Fill in forms microsoft word

To create a form in Word that others can fill out, start with a template or document and add content controls. Content controls include things like check boxes, text boxes, date pickers, and drop-down lists. If you’re familiar with databases, these content controls can even be linked to data.

Show the Developer tab

If the developer tab isn’t displayed in the ribbon, see Show the Developer tab.

Open a template or a blank document on which to base the form

To save time, start with a form template or start from scratch with a blank template.

1. Go to File > New.

2. In Search online templates, type Forms or the type of form you want and press ENTER.

3. Choose a form template, and then select Create or Download.

1. Go to File > New.

2. Select Blank document.

Add content to the form

Go to Developer, and then choose the controls that you want to add to the document or form. To remove a content control, select the control and press Delete. You can set properties on controls once inserted.

Note: You can print a form that was created using content controls, but the boxes around the content controls will not print.

In a rich text content control, users can format text as bold or italic, and they can type multiple paragraphs. If you want to limit what users add, insert the plain text content control.

1. Click or tap where you want to insert the control.

2. Select Developer > Rich Text Content Control or Plain Text Content Control .

To set specific properties on the control, see Set or change properties for content controls.

A picture control is often used for templates, but you can also add a picture control to a form.

1. Click or tap where you want to insert the control.

2. Select Developer > Picture Content Control .

To set specific properties on the control, see Set or change properties for content controls.

Use building block controls when you want people to choose a specific block of text. For example, building block controls are helpful when you need to add different boilerplate text depending on the contract’s specific requirements. You can create rich text content controls for each version of the boilerplate text, and then you can use a building block control as the container for the rich text content controls.

1. Click or tap where you want to insert the control.

2. Go to DeveloperBuilding Block Gallery Content Control (or Building Block Content Control).

3. Select Developer and content controls for the building block.

   

1. Click or tap where you want to insert the control.

To set specific properties on the control, see Set or change properties for content controls.

In a combo box, users can select from a list of choices that you provide or they can type in their own information. In a drop-down list, users can only select from the list of choices.

1. Go to Developer > Combo Box Content Control or Drop-Down List Content Control .

2. Select the content control, and then select Properties.

3. To create a list of choices, select Add under Drop-Down List Properties.

4. Type a choice in Display Name, such as Yes, No, or Maybe.

   Repeat this step until all of the choices are in the drop-down list.

5. Fill in any other properties that you want.

   Note: If you select the Contents cannot be edited check box, users won’t be able to click a choice.

1. Click or tap where you want to insert the date picker control.

2. Select Developer > Date Picker Content Control .

To set specific properties on the control, see Set or change properties for content controls.

1. Click or tap where you want to insert the check box control.

2. Select Developer > Check Box Content Control .

To set specific properties on the control, see Set or change properties for content controls.

Legacy form controls are for compatibility with older versions of Word and consist of legacy form and Active X controls.

1. Click or tap where you want to insert a legacy control.

2. Go to Developer > Legacy Forms drop-down.

3. Select the Legacy Form control or Active X Control that you want to include.

Set or change properties for content controls

Each content control has properties that you can set or change. For example, the Date Picker control offers options for the format you want to use to display the date.

1. Select the content control that you want to change.

2. Go to Developer > Properties.

   

3. Change the properties that you want.

Add protection to a form

If you want to limit how much others can edit or format a form, use the Restrict Editing command:

1. Open the form that you want to lock or protect.

2. Select Developer > Restrict Editing.

   

3. After selecting restrictions, select Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.

   

Advanced Tip:

If you want to protect only parts of the document, separate the document into sections and only protect the sections you want.

To do this, choose Select Sections in the Restrict Editing panel. For more info on sections, see Insert a section break.

Show the Developer tab

If the developer tab isn’t displayed in the ribbon, see Show the Developer tab.

Open a template or use a blank document

To create a form in Word that others can fill out, start with a template or document and add content controls. Content controls include things like check boxes, text boxes, and drop-down lists. If you’re familiar with databases, these content controls can even be linked to data.

