This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Windows tools or features and Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Accessibility help & learning content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use Word with your keyboard and a screen reader to read and jump to footnotes and endnotes in your Word documents. We've tested it with Narrator and JAWS, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll learn how to add new footnotes and endnotes as well as modify, convert, and remove existing ones. Usually, footnotes appear at the bottom of the page and endnotes come at the end of the document or section.
Notes:
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Read a footnote
When reading or navigating your document, footnote references are automatically read along with the text. You can also quickly navigate to and read just the footnotes in your document.
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Open the desired Word document, then press Alt+S, O to navigate to the "Next Footnote" in the References tab.
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Use the Down arrow key to select either Next Footnote or Previous Footnote, and then press Enter. Alternatively, press Alt+S, O, then N for the next footnote or Alt+S, O, then P for the previous footnote.
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To jump to the footnote text at the end of the page, press Alt+S, H.
Notes:
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If your document has both footnotes and endnotes, the Show Notes window will appear. Use the Up or Down arrow keys to choose either the View footnote area or View endnote area, then press the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter.
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To list all the footnotes in the doc, press Jawskey+Shift+F.
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To start reading the footnotes, press the SR key+R.
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Press Alt+S, H to return to the current footnote reference number in the document body text.
Read an endnote
When reading or navigating your document, endnote references are automatically read along with the text. You can quickly navigate to and read just the endnotes in your document.
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Open the desired Word document, then press Alt+S, O to navigate to the "Next Footnote" in the References tab.
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Use the Down arrow key to select either Next Endnote or Previous Endnote, and then press Enter. Alternatively, press Alt+S, O, then X for the next endnote reference mark or Alt+S, O, then V for the previous endnote reference mark.
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Press Alt+S, H to jump to the endnote text at the end of the page.
Notes:
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If your document contains both footnotes and endnotes, the Show Notes window will appear. Use the Up or Down arrow keys to choose either the View footnote area or View endnote area, then press the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter.
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To list all the endnotes in the doc, press Alt+Jawskey+Shift+E.
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To start reading the endnotes, press the SR key+R.
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Press Alt+S, H to return to the current endnote reference number in the document body text.
Jump to a footnote or endnote
You can move to and from a footnote or endnote reference while reading a document with a screen reader.
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After opening a document that has footnotes or endnotes, place the cursor on a footnote or an endnote reference. You hear: "Footnote reference" or "Endnote reference."
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To move to the footnote reference text at the end of the page, press the SR key+Insert. You hear the footnote or endnote reference, such as "Footnote 1."
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To read the footnote or endnote, press the SR key+R.
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To return to the original footnote or endnote mark in the document body text, press the SR key+Shift+Insert.
Add a footnote
A footnote is a helpful tool that allows you to add references or additional information at the bottom of the page without interrupting the main text.
Here’s how you can add a footnote:
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Press the Windows logo key and type “Microsoft Word.” Press Enter to open the app.
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Use the Tab key to navigate to the desired document and press Enter to open it.
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Place the cursor where you want to insert the footnote.
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Press Alt+S to open the "References" tab. Then, use Tab until you hear "Insert Footnote," and press Enter. You hear the reference number or mark added to the text, and the focus moves to the bottom of the page.
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Write the footnote reference text. Alternatively, press Alt+S, F, or Ctrl+Alt+F to quickly insert a footnote.
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Press Alt+S, H to return to the footnote reference mark insertion point in the document body text once you have finished editing the reference text.
Add an endnote
An endnote is a useful tool that allows you to provide references or additional information at the end of the document without interrupting the main text.
Here’s how to add an endnote:
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Press the Windows logo key and type “Microsoft Word.” Press Enter to open the app.
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Use the Tab key to navigate to the desired document and press Enter to open it.
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Place your cursor where you want to insert the endnote.
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Press Alt+S to open the "References" tab. Then, press Tab until you hear "Insert Endnote," and press Enter. This will add a reference number or mark to the text, and your focus will move to the end of the document.
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Write the endnote reference text at the end of the document. Alternatively, press Alt+S, E, or Ctrl+Alt+D to quickly insert an endnote.
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Press Alt+S, H to return to the endnote reference mark insertion point in the document body text once you have finished editing the reference text.
Go to a specific footnote or endnote
Navigate to a specific endnote or footnote, which helps streamline the process of jumping directly to the desired note in documents with multiple footnotes or endnotes.
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Open the desired Word document, and press Ctrl+G to open the find and replace window.
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Use Tab or Shift+Tab to navigate until you hear the "Go to what list," then use the Up or Down arrow key to select either Footnote or Endnote from the list.
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To browse through all available footnotes or endnotes, press Tab to select the Next button, then press Enter.
