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How to remove the footnote/endnote separator line in Word document?

Author Siluvia Last modified

When you insert footnotes or endnotes in a Word document, a horizontal separator line appears above the footnote or endnote text. If you want to remove this line, try the methods in this article.

Remove footnote/endnote separator line in Word

Remove footnote/endnote separator line with VBA code

Remove footnote/endnote separator line in Word

You can remove the footnote or endnote separator line in Word by following these steps:

  1. In the document where you want to remove the footnote or endnote separator line, click "View" > "Draft".
    Draft button on the View tab on the ribbon
  2. Click "References" > "Show Notes".
    Show Notes on the References tab on the ribbon
  3. If the document contains both footnotes and endnotes, a "Show Notes" dialog box will appear. Select the view you want, then click "OK". For example, choose "View footnote area".
    Show Notes dialog box

    Note: If your document only has footnotes or endnotes, skip this step and go to the next one.

  4. Now the "Notes" section appears at the end of the document. Choose "Footnote Separator" from the "Footnotes" dropdown, select the separator line, and press the Delete key.
    The separator line is selected
  5. Switch the document back to "Print Layout" view.
    The button to shift to the Print Layout view

The separator line has now been removed from the document.

The separator line of footnote is removed

Note: To remove the endnote separator line, select "View endnote area" in the "Show Notes" dialog, then choose "Endnote Separator" from the dropdown list.

Remove footnote/endnote separator lines with VBA code

If the manual method is inconvenient, you can use the following VBA code to remove footnote or both footnote and endnote separator lines quickly:

  1. In the Word document, press Alt + F11 to open the "Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications" window.
  2. In the VBA window, click "Insert" > "Module", and then paste the following code into the module.
    Module window opened in the VBA window

    VBA code: Remove the footnote separator line from a Word document

    Sub DeleteTheFootnoteSeparator()
'Updated by ExtendOffice 20181112
    If ActiveDocument.Footnotes.Count < 1 Then Exit Sub
    If ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneNone Then
        ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdNormalView
    Else
        ActiveWindow.View.Type = wdNormalView
    End If
    With ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View
        If .Type = wdPrintView Or .Type = wdWebView Or _
        .Type = wdPrintPreview Then
            ActiveWindow.View.SeekView = wdSeekFootnotes
        Else
            ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneFootnotes
        End If
    End With
    ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneFootnoteSeparator
    With Selection
        .MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter
        .TypeBackspace
        .TypeBackspace
    End With
    ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneFootnoteContinuationSeparator
    With Selection
        .MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
        .TypeBackspace
        .TypeBackspace
        With .ParagraphFormat
            .LineSpacingRule = wdLineSpaceMultiple
            .LineSpacing = LinesToPoints(0.06)
        End With
    End With
    ActiveWindow.View.Type = wdPrintView
End Sub
  3. Press F5 to run the code. All footnote separator lines will be removed instantly.

Note: Use the following VBA if you want to remove both footnote and endnote separator lines.

VBA code: Remove both footnote and endnote separator lines from a Word document

Sub DeleteTheFootnoteSeparator()
'Updated by ExtendOffice 20181112
    If ActiveDocument.Footnotes.Count < 1 Then Exit Sub
    If ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneNone Then
        ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdNormalView
    Else
        ActiveWindow.View.Type = wdNormalView
    End If
    With ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View
        If .Type = wdPrintView Or .Type = wdWebView Or _
        .Type = wdPrintPreview Then
            ActiveWindow.View.SeekView = wdSeekFootnotes
        Else
            ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneFootnotes
        End If
    End With
    ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneFootnoteSeparator
    With Selection
        .MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter
        .TypeBackspace
        .TypeBackspace
    End With
    ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneFootnoteContinuationSeparator
    With Selection
        .MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
        .TypeBackspace
        .TypeBackspace
        With .ParagraphFormat
            .LineSpacingRule = wdLineSpaceMultiple
            .LineSpacing = LinesToPoints(0.06)
        End With
    End With
    ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneEndnoteSeparator
    With Selection
        .MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter
        .TypeBackspace
        .TypeBackspace
    End With
    ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneEndnoteContinuationSeparator
    With Selection
        .MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
        .TypeBackspace
        .TypeBackspace
        With .ParagraphFormat
            .LineSpacingRule = wdLineSpaceMultiple
            .LineSpacing = LinesToPoints(0.06)
        End With
    End With
    ActiveWindow.View.Type = wdPrintView
End Sub

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