How to add a footnote in PowerPoint

Footnotes are notes or annotations placed at the bottom of a slide or document, used to reference parts of the main text (generally using superscript numbers or symbols). Footnotes can be used to acknowledge a source reference material or author, or to provide some further contextual information that is useful for the reader but not directly relevant in the main text. When you use Microsoft Word, it's easy to add footnotes as there is a specific feature to assist. But in PowerPoint, adding footnotes is not as straightforward.

PowerPoint lets you add footnotes via the Insert tab on the PowerPoint ribbon, using the Header & Footer menu. However, depending on the layout of your PowerPoint Slide Master, these may not appear in the most logical location on your slide (relative to the reference material in the body of your slide).

To solve this - PPT Productivity PowerPoint Plugin make it easy to add custom footnotes to slides with a Superscript tool. You can even save your preferred footnote style to the Slide Library for easy reuse.

Read on for an overview of how to insert footnotes to PowerPoint, and how to convert footnote references to superscript and how to save footnotes for easy reuse if you use PPT Productivity's Slide Library. Plus we include steps for how to add Footers to PowerPoint using the standard PowerPoint Footer feature and how to edit PowerPoint Footers.

How do I create custom footnotes in PowerPoint?

First, add your citation or reference. In the body of the text add the numbers next to the word or phrase you will refer to in the footnote.

Here's an example of a PowerPoint slide with some text and three items numbered that I want to refer to in my footnote.

Next, convert the numbers to superscript (so you have little numbers for PowerPoint footnote references, rather than big numbers in the body of your presentation). To convert numbers to Superscript in PowerPoint, select the number then use the Superscript feature on the PPT Productivity top ribbon to change the font from standard font to superscript font. Or you can use the PPT Productivity Keyboard shortcut for Superscript: Ctrl + . (hold down the Ctrl key and press the period key at the same time) to convert the text to superscript.

Continue to convert all the numbers related to the footnote to superscript on your PowerPoint slide, using the same method.

Once you have the superscript added to the text, the next step is to add your footnotes. Of course you can also add references later, but I generally find it's easier to add the references once I have the text finalized.

To insert footnote in PowerPoint slide, first create a text box in the location you want the footnote to appear in the slide. I like to use the PPT Productivity No Fly Zone feature in PowerPoint as a guide to the placement of the footnote text box, so I can line it up precisely (the No Fly Zone feature sets a text boundary that is not visible when printing or presenting, but can help you with planning your slide layouts). You can insert the Footnote template included in the Text Elements downloadable gallery of the PPT Productivity Slide Library. But if you don't have PPT Productivity, you can just insert a textbox on your slide and move it into your preferred location.

You will likely want the text in your PowerPoint footnotes to be smaller than than the text in the main body of your slide. Reduce the text size and start typing your footnotes. Tip - use the decrease text size button on the PPT Productivity ribbon to quickly reduce the size of text in a couple of clicks, or use the keyboard shortcuts to decrease font size which is Ctrl + Shift + <

As an example - here's my slide with footnotes added.

Insert Footnotes from Slide Builder Toolbar in PPT Productivity

As of February 2026, PPT Productivity also has a specific Insert PowerPoint Footnote feature included in the Slide Builder Toolbar. This feature adds a text box to the bottom left of your slide with smaller font. You can also customize the formatting of the Insert Footnote feature (eg to make the text smaller, or change the default Footnote location).

If you have a lot of information to add in your footnotes, you may wish to format them in continual lines rather then putting each footnote on a separate line.

How to add multiple footnotes in PowerPoint?

The process above outlines for how to add single or multiple footnotes in PowerPoint, you just need to repeat the steps for multiple footnotes.

How can I save and reuse footnotes in PowerPoint?

Now that you have set up your PowerPoint footnote, you can save the style ready to easily insert into your future presentations. Or you can also use the Footnote template included in the Text Elements gallery in the PPT Productivity Slide Library for PowerPoint.

To save a footnote style to your Slide Library, select the Footnote text box. (Note that before saving to your Slide Library, you may want to remove the existing text and replace it with "XXX" or "Text placeholder" so that you know to edit the text when you insert into different slides.)

Hit 'Save Shape' at the bottom of the Slide Library Toolbar panel.

The Save Shape dialogue box will appear. Here you can give the footnote a name and select how you want the icon to look in the Slide Library panel. The Zoom thumbnail option gives a good preview of the footnote in the Slide Library.

Click OK. Your footnote will now appear in your PPT Productivity Slide Library for PowerPoint.

If you're using PPT Productivity addin with PowerPoint and you want your whole team to use the same format of footnote, add the footnote to your Team Slide library. Learn more about how a Team Slide Library can help your organization be on brand and more productive on our Slide Library for Teams page.

To reuse on any slide and in any PowerPoint presentation, simply click on the footnote thumbnail in the Slide Library, and the footnote will be pasted directly onto your slide in the same format and at the same position as the original footnote. Then you can simply update the content according to your current slides requirements.

How to add a PowerPoint Footer

If you prefer to use the standard PowerPoint Footer feature, you can easily add a Footer via the Insert tab on the PowerPoint Ribbon. Navigate to the Text Feature button, then click the down arrow to display the flyover menu, then click Header & Footer. Refer to the screenshot image below.

After you click on Header & Footer you will see the PowerPoint Header & Footer popup menu. From this menu you check the checkbox beside Footer to enable the footer.

After checking the checkbox, you can either click Apply to apply a Footer to the current PowerPoint slide, or Apply to All to add a Footer to each slide in your presentation. After selecting Apply or Apply to All, you will return to your PowerPoint slide. The Footer field should now be enabled on your slide - refer to the example below.

How to edit Footer in PowerPoint?

To edit your PowerPoint footnote, simply click on the Footer field and enter or update text. The field behaves like a textbox for editing.

However to edit the font style or size in PowerPoint footers, it is best to change footer in PowerPoint Slide Master (which means you are editing the footer placeholder or layout rather than just one specific footer). To do this, go to PowerPoint View Slide Master. Navigate to the first slide in the Slide Master (this is the Parent slide, other slide layouts inherit the properties of the Parent slide for header and footers). Select the Footer textbox, then make updates to the font size, font style or font color.

Note that if you are also using the Date and Page number fields which appear at the bottom of PowerPoint slides, you might want to also update these for consistency. Click Close Master View and your updates will apply to your PowerPoint presentation.