Step 1
Click "Insert" on the menu bar. The bar appears at the top of the screen and contains the "Insert" menu, which is between "View" and "Format". This menu allows you to place footnotes, hyperlinks, symbols, photos, files, page numbers, and other objects within the Word document.
Step 2
Point to "Reference", then click "Footnote". Positioning yourself on the Reference menu the menu expands to show that it contains various reference tools, including footnotes, cross-references, and indexes. When you select "Footnote" in the menu, a dialog box will open from which you can select various options related to the footnote you are about to insert.
Step 3
Choose a location for the footnote. The first option determines where it will be located. If you want the footnote to appear at the bottom of the margin, select the radio button next to "Footnote". If you want it to appear at the end of the document, select the radio button next to "Annotations".
Step 4
Format the footnote. The next group of options allows you to do this. The "Format Number" drop-down menu offers various numbering styles that can be applied to the number that will be placed in the text to mark your footnote. You can choose Roman numerals, letters or symbols. As an alternative, you can include your own symbol. You will also have the option to choose whether the numbering will be continuous, whether the numbering will start again on each page or section, or whether you will start the footnotes with a number other than "1".
Step 5
Apply the changes and insert the footnote. After you have chosen the format options, select the drop-down menu at the bottom of the dialog box to apply the changes to the entire document or to a certain part of it. Once you're done with all the formatting options, click the "Insert" button at the bottom of the dialog box. This will cause a sign to be inserted into the text to indicate the footnote, and the cursor will automatically be positioned at the bottom margin for you to start typing the text of the footnote.