How to Make Footnotes Continue Across Multiple Pages in Word

When you add many footnotes to a Word document, they sometimes split across pages in a way that looks broken or confusing. By default, Word allows footnotes to break across pages, but the behavior depends on your footnote settings and the type of document you are using. This article explains how to control footnote continuation across pages, including how to enable or disable the split, and how to add a continuation notice for readers.

How Word Handles Footnotes That Span Multiple Pages

Footnotes in Word are designed to break across pages automatically when the content of a single footnote is too long to fit on one page. This is the default behavior and works in all document views. Word places part of the footnote at the bottom of the current page and continues the rest at the bottom of the next page. The footnote number remains the same, so readers see one continuous note spread over two pages.

Word uses three hidden separators to manage this behavior: the Footnote Separator (a horizontal line between the document text and the first footnote on a page), the Footnote Continuation Separator (a line that appears when a footnote continues from the previous page), and the Footnote Continuation Notice (a short message like “Continued on next page” that you can customize). These separators are not visible in Print Layout view by default. You must switch to Draft view to edit them.

The ability to split footnotes is controlled by the paragraph formatting of the Footnote Text style. If you want to prevent a footnote from breaking across pages, you must modify the style to add the “Keep lines together” or “Keep with next” paragraph setting. However, this applies to all footnotes in the document unless you use a separate style for specific footnotes.

Steps to Make Footnotes Continue Across Multiple Pages

By default, Word already allows footnotes to continue across pages. If your footnotes are not splitting, you can enable the setting using the steps below. Follow these instructions to ensure long footnotes break correctly.

1. Open the Footnote Text style settings
   Press Ctrl+Shift+S to open the Apply Styles pane. Type Footnote Text in the Style Name box and click Modify. In the Modify Style dialog, click Format and select Paragraph.
2. Disable keep-lines settings
   In the Paragraph dialog, go to the Line and Page Breaks tab. Uncheck Keep lines together and Keep with next. Uncheck Page break before if it is selected. Click OK to close the Paragraph dialog, then click OK again to close the Modify Style dialog.
3. Apply the style to existing footnotes
   Select all footnotes in your document by pressing Ctrl+A while inside the footnote area, then apply the Footnote Text style from the Home tab. This step ensures existing footnotes use the modified style.
4. Test the footnote break
   Add a long footnote that contains several paragraphs or a large block of text. Place your cursor at the end of a page and insert the footnote. Word should split the footnote across the current page and the next page automatically.

Add a Continuation Notice for Readers

When a footnote splits across pages, Word inserts a continuation separator line but no text message. You can add a custom notice such as “Continued on next page” to inform readers.

1. Switch to Draft view
   Go to the View tab and click Draft. This view exposes the footnote editing area.
2. Open the Show Notes pane
   Click References > Show Notes. The footnote pane opens at the bottom of the screen.
3. Select the Footnote Continuation Notice
   In the pane, click the dropdown list and choose Footnote Continuation Notice. A blank area appears where you can type your message.
4. Type the notice text
   Type Continued on next page or any message you prefer. Format the text as needed. The notice will appear only on pages where a footnote is split.
5. Return to Print Layout view
   Go to View > Print Layout to see how the notice appears in your document.

Common Issues When Footnotes Split Across Pages

Footnotes Not Splitting Even After Changing the Style

If you modified the Footnote Text style but footnotes still do not break, check whether the document uses section breaks with different footnote settings. Go to Layout > Page Setup dialog (click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Page Setup group). Click the Layout tab. Under Footnotes, ensure the Suppress footnotes option is unchecked. This setting hides all footnotes in a section and prevents splitting.

Footnote Continuation Separator Not Showing

The continuation separator line is visible only in Draft view and in Print Layout view when a footnote actually spans two pages. If the separator does not appear, verify that the footnote is long enough to break. A single line of text cannot split. Add more content to the footnote to force the break. Also check that you have not accidentally deleted the separator. In Draft view, select Footnote Continuation Separator from the dropdown and ensure a line or text is present.

All Footnotes Are Forced to One Page

If every footnote stays on the same page regardless of length, the document may have a global setting that prevents page breaks inside paragraphs. Press Ctrl+A to select all text, then go to Home > Paragraph dialog (click the arrow in the Paragraph group). On the Line and Page Breaks tab, uncheck Keep lines together. If this is grayed out, a style conflict exists. Modify the Normal style as well using the same method described for Footnote Text.

Setting	Footnote Splits Enabled	Footnote Splits Disabled
Keep lines together	Unchecked	Checked
Keep with next	Unchecked	Checked
Continuation notice	Custom text appears on split pages	No notice because no split occurs
Suppress footnotes (Layout tab)	Unchecked	Checked (hides all footnotes in section)

After you adjust the Footnote Text style and add a continuation notice, your long footnotes will split naturally across pages. Readers will see a clear message when a footnote continues. For documents that require footnotes to stay on one page, enable the Keep lines together option in the Footnote Text style. This method works in Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2021, Word 2019, and earlier versions. Use the Draft view to verify separator behavior before finalizing your document.