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    Hello,

    I am able to configure Windows search on a Windows 7workstation to search for exact phrases within Word documents. However, I noticed that I cannot seem to obtain search results on text contained within a footnote in a word document. If that same text phrase exists within the normal body of the document the search results will indeed pick it up, but not when its only contained in the footnote text of the document. Wasn't sure if this was a limitation of the windows search capability or a configuration change I needed to make.

    Is text that is contained within a footnote in a word document even searchable through the Windows 7 search feature?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Regards,

    Tony Diaz

    Tuesday, March 19, 2013 6:22 PM

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    Tony

    The best place to ask this is probably here http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/word?tab=unanswered

    Wanikiya & Dyami -Team-ZigZag. www.ZigZag3143.com email Admin@zigzag3143.com

    Tuesday, March 19, 2013 8:46 PM
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    To insert footnotes, follow these steps:



    1. Place the cursor where the footnote mark should be located

    2. On the Insert menu, select Reference

    3. On the Reference submenu, click Footnote…

    4. Make sure Footnotes is selected in the Location section

    5. Additionally, select Bottom of page, if it isn’t already

    6. Click Insert



    The footnote mark will appear at the selected location. Word will take you to the footnote section at the bottom of the page.



    7. Enter the footnote text. Add formatting if desired



    You can add footnotes in any order you want. Word automatically updates the numbering.

    love is rock!!!

    • Proposed as answer by TK MAHATO Tuesday, March 19, 2013 8:50 PM
    • Unproposed as answer by ZigZag3143x Tuesday, March 19, 2013 9:03 PM
    Tuesday, March 19, 2013 8:50 PM
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    TM

    He is asking how to search for text  in a footnote not insert one.

    I noticed that I cannot seem to obtain search results on text contained within a footnote in a word document.

    Wanikiya & Dyami -Team-ZigZag. www.ZigZag3143.com email Admin@zigzag3143.com

    Tuesday, March 19, 2013 9:04 PM
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    I will post this question on the Office forum, but I'm not certain that its an issue with Microsoft Word.  Within the Word application the built in search function within Word searches and locates text in footnotes as well as in the formal body of the document fine.  The problem occurs when you attempt to search for text or text phrases that are contained within a footnote in a word document using the Windows 7 search of the operating system.

    Thanks

    Wednesday, March 20, 2013 2:11 PM
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    This could be an Office or a Windows problem. On my current machine I have no problem locating text in footnotes but then I use Office XP. If you like then you can send me one of your Word files for a closer examination. Send it to pegasusDOTfnlATgmailDOTcom.
    Wednesday, March 20, 2013 2:22 PM
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    Oberwald,

    Thanks for that. I just sent you an email with a word file for you to take a look at.

    Thank you

    Wednesday, March 20, 2013 3:18 PM
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    Oberwald,

    Thanks for that. I just sent you an email with a word file for you to take a look at.

    Thank you

    Your .docx file is actually a compressed file that consists of 10 .xml files. It appears that the Windows 7 search mechanism can find text strings in the main document called document.xml but not in the footnotes contained in footnotes.xml. I would explore this issue in greater detail in a Word 10 forum. Here is a list of all the files I found in your compressed .docx file:

    customXml
    Def...7.23.2012.docx
    docProps
    Footnote.doc
    word
    [Content_Types].xml
    _rels
    customXml\item1.xml
    customXml\itemProps1.xml
    customXml\_rels
    customXml\_rels\item1.xml.rels
    docProps\app.xml
    docProps\core.xml
    word\charts
    word\document.xml
    word\embeddings
    word\endnotes.xml
    word\fontTable.xml
    word\footnotes.xml
    word\glossary
    word\header1.xml
    word\header2.xml
    word\media
    word\numbering.xml
    word\settings.xml
    word\styles.xml
    word\theme
    word\webSettings.xml
    word\_rels
    word\charts\chart1.xml
    word\charts\_rels
    word\charts\_rels\chart1.xml.rels
    word\embeddings\Microsoft_Excel_Worksheet1.xlsx
    word\glossary\document.xml
    word\glossary\fontTable.xml
    word\glossary\settings.xml
    word\glossary\styles.xml
    word\glossary\webSettings.xml
    word\glossary\_rels
    word\glossary\_rels\document.xml.rels
    word\media\image1.emf
    word\theme\theme1.xml
    word\theme\themeOverride1.xml
    word\_rels\document.xml.rels
    _rels\.rels

    Wednesday, March 20, 2013 4:48 PM
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    Your .docx file is actually a compressed file that consists of 10 .xml files.

    All docx, docm, dotx and dotm files are compressed XML files. That said, I have no trouble at all using Windows Explorer on Win 7 & Office 2010 to search for textual content located in footnotes and endnotes in doc files.

    Edit: With docx/m files, it seems Windows Explorer finds endnote content OK, but not footnote content.

    Cheers
    Paul Edstein
    [MS MVP - Word]




    • Edited by macropodMVP Thursday, March 21, 2013 11:09 AM
    Thursday, March 21, 2013 8:59 AM
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    Edit: With docx/m files, it seems Windows Explorer finds endnote content OK, but not footnote content.

    Cheers
    Paul Edstein
    [MS MVP - Word]

    This looks like a bad oversight by Microsoft!
    Thursday, March 21, 2013 11:17 AM
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    This looks like a bad oversight by Microsoft!

    No argument there!

    Cheers
    Paul Edstein
    [MS MVP - Word]

    Thursday, March 21, 2013 11:21 AM
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    I agree. So whats the final verdict here, would you guys say this is more of an issue with Microsoft Office ( Word) or the Windows 7 OS?  I'm guessing the answer would be Word seeing how other .xmls within a .docx file ( endnotes.xml , document.xml, ) seems to provide search results without issue.
    • Edited by diazanton1 Thursday, March 21, 2013 12:59 PM
    Thursday, March 21, 2013 12:59 PM
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    As I have already said in your other thread (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-word/windows-7-search-for-footnote-text-in-docx/972919de-6d2a-4f4a-9dbf-fc5a60eb75e0), it is an issue with Windows Explorer, since that (and not Word) is doing the searching.

    Cheers
    Paul Edstein
    [MS MVP - Word]

    Thursday, March 21, 2013 1:31 PM
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     As long as your certain that's what the problem is, I'll accept your answer. In the other thread you responded with "seems like" and you didn't sound certain.

    "In the docx format, yes, but not with endnotes. Seems like a design flaw with Windows Explorer. "

    Thursday, March 21, 2013 1:38 PM
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    'Seems like a design flaw' as distinct from a conscious decision, not that I have any doubt as to which application is involved. After all, you'd see exactly the same result with docx files on a system that doesn't have Office installed.

    Cheers
    Paul Edstein
    [MS MVP - Word]

    Thursday, March 21, 2013 1:42 PM
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    As I have already said in your other thread (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-word/windows-7-search-for-footnote-text-in-docx/972919de-6d2a-4f4a-9dbf-fc5a60eb75e0), it is an issue with Windows Explorer, since that (and not Word) is doing the searching.

    Cheers
    Paul Edstein
    [MS MVP - Word]

    Agreed. Windows Explorer is responsible for the Search function and it appears to skip the compressed footnotes.html file. I would not hold my breath for a quick fix . . .
    • Marked as answer by diazanton1 Friday, March 22, 2013 1:37 PM
    Thursday, March 21, 2013 2:17 PM