How to Modify the Style of Footnotes and Endnotes in Microsoft Word

Today, we’re going to modify the style of footnotes and endnotes in Microsoft Word. We’re also going to modify the style of the superscripted reference numbers, letters, and symbols in the text. Style includes font, font size, color, emphasis (italics, bold, underline), alignment, spacing, and indentation.

Plus, the bonus section at the end shows how to delete or modify the separator line above footnotes and endnotes.

Important Note: These steps only work for footnotes and endnotes created with Word’s footnote and endnote tools. For a full tutorial, please see “How to Insert Footnotes and Endnotes in Microsoft Word.”

This tutorial is available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 200 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. The steps will also work for Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, and Word 2010. However, your interface may look slightly different in those older versions of the software.

How to Modify the Style of Footnotes and Endnotes

Select the Home tab in the ribbon.

Home tab in Word 365 — Figure 1. Home tab

Select the dialog box launcher in the Styles group.

Styles group dialog box launcher in Word 365 — Figure 2. Styles group dialog box launcher

Select the Manage Styles button in the Styles pane.

Manage Styles button in the Styles pane in Word 365 — Figure 3. Manage Styles button

Select Alphabetical in the Sort order menu in the Manage Styles dialog box.

Sort Order menu in the Manage Styles dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 4. “Sort order” menu

Select the style you want to modify from the Select a style to edit menu.

- Footnote Text
- Footnote Reference (superscripted number, letter, or symbol in the text)
- Endnote Text
- Endnote Reference (superscripted number, letter, or symbol in the text)

"Select a style to edit" menu in the Manage Styles dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 4. “Select a style to edit” menu

Select the Modify button.

Modify button in the Manage Styles dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 6. Modify button

Select new styles from the eight formatting options in the Modify Style dialog box:
1. Font
2. Font size
3. Emphasis
4. Font color
5. Alignment
6. Line spacing
7. Spacing before and after
8. Indentation

Important Note: The Font, Font size, Emphasis, and Font Color are the only options available for the Footnote Reference and Endnote Reference styles.

Formatting options in the Modify Style dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 7. Formatting options

Ensure that Automatically Update is not checked. If Automatically Update is checked, you won’t be able to manually change the style of individual footnotes or endnotes.

Unchecked "Automatically update" option in the Modify Style dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 8. Unchecked “Automatically update” option

Ensure that Only in this document is selected to limit your custom style to your current document.

"Only in this document" option in the Modify Styles dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 9. “Only in this document” option

Select the OK button to close the Modify Style dialog box.

OK button in the Modify Style dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 10. Modify Style OK button

Select another style to change or select the OK button to close the Manage Styles dialog box.

OK button in the Manage Styles dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 11. Manage Styles OK button

Select the X to close the Styles pane.

Closing X in the Styles pane in Word 365 — Figure 12. Styles pane closing X

Your new footnote or endnote style should appear immediately.

How to Delete or Modify the Footnote or Endnote Separator Line

Select the View tab in the ribbon.

View tab in Word 365 — Figure 13. View tab

Select Draft in the Views group to switch to the draft view. (Word normally opens in the Print Layout view.)

Draft button in Word 365 — Figure 14. Draft button

Select the References tab in the ribbon.

References tab in Word 365 — Figure 15. References tab

Select Show Notes in the Footnotes group.

Show Notes button in Word 365 — Figure 16. Show Notes button

(Optional Step) If you have footnotes and endnotes, choose View footnote area or View endnote area followed by the OK button in the Show Notes dialog box. (This dialog box won’t appear if you only have footnotes or endnotes.)

It is not possible to modify the style of the footnote separator and endnote separator at the same time.

Show Notes dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 17. Show Notes dialog box

Select Footnote Separator or Endnote Separator from the menu in the Footnotes pane at the bottom of the screen.

Footnotes pane menu in Word 365 — Figure 18. Footnotes pane menu

Select and delete the separator line or use the options in the font Mini toolbar to modify the style. (You can also use the options in the Font group in the Home tab.)

Here are a few tips:

- Increasing the font size will increase the line thickness.
- Changing the font color will change the line color.
- Highlighting can be applied to the line.
- The bold font option can be applied to the line.

Footnotes pane with shortcut menu in Word 365 — Figure 19. Font Mini toolbar in the Footnotes pane

After modifying the separator line, select the Print Layout button at the bottom of the screen (or in the View tab) to return to the Print Layout view.