1. Go to File > New from Template.

   

2. In Search, type form.

3. Double-click the template you want to use.

4. Select File > Save As, and pick a location to save the form.

5. In Save As, type a file name and then select Save.

1. Go to File > New Document.

   

2. Go to File > Save As.

3. In Save As, type a file name and then select Save.

Add content to the form

Go to Developer, and then choose the controls that you want to add to the document or form. To remove a content control, select the control and press Delete. You can set Options on controls once inserted. From Options, you can add entry and exit macros to run when users interact with the controls, as well as list items for combo boxes, .

1. In the document, click or tap where you want to add a content control.

2. On Developer, select Text Box, Check Box, or Combo Box.

   

3. To set specific properties for the control, select Options, and set .

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for each control that you want to add.

Options let you set common settings, as well as control specific settings. Select a control and then select Options to set up or make changes.

• Set common properties.

  • Select Macro to Run on lets you choose a recorded or custom macro to run on Entry or Exit from the field.

  • Bookmark Set a unique name or bookmark for each control.

  • Calculate on exit This forces Word to run or refresh any calculations, such as total price when the user exits the field.

  • Add Help Text Give hints or instructions for each field.

  • OK Saves settings and exits the panel.

  • Cancel Forgets changes and exits the panel.

• Set specific properties for a Text box

  • Type Select form Regular text, Number, Date, Current Date, Current Time, or Calculation.

  • Default text sets optional instructional text that’s displayed in the text box before the user types in the field. Set Text box enabled to allow the user to enter text into the field.

  • Maximum length sets the length of text that a user can enter. The default is Unlimited.

  • Text format can set whether text automatically formats to Uppercase, Lowercase, First capital, or Title case.

  • Text box enabled Lets the user enter text into a field. If there is default text, user text replaces it.

• Set specific properties for a Check box.

  • Default Value Choose between Not checked or checked as default.

  • Checkbox size Set a size Exactly or Auto to change size as needed.

  • Check box enabled Lets the user check or clear the text box.

• Set specific properties for a Combo box

  • Drop-down item Type in strings for the list box items. Press + or Enter to add an item to the list.

  • Items in drop-down list Shows your current list. Select an item and use the up or down arrows to change the order, Press — to remove a selected item.

  • Drop-down enabled Lets the user open the combo box and make selections.

1. Go to Developer > Protect Form.

   

   Note: To unprotect the form and continue editing, select Protect Form again.

2. Save and close the form.

If you want, you can test the form before you distribute it.

1. Protect the form.

2. Reopen the form, fill it out as the user would, and then save a copy.

Show the Developer tab

1. On the right side of the ribbon, select , and then select Ribbon Preferences.

2. Under Customize, select Developer .

Open a template or a document on which to base the form

You can start with a blank document and create your own form. Or, to save time, you can start with a form template.

1. Go to File > New from Template.

2. In the left pane, expand Online Templates, and then select Forms.

3. Double-click the form template that you want to use.

Add content controls to the form

1. In the document, click where you want to add the control.

2. On the Developer tab, under Form Controls, select Text Box, Check Box, or Combo Box.

3. To set specific properties for the control, select Options, and then configure the properties that you want.

   Note: To create a list of drop-down items in a combo box, select the combo box placeholder, click Options, and then add the items that you want to appear in the drop-down list.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for each control that you want to add.

Add instructional text (optional)

Instructional text (for example, «Type First Name») in a text box can make your form easier to use. By default, no text appears in a text box, but you can add it.

1. Select the text box control that you want to add instructional text to.

2. On the Developer tab, under Form Controls, select Options.

3. In Default Text, type the instructional text.

4. Make sure that Fill-in enabled is selected, and then select OK.

Protect the form

1. On the Developer tab, under Form Controls, select Protect Form.

   Note: To unprotect the form and continue editing, click Protect Form again.

2. Save and close the form.

Test the form (optional)

If you want, you can test the form before you distribute it.

1. Protect the form.

2. Reopen the form, fill it out as the user would, and then save a copy.

Creating fillable forms isn’t available in Word for the web.