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To go to a specific footnote or endnote, press Tab to select the edit field. You will hear either "Enter endnote number" or "Enter footnote number." Type the reference number and press Enter.
Note: Once a footnote or endnote is selected, press Ctrl+PgUp or Ctrl+PgDn to cycle through the footnotes or endnotes.
Customize footnotes and endnotes
You can change the way footnotes and endnotes appear in your document. For example, you can change the number format or the location where the reference text shows up in your document.
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Open the Word document you wish to edit, then press Alt+S to access the References tab.
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Press Q to open the footnote and endnote window. Here, you can modify:
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Footnote or endnote location
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Footnote layout
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Footnote or endnote format
Tips: To restart the numbering of footnotes or endnotes, you must also insert a section break into your document:
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Place the cursor to where you want the section break to occur.
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Press Alt+P, B to open the Breaks menu.
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Press the Down arrow key to select the type of section break you want, and press Enter to insert it.
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Whether the defined changes are applied to the whole document or just the section you’re in.
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To apply the changes to a document, press Tab until you hear “Apply button,” and press Spacebar.
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To insert a footnote or an endnote into the document, press Tab until you hear “Insert button,” and press Spacebar.
Note: To edit the appearance of footnotes and endnotes in your document, you can edit the Footnote Text and Endnote Text styles. To open the Style window, navigate to a footnote or endnote, press Shift+F10 to open the context menu, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Style," and press Enter.
Convert all footnotes or endnotes
Follow these steps to convert footnotes to endnotes or vice versa:
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Open the Word document and press Alt+S to go to the References tab.
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Press Q to open the Footnote and Endnote window.
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Navigate using the Tab key until you hear “Convert button,” then press Spacebar to select it. The Convert Notes context menu opens.
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In the Convert Notes menu, use the arrow keys to choose Convert all footnotes to endnotes, Convert all endnotes to footnotes, or Swap footnotes and endnotes. Press Tab to move to OK, then press Spacebar. The menu closes, and the focus returns to the footnote and endnote window.
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In the footnote and endnote window, press Tab to select Insert, then press Spacebar.
Delete footnotes or endnotes
To delete a footnote or endnote, remove its number or symbol from the main text. If you only remove the note itself, the number or symbol will remain. Removing the number or symbol deletes the note and updates all references accordingly. Simply highlight and delete the footnote or endnote number in the body of your document, and it will automatically remove the corresponding note at the bottom of the page or at the end of it.
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Open the Word document and press Alt+S to go to the References tab.
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Press O to select footnotes or endnotes, then use Up or Down arrow keys to browse options.
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Select the footnote or endnote, then press Delete twice. Narrator will announce: “Delete.”
In JAWS, press Delete. JAWS announces: “Selected blank space.” Then press Delete again. The footnote or endnote is now removed.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word
Use a screen reader to add, read, and delete comments in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Word for Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to read and jump to footnotes and endnotes in your Word documents. You can also add new footnotes and endnotes as well as modify, convert, and remove existing ones. Usually, footnotes appear at the bottom of the page and endnotes come at the end of the document or section.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.
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We recommend you read and edit documents in Print Layout View. VoiceOver may not work reliably in other view modes.
In this topic
Add a footnote
A footnote is a helpful tool that allows you to add references or additional information at the bottom of the page without interrupting the main text.
Here’s how you can add a footnote:
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In your document, move to the location where you want to add a footnote.
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Press Command+Option+F. You hear "Footnote," followed by the number of the note, and then "Edit text." The focus moves to the footnote section.
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Write the footnote text.
Add an endnote
An endnote is a useful tool that allows you to provide references or additional information at the end of the document without interrupting the main text.
Here’s how to add an endnote:
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In your document, move to the location where you want to add an endnote.
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Press Command+Option+E. You hear "Endnote," followed by the number of the note, and then "Edit text." The focus moves to the endnote section.
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Write the endnote text.
Jump to and read a footnote or endnote
VoiceOver announces footnotes and endnotes when reading a document.
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When VoiceOver announces a footnote or endnote number, stop the reading mode, and press the Left arrow key until you hear the number of the note.
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To jump to the footnote or endnote text, press and hold Control+Option+Shift, and press Spacebar twice quickly.
VoiceOver reads the note text. If VoiceOver doesn't start reading the note text automatically, press Control+Option+A.
Go to a specific footnote or endnote
Navigate to a specific endnote or footnote is by using the Go to dialog, which helps streamline the process of jumping directly to the desired note in documents with multiple footnotes or endnotes.
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Open the desired Word document, and press Ctrl+H to open the find and replace window.
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Use Tab or Shift+Tab to navigate until you hear the "Settings menu item," then use the Up or Down arrow key to select the Advanced Find & Replace menu from the list.
