Space between footnote number and footnote text

Sabya · #1 07-24-2018, 03:56 AM

Using MS Word 2016. I have inserted a footnote, the footnote number appears as a superscript of the word, and at the bottom of same page a footnote number appears, then I am using some text to provide more information for the footnote at the bottom of page. My question is regarding the footnote number and footnote text at the bottom of the page. By default, MS Word provides a single space between footnote number and footnote text. My goal is to have more spacing (say 0.5 cm) between footnote number and footnote text. Since I am working with a large document the goal is to automate this process so that I do not need to manually provide space between footnote number and footnote space.

As initial attempt to resolve this (and after few hours of internet search), I went to Styles->Manage Styles->Footnote Text->Modify->Format->Paragraph->Indentation

after adjusting left indentation, the footnote number and footnote text both are indented from left. But my goal is to have the footnote number to be on the left as inserted, and the text to be indented (say by 0.5 cm).

Default MS Word footnote number and text: 1 abc
Goal: 1 abc (note space between footnote number and footnote text)

Apologies for long message, but I wanted to ensure that I explain the question correctly. Appreciate any help, and many thanks in advance.

Sabya · #2 07-24-2018, 11:27 AM

I just wanted to make a correction to the above question as the space did not get correctly reflected in the above post:

Default MS Word footnote number and text: 1 abc
Goal: 1 [SPACE, say 0.5 cm] abc (note space between footnote number and footnote text)

Stefan Blom · #3 07-28-2018, 12:58 PM

You'll need a macro that does what you want.

macropod · #4 07-28-2018, 03:11 PM

Try adding the following macro to the 'ThisDocument' code module of your document or its template:

Code:

Private Sub InsertFootnoteNow()
Dim Rng As Range
Application.Dialogs(wdDialogInsertFootnote).Execute
Set Rng = Selection.Range
With Rng
  .Start = .Start - 1
  .Text = vbTab
  .Move wdParagraph, 1
  .Select
End With
End Sub

For PC macro installation & usage instructions, see: http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm
For Mac macro installation & usage instructions, see: https://wordmvp.com/Mac/InstallMacro.html

You can adjust the effective size of the tab by modifying the Footnote Text Style and adding a left tab-stop to it; you could also apply a hanging indent, etc.

Sabya · #5 07-29-2018, 12:31 PM

Thank you so much, it works. This is exactly what I was looking for. The only question (you point in the last sentence, my apologies for limited knowledge in macros) is how to adjust the effective size. Which line to change and what is the syntax. Appreciate all the help!

macropod · #6 07-29-2018, 02:23 PM

The adjustment is made:

Quote:

by modifying the Footnote Text Style and adding a left tab-stop to it

A simple way of doing that would be to copy the paragraph break following any footnote you've added a suitably-placed tab-stop to (which you can do by clicking on the ruler at the appropriate position) and paste it into the body of the document, then right-clicking on the pasted paragraph break and choosing Styles>Update Footnote Text to Match Selection.

Sabya · #7 07-29-2018, 02:30 PM

Excellent, thank you!

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