You can create the form with the desktop version of Word with the instructions in Create a fillable form.

When you save the document and reopen it in Word for the web, you’ll see the changes you made.

You can use Word to create interactive digital forms that other people can fill out on their computers before printing or sending them back to you. It takes a little preparation but keeps you from having to decipher messy handwriting! Some of the tools you will use when creating a form include:

• Templates: Forms are normally saved as templates so that they can be used again and again.
• Content controls: The areas where users input information in a form.
• Tables: Tables are often used in forms to align text and form fields, and to create borders and boxes.
• Protection: Users can complete the form fields without being able to change the form’s text and/or design.

Show the Developer Tab

Before you can create a form, you’ll need to turn on the Developer tab to get access to the advanced tools.

1. Click the File tab.

   

2. Select Options.

   

   The Word Options window opens.

3. Click the Customize Ribbon tab on the left.

   The column on the right controls which ribbon tabs are enabled.

4. Check the Developer check box.
5. Click OK.

   

The Developer tab now appears on the ribbon. In addition to advanced tools for macro recording, add-ins, and document protection, we now have access to form controls.

Create a Form

Once you’ve enabled the Developer tab, and created the layout and structure of the form, you can start adding form fields to your document with Content Controls.

1. Place the text cursor where you want to insert the form field.
2. Click the Developer tab on the ribbon.

   The Controls group contains the different kinds of content controls you can add to a form, as well as the toggle button for Design Mode.
3. Click the Design Mode button in the controls group.

   While Design Mode is active, controls you insert won’t be active, so clicking a check box to move it around won’t also check it. You can also customize placeholder text for some controls.

   

4. Click a Content Control buttons to insert the selected type of control.

   The content control is inserted.

   Select a form field and click the Properties button on the ribbon to edit a control’s options. Depending on the type of control you’ve inserted, you can change its appearance, set up the options in a list, or lock the control once edited.

5. When you’re done, click the Design Mode button again to exit Design Mode.

   

You leave Design Mode, and the content controls that you’ve inserted can now be used.

Types of Form Controls

There are many different types of form controls you can add to a form that will allow people to add different types of responses.

Finalize a Form

When you’re ready to distribute a form so others can fill it out, you can restrict the form so that content controls cannot be removed or changed by those filling it out.

1. Click the Restrict Editing button on the Developer tab.

   The Restrict Editing pane appears on the right.

2. Check the Editing restrictions check box.
3. Click the Editing restriction list arrow.
4. Select Filling in forms.

   When this option is enabled, the only change that anyone else can make to this document is the filling in of form fields. They won’t be able to move, delete, or edit the fields themselves until protection is turned off.

   

5. Click the Yes, Start Enforcing Protection button.

   A password is not required to start enforcing protection, but you can add one if you’d like to prevent just anyone from turning this protection off.

6. Enter a password (optional), then click OK.

   

The document is now restricted, and anyone you send it to will only be able to fill in the forms.

FREE Quick Reference

Click to Download

Free to distribute with our compliments; we hope you will consider our paid training.

Basic rules: Create the form using the forms toolbar. Protect it. Here’s the
details…

First, you need the Forms toolbar. Turn it on by going to View Toolbars Forms.
Here’s the Forms toolbar, let’s get to know it better.

I have never used the tables or frame tools here, so I don’t
explain them. However, I do strongly recommend tables to create forms whenever
your forms are laid out in «boxes».

From left to right, here’s the buttons we’re reviewing. The
options dialog boxes are accessed by double-clicking the field, or by hitting
the Form Field Options button.

Text Form Field

This inserts a field designed for text entry. You can format it
for other things by double-clicking it, or by hitting the Form Field Options
icon. Change the type drop-down to a desired field type, such as a number or
date. You can set a maximum number of characters to be entered for items like
account numbers. You can choose Date as the type, and change the Text format to
read Sunday, June 19, 2005 instead of 6/19/2005.

