How to Insert Footnotes and Endnotes in Word

To insert a footnote in Word, click where the reference mark should go and select References > Insert Footnote (Ctrl+Alt+F on Windows). For an endnote, select Insert Endnote (Ctrl+Alt+D). Word places a numbered mark in the text and a matching note at the bottom of the page or the end of the document, and it renumbers every note automatically when you add, move or delete one. That last part is why it matters: a superscript number typed by hand breaks the moment someone moves a paragraph, and in a report with twenty citations, fixing the order by hand costs real time right before a deadline.

Footnotes vs. Endnotes: Which One to Use

Both are notes tied to a reference mark in the body. The difference is where the note text lives.

In business documents, footnotes are usually the right call. When a manager reading a cost review asks "where did this price come from?", the answer should be on the same page. Endnotes work better when the body has to read cleanly and the sources can wait for a list at the end. You can use both in one document; each type keeps its own numbering.

How to Insert a Footnote in Word

Microsoft's footnote training page describes the core steps: click in the text where you want the mark, choose Insert Footnote or Insert Endnote on the References tab, type the note, and double-click the note's number to return to your place in the text.

1. Put the cursor right after the word or punctuation the note refers to.
2. Select References > Insert Footnote, or press Ctrl+Alt+F.
3. Word adds a superscript number and moves the cursor to the footnote area at the bottom of the page.
4. Type the note. For business sources, include what someone needs to find the original: document name, date and item or page number.
5. Double-click the number at the start of the note to jump back to the text. Double-click the mark in the text to jump to the note.

Endnotes work the same way from Insert Endnote or Ctrl+Alt+D. The cursor jumps to the end of the document instead of the bottom of the page. All of these shortcuts are listed in Microsoft's keyboard shortcuts for Word, along with Alt+Shift+> and Alt+Shift+< to move to the next or previous footnote.

A superscript number is not a footnote

A number raised with the Superscript button (Ctrl+Shift+=) on the Home tab only looks like a footnote. It is plain text with no link to any note, so it does not renumber and does not follow its note when pages reflow. A quick test on a document you inherited: double-click the number. If Word does not jump to a note, it is fake. Delete it and insert a real footnote in the same place.

Change Footnote Numbering and Format

Select the small arrow at the bottom right of the footnotes group to open the Footnote and Endnote dialog. It controls:

• Location: bottom of page for footnotes, end of document for endnotes. Endnotes can also be placed at the end of each section.
• Convert: change all footnotes to endnotes, all endnotes to footnotes, or swap them.
• Columns: by default the notes match the section layout. Set one column if a two-column layout makes the notes hard to read.
• Number format, Custom mark, Start at: switch from 1, 2, 3 to a, b, c or symbols such as * and †, and set the first number.
• Numbering: continuous by default, or restart each section or each page.
• Apply changes to: the whole document or only the current section.

Restart numbering for each chapter

Restarting by section only works if the document actually has sections. Place the cursor at the start of each chapter and insert Layout > Breaks > Next Page. Then open the dialog, set Numbering to restart each section, set Apply changes to Whole document, and select Apply. If you skip the section breaks, the whole document is still one section and the numbers keep running, which is the most common reason people think the option is broken.

Change the look of every note at once

Do not format notes one by one. Modify the Footnote Text style to change the font, size and spacing of all note text, and the Footnote Reference style to change the superscript marks. For a one-off change to a single note, select it and press Ctrl+D to open the Font dialog.

👉 How to Change Line Spacing in Word, Paragraph Spacing Too

Remove the Footnote Separator Line

The short line between body text and footnotes cannot be selected in Print Layout. Microsoft's guide to deleting footnotes and separators has you edit it in Draft view:

1. Select View > Draft.
2. Double-click any footnote mark in the text, or select References > Show Notes, to open the Footnotes pane at the bottom.
3. In the pane's list, choose Footnote Separator.
4. Select the line and press Delete, or change its color and weight on the Home tab.
5. Long notes that spill onto the next page use a separate Footnote Continuation Separator in the same list.
6. Return to View > Print Layout.

Delete, Find and Reuse Footnotes

Delete the mark, not the note

The classic mistake is deleting the note text at the bottom of the page. That leaves the number in the body and an empty note. Select the reference mark in the body and press Delete; the note goes with it and the rest renumber. To remove every footnote in a document, press Ctrl+H, type ^f in Find what (^e for endnotes), leave Replace with empty, and select Replace All. If a mark refuses to disappear, check whether Track Changes is on: the deletion is only shown as a strikethrough until it is accepted.