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In the find and replace dialog box, press Shift+Tab key to move the focus to the Find button then use the Right arrow key to select Go To button and press Return.
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In the Go to dropdown, Use the Down arrow key to select either Footnote or Endnote and then press Return.
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To browse through all available footnotes or endnotes, press Tab to select the Next button, then press Return.
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To go to a specific footnote or endnote, press Tab to select the edit field. You will hear either "Enter endnote number" or "Enter footnote number." Type the reference number and press Return.
Note: Once a footnote or endnote is selected, press Ctrl+PgUp or Ctrl+PgDn to cycle through the footnotes or endnotes.
Convert all footnotes or endnotes
You can convert footnotes to endnotes or vice versa.
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Press Control+Option+M. You hear: "Menu bar, Apple."
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Press Control+Option+Right arrow key until you hear "Insert," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Footnote, ellipses," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. You hear: "Footnote and endnote, Location."
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Convert button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. You hear: "Convert notes, dialog."
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Press Control+Option+Right arrow key until you hear the option you want.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "OK button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Delete a footnote or endnote
To delete a footnote or endnote, remove its number or symbol from the main text. If you only remove the note itself, the number or symbol will remain. Removing the number or symbol deletes the note and updates all references accordingly. Simply highlight and delete the footnote or endnote number in the body of your document, and it will automatically remove the corresponding note at the bottom of the page or at the end of it.
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In the body text, jump to the footnote or endnote you want to delete.
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Press Backspace until you hear: "Footnote" or "Endnote, selection deleted." Both the note marker in the body text and the note text are deleted.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word
Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Word for iOS with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to read and jump to footnotes and endnotes in your Word documents. You can also add new footnotes and endnotes or remove existing ones. Usually, footnotes appear at the bottom of the page and endnotes come at the end of the document or section.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
For touch capabilities in Word for iOS, go to Word for iPhone touch guide.
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This topic assumes that you are using the built-in iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.
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We recommend you read and edit documents in Print Layout View. VoiceOver may not work reliably in other view modes.
In this topic
Add a footnote
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In your document, go to the location where you want to add a footnote, and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Show ribbon," and then double-tap the screen. You hear the currently selected tab, for example, "Home, tab."
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Double-tap the screen. The tab menu expands.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Insert, tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Insert footnote, button," and then double-tap the screen. VoiceOver announces the footnote number, and the focus moves to the footnote text field in the document body.
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Slide one finger along the right side of the screen until you hear "Hide ribbon, button," and then double-tap the screen. The on-screen keyboard appears at the bottom of the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type the footnote text.
Add an endnote
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In your document, go to the location where you want to add an endnote, and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Show ribbon," and then double-tap the screen. You hear the currently selected tab, for example, "Home, tab."
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Double-tap the screen. The tab menu expands.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Insert, tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Insert endnote, button," and then double-tap the screen. VoiceOver announces the endnote number, and the focus moves to the endnote text field in the document body.
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Slide one finger along the right side of the screen until you hear "Hide ribbon, button," and then double-tap the screen. The on-screen keyboard appears at the bottom of the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type the endnote text.
Jump to and read a footnote or endnote
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In the document body, swipe right until VoiceOver announces a footnote or endnote. You hear, for example, "Footnote reference," followed by the footnote number.
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Double-tap the screen. The focus moves to the footnote or endnote text field, and VoiceOver reads the note.
Delete a footnote or endnote
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In the document body, swipe right until VoiceOver announces a footnote or endnote. You hear, for example, "Footnote reference," followed by the footnote number.
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Double-tap the screen. The focus moves to the footnote or endnote text field.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to delete the text from the footnote or endnote field.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word
Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Word for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to read and jump to footnotes and endnotes in your Word documents. You can also add new footnotes and endnotes as well as format and remove existing ones. Usually, footnotes appear at the bottom of the page and endnotes come at the end of the document or section.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
For touch capabilities in Word for Android, go to Word for Android touch guide.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
In this topic
Add a footnote
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In your document, go to the location where you want to add a footnote, and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Not checked, More options, switch," and then double-tap the screen. You hear "Tab menu," followed by the currently selected tab, for example, "Home, selected."
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Double-tap the screen. The tab menu opens.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Insert tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Footnote button," and then double-tap the screen. The focus moves to the footnote text field and the on-screen keyboard appears at the bottom of the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type the footnote text.
Add an endnote
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In your document, go to the location where you want to add an endnote, and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Not checked, More options, switch," and then double-tap the screen. You hear "Tab menu," followed by the currently selected tab, for example, "Home, selected."