You can also set a bookmark name here. Leave it as the default
Text# or change it to something meaningful, such as CoName. Then, when you later
want the Company name to appear again without making the user type it again, you
can create a
reference to the bookmark. If you plan to use the values entered in these
text form fields later in calculations, please check the Calculate on exit box!
Doing so makes your calculation field update as the values on which it is
dependent are entered.

Check Box Form Field

I don’t think I’ve ever checked these options out before, but
here they are. Unfortunately, checkboxes don’t work like option buttons do. If
you place multiple checkboxes, then multiple checkboxes can be chosen. If you
want only one checkbox to be chosen, you need Office VBA:
Macros You Can Use Today, which contains a macro by
Cindy Meister that
you can use, or you need to use Option buttons from the Control
Toolbox. Either option requires macro code.

Drop-Down Form Field

Drop-Downs are very cool and extremely easy to make. The only
drawback is that you’re limited to 25 entries, so you can’t use it for days of
the month or to list the US states.

Tip: To defeat the 25-item limit, try
separating your items into groups, such as east and west or 1 to 7, 7 to 14,
etc., or see this Microsoft KB Entry

http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=306258

Tip: If you don’t want an item chosen by
default (or perhaps you want your form to be «blank» for printing), enter spaces
in the Drop-down item box to create a «blank» item, just make sure you move it
to the top.

Protect the Form

This button is used to test your form while you create it.
Protect the form to see how your form fields will work. Unprotect to continue
building your form.

Final Protection

You don’t have to use it, but I recommend it. When your form is
completely built and you’re ready to distribute it, choose Tools Protect
Document from the menu to bring up the Protect Document task pane. Choose
Editing restrictions, and Filling in forms.

You may only want to
protect certain
areas of your document. Once you’re done, hit the Yes, Start Enforcing
Protection button and (we highly recommend) enter a password.

More Tips

• For best results, create your forms in tables. Place the label
  in one cell and the form field in another cell next to it.

• To restrict entry to a certain amount of space, insert a
  one-row, one-column table, and set the row height to «Exactly».

If you use forms at work, you’ll love the convenience of interactive or fillable forms in Microsoft Word. Forms that you can fill out make gathering information easy.

 With a fillable form, all you’ve got to do is create a form in Word. Then you can use it over and over again. There’s nothing to print, so interactive forms are good for both your budget and the environment.

If you want a fillable form that also looks good, then begin with a template in Word. Form templates for Microsoft Word are available in Envato Elements and GraphicRiver.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a fillable form in Word, so you can reap all the benefits of an interactive form.

Find Great Form Templates on Elements

Fillable forms in Word have a variety of uses. Human resources use forms to capture employee and consultant information. Organizations use forms to register members, students, or clients. You also use forms to take orders for your products and services. Those are only a few examples of how useful fillable forms are.

Ideally, you want your Microsoft Word forms to be consistent with your branding. Well-designed forms reflect your credibility and professionalism. That’s why you want to avoid generic-looking forms. Want to know how to make a fillable form in Word that’s aligned with your visual brand?

The easiest way is by using templates for Word with pre-built tables or forms. One awesome source for Word templates is Envato Elements. Elements has an irresistible offer: for one low monthly fee, you get unlimited downloads of the millions of creative assets in its library. These include:

• Word templates
• fonts
• graphics
• photos
• and more

Whatever you need to make your forms look as good as possible, you can find in Elements.

If you need to create only one form, then a better source for Word templates is GraphicRiver. It’s got the same massive library of creative assets but on a pay-per-use basis. For the one-off project in Word, GraphicRiver is a terrific and budget-friendly option.

How to Create Fillable Forms in Word

You may be wondering, «How do I make a fillable form in Word?» Let me take you step-by-step through how to create a fillable form in Word.

Note: In the following tutorial, I’m using Microsoft Word for Mac version 16.48. If you’re using a different version, then the steps and interface may be different. But these steps should still be helpful for you.

1. Show the Developer Tab

As a first step, make sure that the Developer tab is showing up for you. This may be hidden by default. If you don’t see the Developer tab, follow these steps:

Go to Word > Preferences. 

