Deleting All Footnotes - Microsoft Word Tips

• Tips.Net
• > Word Tips
• > Footnotes and Endnotes

Toggle navigation

Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Deleting All Footnotes.

Deleting All Footnotes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 27, 2019)This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

2

Certain types of documents require the use of footnotes to help document sources or provide additional information relative to the content being discussed. At some point you may want to delete all the footnotes in your document. One thing you can try is to do a simple search and replace to remove all the footnotes. Follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl+H to display the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

2. In the Find What box, enter ^f. This indicates that you want to search for footnote marks.
3. Make sure the Replace With box is empty.
4. Click on Replace All.
5. Close the Find and Replace dialog box.

This approach works because when you delete footnote marks, the footnote associated with that mark is also automatically deleted.

If you find yourself ridding lots of documents of their footnotes, you may want to create a macro that will do the job for you. This macro can then be assigned to a toolbar button or to a menu option. The following macro will remove all the footnotes in a document:

Sub DelFoots() Dim fn As Footnote For Each fn In ActiveDocument.Footnotes fn.Delete Next End Sub

Note: If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1909) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Deleting All Footnotes.

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

Controlling Automatic Capitalization

When you start typing, do you ever notice those times that Word starts capitalizing words at the start of what it thinks ...

Discover More

Rounding Up to a Value Ending in 9

Need to round values up to the next value that ends in 9? There are a number of ways you can accomplish the task through ...

Discover More

Locating the My Documents Folder

Need to do some macro processing of documents in the user's My Documents folder? First step is to figure out where the ...

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 (menu)

Using Cross-References in Footnotes

Need to make a cross-reference from one footnote to another footnote? You can do it if you throw bookmarks into the mix, ...

Discover More

Moving Footnote Text into the Document

Need to move the contents of a footnote up into the main body of your document? You can use normal editing techniques to ...

Discover More

Formatting Endnote Reference Marks

The reference marks used for endnotes are, by default, formatted "good enough" for most people. If you are one of those ...

Discover More

Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Subscribe

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

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.

Source

(gif, jpeg or png only, 5MB maximum file size)

Source

(gif, jpeg or png only, 5MB maximum file size)

Source

(gif, jpeg or png only, 5MB maximum file size)

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is nine minus 1?

2024-05-04 13:20:56

Hina

Waoo thanku you solve my big problem.

2022-01-13 15:23:53

Hunter

Awesome help, thank you!

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos

Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube

Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

Subscribe

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing

• WordTips FAQ
• Questions or Comments
• Great Branding Ideas
• Free Calendars

OUR COMPANY

• Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
• About Tips.Net
• Contact Us
• Advertise with Us
• Our Privacy Policy
• Author Index

OUR PRODUCTS

• Helpful E-books
• Newsletter Archives
• Video Courses
• Excel Products
• Windows Products
• Word Products

OUR SITES

• Tips.Net
• Beauty and Style
• Cars
• Cleaning
• Cooking
• ExcelTips (Excel 97–2003)
• ExcelTips (Excel 2007–2024; 365)
• Gardening
• Health

• Home Improvement
• Money and Finances
• Organizing
• Pests and Bugs
• Pets and Animals
• WindowsTips (Microsoft Windows)
• WordTips (Word 97–2003)
• WordTips (Word 2007–2024; 365)

Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.