w:footnoteRef (Footnote Reference Mark)

Empty element that renders the auto-numbered footnote reference mark within the body of the footnote itself.

Parent elements

Description

w:footnoteRef is an empty inline element placed inside a run within the footnote body. It renders as the auto-generated footnote number (or symbol) that identifies the footnote — the same mark that appears superscripted in the main document body via w:footnoteReference.

It is defined in ECMA-376 Part 1 §17.11.15.

w:footnoteRef has no attributes and no content. It is a marker that the rendering engine replaces with the appropriate footnote number at layout time.

Examples

<w:footnote w:id="1">
  <w:p>
    <w:r>
      <w:rPr><w:rStyle w:val="FootnoteReference"/></w:rPr>
      <w:footnoteRef/>
    </w:r>
    <w:r><w:t xml:space="preserve"> Footnote text goes here.</w:t></w:r>
  </w:p>
</w:footnote>

using DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Wordprocessing;

var run = new Run();
run.AppendChild(new RunProperties(
    new RunStyle { Val = "FootnoteReference" }
));
run.AppendChild(new FootnoteReferenceMark());

Notes

w:footnoteRef appears inside the footnote body (in footnotes.xml). For the reference mark in the main document text, use w:footnoteReference.
The formatting (superscript, font size) comes from the FootnoteReference character style applied to the run.
Every regular w:footnote should include exactly one w:footnoteRef at the beginning of its first paragraph.