The Word Preferences menu opens. Click on the Ribbon & Toolbar button. 

The Ribbon & Toolbar menu pops up. Under Main Tabs, scroll down and check Developer. Click Save.

The Developer tab should now be visible.

2. Determine the Layout and Structure of the Form

The next step is to determine the layout and structure of the fillable form. This will depend on what information you want to capture. You may want to sketch this on a sheet of paper first. 

When you know what the form will look like, create a table in Word. By creating your form as a table in Word, it’ll be easier for you to keep things aligned and organized. The cells of the table are the form fields. Keep this in mind as you create your interactive form. This tutorial shows you the steps for how to make a table in Word:

Another option is to use a Word template with a pre-built table as a form. This way, the form has already been professionally designed. All you’ve got to do is to customize the form in Word according to your needs. Remember that the form template must have been built as a table so that you can make the form interactive in Word.

In the steps that follow, I’m going to create a form from scratch by first creating a table in Word:

Now, it’s time to make this a fillable form in Word.

3. Add Form Fields With Content Controls

You create a fillable form in Word by adding form fields. There are different types of form fields with content controls, depending on the types of responses you’re looking for.

Under the Developer tab, you’ll see buttons for creating a Text Box, Check Box, and Combo Box (or drop-down form field).

Let me show you how to create each type of form field:

How to Add a Word Fillable Form Text Box

Place the cursor where you would like to create a text field. Click on the Developer tab, then the Text Box button. 

A text box is created. To change the text box settings, click on Options. The Text Form Field Options menu opens.

Here, choose various settings. For example, you’ve got several Text Types to choose from:

• Regular Text
• Number
• Date
• Current Date
• Current Time
• Calculation

Add a Default Text for the form field to guide respondents in filling out the form. You can also specify the Maximum Length and Text or Number Format. 

When you’re happy with the settings, click OK. Repeat for each text box you want to create.

How to Add a Check Box to a Fillable Form in Word

Next, let’s make check boxes. First type the text for the check box items. Then, place your cursor in front of the first item. Go to Developer > Check Box. 

A check box appears where your cursor was. Again, change the check box settings by clicking on the Options button.

The Check Box Form Field Options menu opens. Here you can determine whether the Default Value for the check box is Not Checked or Checked. Specify the Check Box Size and other options. When you’re done setting up the check box options, click OK.

Repeat these steps for the other check boxes.

How to Create a Drop-down Field in a Fillable Form in Word

Finally, let’s add a drop-down field in our form. Place the cursor where you want the drop-down menu to be, then go to Developer > Combo Box. 

To add the drop-down menu items, click on the Options button. The Drop-Down Form Field Options menu opens.

Type a drop-down item, then click the + sign. 

Repeat for each drop-down item you want to include in your fillable form. When you’re done, click OK.

Only the first drop-down item will appear. You’ll see the rest when you test the form.

4. Finalize the Form

Before using the fillable form in Word, it’s a good idea to first test it. To do this, click the Protect Form button on the Developer ribbon.

Now that the form is protected, fill the form fields like your respondents would. You’ll notice that the drop-down menu items appear when you click on the field or the arrow beside it.

When you’re happy with how the fillable form works, finalize the document by formatting the page. Click Protect Form again to un-protect it, so you can edit the document. Now’s the time to change fonts, colors, add logos, and format the form as you wish.

This is what my final fillable form looks like:

You may also decide to remove the shading for each form field. To do so, go to Developer > Shading.

I’m going to keep the Shading on, to make it clear to my respondents where they’re supposed to type in their answers. That’s because I deleted the borders of my table to give my form a cleaner appearance. If you keep the table borders, then it makes sense to switch off the form field Shading.

5. Use and Distribute Fillable Forms in Word

Once the fillable form in Word is completed, share it with your users or respondents. Do this by sharing the fillable form as an email attachment.

First, make sure that the form is protected. This ensures that other users won’t be able to edit the form when you share it with them.

Next, click on Share > Share a Copy.

In the menu that opens, click Email as Attachment.

