What is the keyboard shortcut for adding a footnote in Google Docs?

On Windows press Control plus Alt plus F. On Mac press Command plus Option plus F. Your cursor must be positioned exactly where you want the superscript marker to appear, and the shortcut both inserts the number and moves your focus to the footnote text area at the bottom of the page.

Can I change the font size of just the footnote number?

Yes. Click directly on the superscript marker in your body text, select it with a single click or by dragging over it, and then choose a smaller point size from the font-size dropdown in the toolbar. The number will resize independently of the surrounding sentence without affecting the footnote text at the bottom of the page.

Why did my footnote jump to the next page?

This usually happens when the body content above it has extra spacing, a tall image, or a section break that pushes the usable page area down. Reduce the space-after on the paragraph immediately before the marker, shrink any nearby image by one or two points, and the footnote should snap back to its intended page.

Does Google Docs support endnotes in addition to footnotes?

Not natively. Google Docs has a single footnote system that always appears at the bottom of the page where the marker sits. If you need true endnotes collected at the document's conclusion, insert your citations as a numbered list on the final page and reference them with superscript numbers typed manually in the body text.

Productivity Tips

Five Ways to Add and Edit Footnotes in Google Docs

By VisibleDomain · September 20, 2026 · 6 min read

google docsfootnotesdocument formattingkeyboard shortcutswriting tools

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The Quickest Way to Insert a Footnote

Open your document, place your cursor exactly where the footnote marker should appear (typically right after the sentence or phrase you are citing), and press Control plus Alt plus F on Windows or Command plus Option plus F on Mac. That single keystroke drops a superscript number at your cursor position and jumps your focus straight to the bottom of the page, ready for you to type the citation text.

If you prefer the menu route, click Insert in the top toolbar, hover over Footnote, and select it from the dropdown. The result is identical: a small raised number appears in your body text and a corresponding line opens at the foot of that page. You can also right-click anywhere in the document and choose Insert footnote for a third path to the same action.

One detail worth noting on first use: the footnote marker inherits the font size of surrounding text by default, so if your body copy is set to 14-point Calibri, the little number will be 14-point as well. That usually looks fine, but if you are working in a larger display font for a presentation-style doc, you may want to select the marker and drop it down one or two sizes so it does not compete with your headline type.

Formatting and Styling Your Footnotes

By default Google Docs gives footnotes a smaller font size than the body text, a thin horizontal rule separating them from the main content, and a superscript number. You can change any of these by selecting the footnote text (or just the marker) and adjusting font, size, color, or spacing in the toolbar exactly as you would with regular text. The horizontal rule itself is not separately selectable, but its length follows the page margins, so tightening your left and right margins will shorten it.

If you are building a document that will be shared with clients or published on a local business website as a PDF, consistency matters. Create a custom style for your footnote text under Format, then Styles, so every new footnote you insert automatically picks up the same size, font, and line spacing without manual reformatting. Name it something like Footnote-Cite so it is easy to find later if you need to tweak the look across fifty pages.

For documents that mix footnotes with endnotes or inline citations, a practical trick is to add a subtle color shift to the footnote text. A dark gray in place of pure black keeps the visual hierarchy clear without shouting at the reader. Pair that with a slightly tighter line spacing, say 1.0 instead of the body copy 1.15, and your source notes read as quiet supporting evidence rather than competing paragraphs.

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Editing, Renumbering, and Deleting Footnotes

To edit existing footnote text, simply click into the footnote area at the bottom of the page and type. The number stays locked to its position in the body text; you are only changing the citation content. If you need to move a footnote to a different sentence, cut the superscript marker from its current spot, paste it after the new sentence, and the number will reassign itself automatically.

Renumbering is automatic in Google Docs. Delete a footnote early in the document and every subsequent number shifts down by one; insert a new one in the middle and everything after it increments. There is no manual numbering to maintain, which saves a lot of headaches compared to word processors where you once had to chase orphaned numbers through a forty-page brief.

To delete a footnote entirely, click into the body text where the superscript marker sits, highlight just that number (not the sentence around it), and press Delete or Backspace. The corresponding text at the bottom of the page disappears with it. If you only want to remove the citation text but keep the marker for a future edit, select and clear the footnote content while leaving the number in place; the marker will remain visible as an empty reference until you retype.

Common Footnote Problems and How to Fix Them

The most frequent complaint is that a footnote jumps to the next page even though there is clearly room at the bottom of the current one. This usually happens when the body text above it has extra paragraph spacing or a large image pushing content down. Reduce the space-after on the preceding paragraph, or drag your cursor into the footnote and press Enter once to nudge it up; if the issue persists, check that you are not in a text box or a section break that is isolating the footnote from the page flow.

Another common snag: inserting a footnote inside a table cell. Google Docs does support footnotes within tables, but the marker can land on the line below your intended row if the cell height is tight. Increase the row height by a few points, or place your cursor at the very end of the last text in that cell before pressing Control plus Alt plus F, and the marker will anchor correctly to that row.

If you are collaborating and a teammate deletes a sentence that contained a footnote marker, the footnote text can sometimes orphan at the bottom of the page with no visible number pointing to it. To clean this up, select the orphaned footnote line at the foot of the page and press Delete. If the marker is truly gone from the body text, the footnote has no anchor and removing it restores your page layout.

When Footnotes Are Not Enough for Client Docs

Footnotes work beautifully for source citations, but they are not the right tool when you need to attach a longer explanation, a link to a local directory listing, or a compliance note that your client will actually read in context. In those cases, a superscript link to an anchor section further down the document, or a highlighted callout box with a short paragraph, serves the reader better than a tiny line at the bottom of page 37.

For local business documents specifically, think about who is reading and where they are reading it. A dentist explaining insurance coding in a staff handbook benefits from footnotes because the detail is reference material. But a restaurant owner reviewing a supplier contract on a phone between prep shifts needs the critical clause bolded inline with a short plain-language note right next to it, not buried under a page break in 8-point type.

The broader principle is findability within the document itself. A reader scanning a twelve-page proposal should be able to locate the pricing breakdown, the liability clause, and the revision history without hunting through footnote cross-references. Use footnotes for what they do best, precise attribution and compact sourcing, and keep operational details where the eye naturally lands: in the body, near the sentence that triggers the need.