Footnotes in LaTeX
Use \footnote{} to add a numbered footnote at the bottom of the page.
Quick answer
latex
This sentence has a footnote.\footnote{This is the footnote text.}Basic usage
Place \footnote{} immediately after the word or sentence it refers to (no space before it). LaTeX automatically numbers footnotes and places them at the page bottom.
latex
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Einstein introduced the theory of relativity.\footnote{Albert Einstein,
\textit{Relativity: The Special and the General Theory}, 1916.}
The experiment confirmed the hypothesis.\footnote{Data collected in
laboratory conditions; see Appendix B for full methodology.}
\end{document}Footnote in floats and captions
\footnote doesn't work inside floating environments (figure, table) or \caption. Use the two-step approach:
latex
\begin{table}[h]
\caption{Results overview\footnotemark}
\begin{tabular}{ll}
...
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
\footnotetext{Data from the 2024 survey.}Citation footnotes with BibLaTeX
For footnote-based citation styles (Chicago, Turabian), BibLaTeX can automatically place citations as footnotes.
latex
\usepackage[backend=biber, style=verbose-note]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{references.bib}
% In document:
Einstein introduced relativity.\cite{einstein1920}
% Produces a numbered footnote with the full citation.Use style=verbose-trad2 for subsequent short-form citations (ibid.).
Footnote formatting
latex
% Adjust spacing above footnote rule:
\setlength{\skip\footins}{12pt}
% Reset footnote counter (e.g., per chapter):
\setcounter{footnote}{0}
% Custom footnote symbols instead of numbers:
\renewcommand{\thefootnote}{\fnsymbol{footnote}}Style guide notes
ChicagoPrefers footnotes for citations in humanities fields.
APA 7thPrefers inline citations. Use footnotes only for content notes.
MLA 9thFootnotes used sparingly, mainly for supplementary content.