This launches your default email application with the fillable form attached.

3 Top Form Templates for Word (Unlimited Downloads from Elements)

If you want a form with an impressive design, it’s best to start with a form template for Word. Templates with built-in forms are designed by professional graphic designers. This means the biggest—and hardest—design decisions have already been made for you. By customizing the colors and fonts and adding your logo, you can make the template truly your own.

Below are a few form templates for Word that look great: 

1. Clean Business Registration Form Template

The Clean Business Registration Form template for Word allows you to gather basic personal information and contact details. It’s useful for registering employees, clients, members, vendors, and more. This form template comes in A4 size. You’ve got the option of customizing it with your branding colors. The template comes in Microsoft Word files, as well as files for InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop.

2. Order Form

Receive orders for your products or services with this Order Form for Word. This A4-sized template uses paragraph styles, making it easy to edit in Microsoft Word. It also comes in Adobe InDesign files, if you’re more comfortable editing in that application. A file guide is included to help you customize this template.

3. Client Questionnaire

Impress your clients with this Client Questionnaire template that looks anything but generic. Editable in both Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign, this form template comes in A4 size. A 34-page guide walks you through how to edit and use the template files.

More of the Best Word Templates for Your Business or Organization

Now you know how to create a fillable Word document. But aside from fillable forms, your business or organization needs other types of documents. Using templates for MS Word helps you create professional-looking documents quickly. Premium Word templates are designed to be easy to customize, so you end up with materials that are coherent with your brand.

Here are more Word templates you can customize to easily create impressive documents for your business or organization:

Learn More About Using Microsoft Word for Your Business and Personal Needs

Whether for personal or business use, MS Word lets you create various kinds of documents. But with power comes complexity, so it can take time to learn how to use its robust features.

The best place to start is with our ultimate guide, Learn How to Use Microsoft Word (Beginner Tutorial Guide). It takes you from the basics of opening and creating Word files, to more advanced skills like comparing and merging two Word documents.

These Word tutorials will also help:

Enhance Your Workflow With Fillable Forms in Word

You’ve seen how convenient it is to use an interactive, fillable form. And now, you know how to create your own fillable form in Word.

Take it up a notch by starting with a Word template, such as those from Elements or GraphicRiver. These professionally-designed templates for Word are sure to impress your clients, employees, or members.

For unlimited downloads of Word templates, take your pick of the vast options in Envato Elements. For one small monthly subscription, you get unlimited downloads of anything you want in its massive library. These include photos, fonts, graphics, as well as sound effects, music, and stock video. If you create many marketing and communication materials, Elements gives you massive value.

For one-off projects, GraphicRiver is another massive library of Word templates and other creative elements. But with GraphicRiver, you pay only for each single use of each item. It’s an affordable way of getting the same professional results.

Did you know that you can create forms in Word that people can fill out? When you hear about fillable forms, it is almost always related to Adobe and PDF documents because that’s the most popular format.

However, Word is also quite a powerful tool and you can use it to quickly create forms that you can either print or send via email, etc. If you need to create a survey that will go out to many people and you want all the responses tallied for your automatically, it might be best to use Google Docs to create the survey.

In this article, I’ll show you how to create a form with text boxes, check boxes, a date picker and a list box. You can also make your forms a lot better looking if you use tables to organize everything.

Enable Developer Tab

By default, you can’t create forms in Word unless you enable the Developer tab in the ribbon. Since it’s not used by a lot of people, Microsoft disabled it by default. To enable the tab, click on File and then Options.

On the left-hand side, click on Customize Ribbon and then check the Developer box in the right-hand list box.

Click OK and click on the tab in the ribbon. The section we are most interested in is Controls.

Creating a Form in Word

The Controls section has about eight different controls that can be added to your Word document: Rich Text, Plain-Text, Picture, Building Block Gallery, Checkbox, Combo Box, Drop-Down List, and Date Picker.

To insert a control, just click on it and it will appear wherever your cursor was located. In my example below, I created a table and added two plain-text boxes for first name and last name.