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Double-tap the screen. The tab menu opens.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Insert tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Endnote button," and then double-tap the screen. The focus moves to the endnote text field and the on-screen keyboard appears at the bottom of the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type the endnote text.
Jump to and read a footnote or endnote
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TalkBack announces footnotes and endnotes when reading a document. You hear, for example, "Footnote reference," followed by the note number. To jump to the footnote or endnote text, double-tap the screen.
TalkBack reads the note automatically.
Delete a footnote or endnote
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Move to the footnote or endnote reference mark you want to delete.
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To open the local context menu, swipe up-then-right. You hear: "Alert, Local context menu."
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Swipe right until you hear "Actions," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Alert, actions."
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Swipe right until you hear "Launch context menu," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Cut button," and then double-tap the screen. The footnote or endnote reference and the note text are removed.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word
Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Word for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to read and jump to footnotes and endnotes in your Word documents. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge, and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You learn how to add new footnotes and endnotes as well as format and remove existing ones. Usually, footnotes appear at the bottom of the page and endnotes come at the end of the document or section.
Notes:
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
-
When you use Word for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Word for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you'll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Word for the web.
In this topic
Jump to a footnote or endnote
Your screen reader announces footnotes and endnotes when reading a document.
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When your screen reader announces a footnote or endnote number, stop the reading mode, and press the Left arrow key until you hear the number of the note, followed by "Group, footnote," or "Group, endnote," and then the note number again.
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To jump to the footnote or endnote pane, press Ctrl+F8.
Add a footnote
A footnote is a helpful tool that allows you to add references or additional information at the bottom of the page without interrupting the main text.
Here’s how you can add a footnote:
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In your document, move to the location where you want to add a footnote.
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Press Alt+Windows logo key, S, RF. You hear: "Editing footnote."
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Type the footnote text.
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To exit the footnote pane, press Esc.
Add an endnote
An endnote is a useful tool that allows you to provide references or additional information at the end of the document without interrupting the main text.
Here’s how to add an endnote:
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In your document, move to the location where you want to add an endnote.
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Press Alt+Windows logo key, S, RE. You hear: "Editing endnote."
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Type the endnote text.
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To exit the endnote pane, press Esc.
Format footnotes
You can change the font type and size, and the indentation of footnotes. The changes can be applied to one or all footnotes.
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In your document, press Alt+Windows logo key+S, S, F. You hear: "Editing footnote."
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Press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "Format footnotes, button," and then press Enter. You hear: "Dialog, Format options." The focus is on the font type menu.
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To change the font type, press Alt+Down arrow key. The font type menu expands. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the font type you want, and then press Enter.
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To change the font size, press the Tab key until you hear "Font size," and then press Alt+Down arrow key. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the font size you want, and then press Enter.
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To change the indentation, press the Tab key until you hear the indent option you want. You also hear if the option is on or off. To select, press Enter.
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Do one of the following:
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To apply the changes to the current footnote only, press the Tab key until you hear "Apply button," and then press Enter.
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To apply the changes to all footnotes, press the Tab key until you hear "Apply to all, button," and then press Enter.
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To return to the body text, press Esc.
Format endnotes
You can change the font type and size, and the indentation of endnotes. The changes can be applied to one or all endnotes.
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In your document, press Alt+Windows logo key+S, S, E. You hear: "Editing endnote."
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Press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "Format endnotes, button," and then press Enter. You hear: "Dialog, format options." The focus is on the font type menu.
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To change the font type, press Alt+Down arrow key. The font type menu expands. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the font type you want, and then press Enter.
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To change the font size, press the Tab key until you hear "Font size," and then press Alt+Down arrow key. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the font size you want, and then press Enter.
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To change the indentation, press the Tab key until you hear the indent option you want. You also hear if the option is on or off. To select, press Enter.
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Do one of the following:
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To apply the changes to the current endnotes only, press the Tab key until you hear "Apply button," and then press Enter.
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To apply the changes to all endnotes, press the Tab key until you hear "Apply to all, button," and then press Enter.
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To return to the body text, press Esc.
Delete a footnote or endnote
To delete a footnote or endnote, remove its number or symbol from the main text. If you only remove the note itself, the number or symbol will remain. Removing the number or symbol deletes the note and updates all references accordingly. Simply highlight and delete the footnote or endnote number in the body of your document, and it will automatically remove the corresponding note at the bottom of the page or at the end of it.
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Navigate to the footnote or endnote you want to delete.
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Press Ctrl+F8 to jump to the footnote or endnote pane.
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Delete the text in the footnote or endnote.
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Press Esc to return to the footnote or endnote reference number in the body text.
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Press Shift+Left or Right arrow key to select the reference number in the body text, and then press Delete.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word
Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in Word
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
