document in which you set certain page formatting options. You create a new section when you want to change such properties as line numbering, number of columns, or headers and footers.).

ShowFootnotes and endnotes on a Web page

Microsoft Word automatically changes the footnotes and endnotes to hyperlinks (hyperlink: Colored and underlined text or a graphic that you click to go to a file, a location in a file, a Web page on the World Wide Web, or a Web page on an intranet. Hyperlinks can also go to newsgroups and to Gopher, Telnet, and FTP sites.) and moves the footnotes to the end of the Web page. If the document also contains endnotes, Word places them directly after the footnotes. Word inserts short horizontal lines called note separators to separate the main text from the footnotes and the footnotes from the endnotes. In the browser, custom note separators appear as short horizontal lines.

How-to information    Find links to more information about adding footnotes and endnotes under See Also, which is visible when you are connected to the Internet.

 
 
Applies to:
Word 2003