Customize the separator line for your Word document's footnotes

by Mary Ann Richardson | Oct 10, 2006 7:00:00 AM

Tags: Word processors, Microsoft Office, Mary Ann Richardson, Microsoft Word, separator line, Microsoft Office Suite Word Tips Newsletter

Takeaway: Gray lines are going to clear up! If you use footnotes in your Word documents, you aren't confined to the same old gray separator line. Here's how to change the color and thickness to something more your style.

Word separates footnotes from your Word document text with a thin, gray, nondescript line. But you certainly are not limited to this line—you can change it to match the overall theme of your document. For example, to change the color and thickness of the footnote separator, follow these steps:

1. Open your document in Normal View.
2. Go to View | Footnotes.
3. Click the All Footnotes box arrow, and select Footnote Separator from the drop-down list.
4. Click on the existing separator line and press [Delete].
5. Go to Format | Borders And Shading.
6. On the Borders tab, select the border you want from the Style list.
7. Click the Color arrow and select the color you want.
8. Click the bottom and side buttons in the Preview section.
9. Click OK.

When you view your document in Print Layout or Print Preview, you will see the new separator line for your footnote.

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Print/View all Posts Comments on this article

Small but useful change sometimes GKap | 10/11/06

RE: Customize the separator line for your Word document's footnotes gael.reignier@... | 09/14/07

RE: Customize the separator line for your Word document's footnotes anthemwebs@... | 01/23/08