The American Psychological Association ( APA) style and Modern Language Association ( MLA) style don't recommend using symbols as footnote identifiers.

The Chicago style allows using symbols, such as the asterisk ( *) or the dagger ( †), instead of numbers if there are a few footnotes in the document (see how to add different reference marks for more details).

Note: We strongly recommend checking the requirements you need to follow. For some requirements, a superscript number should be placed between parentheses, for example. In English, a footnote or endnote is usually indicated by a superscript number immediately following the text or phrase to which the note refers. Select the symbol you need in the Symbol dialog box and click the OK button. Word offers several useful features to insert footnotes and endnotes. Note: You can use footnotes and endnotes in the same document.

Even after changes are made to the document, Word automatically moves the footnotes to the correct page and renumbers them accordingly.

The numbering is always correct if you insert footnotes or endnotes using the Word's Footnote and Endnote functionality. In most views, footnotes or endnotes are separated from the body text by a note separator line (see how to change a note separator line). Footnotes appear on the same page as their reference marks, and endnotes appear at the end of the document or section (see more about their customization below). The number or symbol inserted in the document content to refer to a footnote or endnote is called a reference mark. Footnotes or endnotes in the document must be formatted according to the requirements accepted by your college, university, company, established on the project, etc.

How to make footnotes in word