If you delete the wrong note, press Ctrl+Z right away to restore it with its number.

Jump between notes

In a long document, use the Next Footnote dropdown on the References tab to step through next or previous footnotes and endnotes.

Cite the same source twice

Creating a second footnote with the same text duplicates the note. Instead, use References > Cross-reference, set Reference type to Footnote, and choose the earlier note. The cross-reference is a field, so if notes are added later and numbers shift, select all (Ctrl+A) and press F9 to update it.

Worked Example: Footnoting a Supplier Quality Report

Here is one document taken from draft to send. A quality coordinator at Ridgeline Manufacturing, which makes food packaging film, is finishing the Q3 quality report for Crestview Foods. The report is three chapters: defect rates, raw material test results and corrective actions. Crestview's supplier quality team always asks for the source behind every number.

1. Clear out fake numbers. The coordinator started from last quarter's file, which had four hand-typed superscript numbers. None of them jump to a note when double-clicked, so they are deleted and replaced with real footnotes using Ctrl+Alt+F.
2. Cite each figure precisely. The 0.42% defect rate gets "Incoming inspection log, September 2026 summary." The film tensile strength gets "Resin supplier certificate of analysis, issued Aug 28, 2026, item 3." The corrective action dates get "Production meeting minutes, Sept 15, 2026." Each note says where the original is; the interpretation stays in the body.
3. Restart numbers by chapter. Crestview's template numbers footnotes from 1 in each chapter. The coordinator inserts a Next Page section break before chapters 2 and 3, then sets Numbering to restart each section and applies it to the whole document.
4. Match the template format. Modifying the Footnote Text style to 9 pt, single spaced, updates all twelve notes in one step.
5. Move the standards list to endnotes. The list of applicable packaging standards reads better at the end, so those references go in as endnotes. They number separately (i, ii, iii) and do not disturb the footnotes.
6. Remove the separator. The template has no line above the notes, so the coordinator deletes the Footnote Separator in Draft view.
7. Export and check. After saving as PDF, the coordinator scrolls through for footnotes pushed to the next page. One long note on page 2 had split, so it was shortened to keep the note with its figure.

The step that trips people up is step 3. Without section breaks, the restart option appears to do nothing, people start renumbering by hand, and fake numbers creep back in. Done in this order, next quarter's report only needs new figures and new note text.

Word for the Web and Mac Differences

On Windows, Microsoft 365, Word 2024, Word 2021 and Word 2019 share the same footnotes group on the References tab, so the steps above apply to all of them.

• Word for the web: according to Microsoft's web instructions, you insert notes from References > Insert Footnote or Insert Endnote and can change font, size and indentation through Format Footnotes. Converting footnotes to endnotes is done by opening the file in the desktop app with the Open in Word command. If the document opens read-only, switch to Editing first.
• Word for Mac: the References tab has the same Insert Footnote and Insert Endnote buttons. The shortcuts are Command+Option+F for a footnote and Command+Option+E for an endnote, so the endnote letter is E, not D.
• Draft-view tasks such as editing the separator line are done in the desktop app.

FAQ

Q. What is the shortcut for a footnote in Word?

Ctrl+Alt+F on Windows and Command+Option+F on Mac. Endnotes are Ctrl+Alt+D on Windows and Command+Option+E on Mac.

Q. Why won't my footnotes restart at 1 in each chapter?

The chapters are not separate sections. Insert Layout > Breaks > Next Page before each chapter, then set Numbering to restart each section in the Footnote and Endnote dialog and apply it to the whole document.

Q. How do I delete all footnotes at once?

Press Ctrl+H, enter ^f in Find what (^e for endnotes), leave Replace with empty, and select Replace All. Every mark and its note is removed.

Q. Can I convert footnotes to endnotes?

Yes. Open the Footnote and Endnote dialog and select Convert. You can change all footnotes to endnotes, all endnotes to footnotes, or swap them. In Word for the web, open the file in the desktop app to convert.

How inline AI Handles Footnotes

Tracking down the inspection log, certificate or meeting minutes behind every figure and turning typed numbers into real, consistently formatted footnotes is work inline AI takes on. inline AI opens the report and its source files side by side, edits the Word document directly, and adds a footnote with the source name and date for each figure, then sets the numbering and note style to match your template.