Create or Revise Footnotes or Endnotes in Outlines: MS Word

As you write a lengthy document, you may refer to the words or ideas of another person or company.

So that the source for your facts, ideas and quotations in your document are evident, you should include some sort of citation. Sometimes you can do this briefly in the body of your document, by including the author and date of publication in parentheses, but sometimes footnotes or endnotes containing information are required.

Footnotes are citations that appear at the bottom of the page above the margin, and endnotes are citations that are gathered to the end of the document. You can also use footnotes or endnotes to contain additional information or comments about the topic.

Both footnotes and endnotes have two parts:

1. Note reference mark, a number or symbol that appears within the document;
    
2. Note text, the citation containing the publication information.

If your document requires footnotes or endnotes, using Word's feature will attach the notes to the correct page and format them appropriately.

Follow the steps below to create a footnote or endnote:

Place the insertion point where you want the note reference mark to appear, usually at the end of a phrase or sentence.

1. Choose Insert | Footnote. This reveals the dialog box.
    
2. Designate whether you want a footnote or endnote, and whether you want to use a symbol or automatically number it.
    
3. Click Options to change the location and numbering for the notes.
    
4. Click OK twice to exit the dialog boxes.

The shortcut key to insert a footnote is CTRL + ALT + F. This will automatically number the footnote and it bypasses the dialog box and jumps straight to the footnote so you can insert its text.

The note reference mark (usually a small superscripted number) appears in the text. If you are working in Normal view, a new pane opens with the corresponding reference mark, ready for you to type the text for the note.

(c) Carol Bratt, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Duplication is forbidden without express consent of author. Visit Carol's web site to learn more tips like this one!