# Changing footnote symbols

I was wondering if there is way to change the symbols of footnotes to any symbol I want. I know there are some packages that put away the numbers and use predefined symbols, but I want to use some arbitrary symbol. Is there a way?

• Welcome to TeX.SX! "Arbitrary" is a bit too vague, may you be more specific? Oct 18, 2012 at 18:05
• Thank you. \Mobilefone, \Telefon, \chi, \frownie, etc. Just any symbol. Oct 18, 2012 at 18:15
• Related Question: Changing footnote symbol within mdframed. May 8, 2014 at 1:45

The footnote symbol code is actually very simple:

\def\@fnsymbol#1{\ensuremath{\ifcase#1\or *\or \dagger\or \ddagger\or
\mathsection\or \mathparagraph\or \|\or **\or \dagger\dagger
\or \ddagger\ddagger \else\@ctrerr\fi}}


So, if you were to copy that definition and replace \ddagger by \forall, then the third footnote would get an inverted A.

Do not forget to actually change the footnote counter to fnsymbol:

\renewcommand{\thefootnote}{\fnsymbol{footnote}}

• Note that if you redefine \@fnsymbol, you need to preceded the command above by a "\makeatletter" and follow it with a "\makeatother".
– Jon
Jun 5, 2017 at 16:19
• @thymaro, counting to three is difficult, it seems:-) Mar 29, 2018 at 16:00
• No offense. I read the answer and was confused as to why the second one should be changing and figured I just didn't get it. After going through the code with a little more care, I noticed why my understanding didn't align with what was written. Then, I decided other people might be as offset (p.i.) as me when reading the answer, so I changed it. Happy Easter! :D Mar 29, 2018 at 16:57
• @thymaro that's fine thanks for the edit, I never mind if typos and falsehoods get edited out of my answers, that's how the site is supposed to work.. Mar 29, 2018 at 18:05
• your method may work for this tex.stackexchange.com/q/471861/41144, if so, feel free to comment? Jan 25, 2019 at 16:59

As starting point the definition of \@fnsymbol can be used (latex.ltx, source2e.pdf: "21 Counter and Lengths". The following example goes a step further and removes the upper limit for the counter value. If needed the symbol will be multiplied (see the doubling of symbols in \@fnsymbol) with the help of package alphalph:

\documentclass{article}

\makeatletter
\newcommand*{\myfnsymbolsingle}[1]{%
\ensuremath{%
\ifcase#1% 0
\or % 1
*%
\or % 2
\dagger
\or % 3
\ddagger
\or % 4
\mathsection
\or % 5
\mathparagraph
\else % >= 6
\@ctrerr
\fi
}%
}
\makeatother

\newcommand*{\myfnsymbol}[1]{%
\myfnsymbolsingle{\value{#1}}%
}

% remove upper boundary by multiplying the symbols if needed
\usepackage{alphalph}
\newalphalph{\myfnsymbolmult}[mult]{\myfnsymbolsingle}{}

\renewcommand*{\thefootnote}{%
\myfnsymbolmult{\value{footnote}}%
}

\begin{document}
\footnote{a}\footnote{b}\footnote{c}\footnote{d}\footnote{e}%
\footnote{f}\footnote{g}\footnote{h}\footnote{i}\footnote{j}%
\footnote{k}\footnote{l}\footnote{m}\footnote{n}\footnote{o}%
\end{document}


• Works in Beamer too! (Yes, I know footnotes are bad :)
– nate
May 8, 2014 at 4:38
• your method may work for this tex.stackexchange.com/q/471861/41144, if so, feel free to comment? Jan 25, 2019 at 16:59
• @nate, a matter of opinion. I find footnotes to be pleasant hunting grounds for comments, asides, speculations, humor, etc. Gibbon's "Decline and Fall" would lose much of its interest without its footnotes. May 10, 2021 at 21:36

You can use footmisc and define a set of symbols with \DefineFNsymbols (text-only symbols, i.e. no math) and \DefineFNsymbolsTM (for text or math symbols)

\DefineFNsymbolsTM{myfnsymbols}{% def. from footmisc.sty "bringhurst" symbols
\textasteriskcentered *
\textdagger    \dagger
\textdaggerdbl \ddagger
\textsection   \mathsection
\textbardbl    \|%
\textparagraph \mathparagraph
}%


And call it with

\setfnsymbol{myfnsymbols}


Here's a MWE

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[symbol*]{footmisc}
\DefineFNsymbolsTM{myfnsymbols}{% def. from footmisc.sty "bringhurst" symbols
\textasteriskcentered *
\textdagger    \dagger
\textdaggerdbl \ddagger
\textsection   \mathsection
\textbardbl    \|%
\textparagraph \mathparagraph
}%
\setfnsymbol{myfnsymbols}
\begin{document}
\footnote{a}\footnote{b}\footnote{c}
\footnote{d}\footnote{e}\footnote{f}
\end{document}


I found these explanations a bit confusing. I wanted $\star$ as a footnote symbol, so I just did

\renewcommand{\thefootnote}{$\star$}


and now I get what I want on the next footnote.

I assume that this generalizes to any symbol X by writing

\renewcommand{\thefootnote}{X}

• While this might work, it also fixes the footnote symbol to $\star$ for all subsequent footnotes.
– Werner
Oct 27, 2013 at 17:39