If you’re working on a text document and make sure to cite your sources, it’s helpful to have a way to keep your footnotes organized and in order. And footnotes can also be useful for functions beyond citations, as a place to add additional notes or comments that you want to keep as part of your document without breaking the flow of your main text.
To add footnotes to a Word document, there is a special footnote feature that automatically formats your footnotes and gives them a neat and professional look. This is one of those useful Microsoft Word tricks. In this guide, we’ll show you how to add a footnote to a Word document.
How to insert footnotes in Word
The following instructions should apply to the following versions of Microsoft Word: Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010, and Word 2007. The screenshots presented in this article were taken from Word for Microsoft 365.
Step 1: Choose the desired position for the footnote in your document. Then click on it.
Step 2: Choose References Click the tab in the ribbon at the top of the screen.
Step 3: Click on Insert footnote.
Step 4: You will be immediately redirected to the bottom of the page where you can enter your footnote. Enter your footnote here.
Step 5: When you’re finished typing your note, double-click the small number directly in front of the note you just typed. This will return you to where you were in the document itself.
How to insert footnotes in Word: Use a keyboard shortcut
If you know you have a lot of footnotes to add to your project, you may not want to navigate to the References tab every time you want to add a footnote. In this case, you can simply use a quick and convenient keyboard shortcut. Here’s how:
Step 1: Select the location for your footnote and click on it.
Step 2: Then press the following key combination: Alt + Ctrl + F.
Step 3: You will then be redirected to the bottom of the page where you can enter your footnote. When you’re finished typing, simply double-click the small number in front of the footnote you just typed to return to the place in the document where you were.
How do I insert a footer in Word?
Another formatting style you may also want to use in Word is a footer. Unlike a footnote, which only appears on the current page where you insert it, a footer appears on every page of a document. This makes it useful for adding information such as the title and author of the document or page numbers or other information.
To add a footer in Word, go to Insert and then to Footer. Here you will see a field where you can add the text you want. Type what you want in the footer, then press either Esc or click on Close header and footer to save your footer.
To edit an existing footer, you can double-click it and then make your changes.
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