By default, each control has its own filler text. For a plain text control, it is Click or tap here to enter text. You can edit this text for any control by clicking on the Design Mode button that is to the right of the control icons.

You’ll see some blue placeholders appear on the left and right of any controls you have added to your document. Select the text and change it to whatever you like. Click on the Design Mode button again to exit the mode.

Next, click on your newly added control so that it is highlighted and then click on Properties, which is directly below the Design Mode button. Each control will have a standard set of options with custom options at the bottom based on what type of control it is.

Here you can give the control a title, change the color, style the text and specify whether or not the control can be edited or deleted. At the very bottom are the control specific options, which for the case of a plain text control, is whether you want to allow multiple lines or not. That last option is useful if you need someone to type in a paragraph of text.

So what’s the difference between a plain-text control and a rich text control? Well, not much. In a rich text control, you can change the font/color settings for each word individually, whereas the plain-text control will apply the formatting to all the text. You would think the plain-text control would not allow bold, font changes or color changes, but it does.

Next, I went ahead and added a drop down list control to my form. You’ll see it says Choose an item and that’s it. In order to add items to the list, you have to click on Properties.

Click the Add button and then type in a name for your choice. By default, the Display Name and Value will be the same, but you can change it if you like. There really is no reason to change the value unless you are writing Word macros and refer to the controls in code.

Once you have added all your choices, go ahead and click OK and you’ll now be able to select the options from the drop-down list.

The only difference between the dropdown list control and the combo box control is that the latter allows the user to enter their own value if they please. In the dropdown list, you have to choose from one of choices in the list. In the combo box, you can either choose from the list or type in your own value.

The date picker control works just like any date picker you have probably used on airline booking sites, etc. When you click on it, a calendar appears and you can simply click on the date to select it.

If you click on the Properties button, you’ll see that there are quite a few options for the date picker control.

You can choose a different format to display the date and choose a different calendar type. The picture control is another nice option that will allow users to insert a picture easily.

When the user clicks on the image, a dialog will appear where they can choose a picture from their computer, from Bing image search or from OneDrive. They also have options for Facebook and Flickr.

Now let’s add a few checkboxes to our document. Note that when you add a checkbox and try to type text into it, it will tell you that the selection is locked. I believe this is by design. You have to click next to the checkbox and then type in your text.

Lastly, you can insert a building block control, which lets you pick content from Quick Parts and AutoText. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out my post on how to use AutoText and Quick Parts in Word. In my example, I added some quotes to a custom AutoText and then linked the control to it via the Properties dialog.

Once you have all the controls in your document the way you want, it might be a good idea to protect the document so that user can only fill out the form fields and that’s it. To do this, click on Restrict Editing on the Developer tab.

In the pane that shows up on the right, click on the dropdown under Editing restrictions and choose Filling in forms. Make sure to check the Allow only this type of editing in the document box.

Click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection and then enter a password if you like. Now only the form fields will be editable and everything else locked/protected. The user can easily use the TAB key to move between the different form fields.

Overall, Word isn’t the greatest tool for making forms, but it’s decent and probably more than enough for most people. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!

Section 2: Open a Template or Blank Document to Base the Form

It is supported to make an existing word document into a fillable form. And you can also set a new document and save it as your template for further usage.

If you Have a Form Template in Word Already:

Step 1: Search your form template

Choose File and click New to start with a form template. Later, you can search for Forms in the Templates search field.

Step 2: Choose the form that matches the type you need

Select the form, then click Download (Word 2010) or Create (Word 2013, Word 2016).

Step 3: Set the name for your new form template

Click Save As in the File left panel. Rename your new template if you need it. Then click Save to apply your change.

If You Want to Create Your Personal Form Template in Word:

Step 1: Head to Microsoft Word File list

After creating a form document, choose the File tab. Then click Save As under its list.

Step 2: Save the new document as a template

Select Word template from the drop-down Save as type. Later, rename it to distinguish it from others. And click Save to finish.

Section 3: Insert Any Content You Need to the Form

During this section, you can add many content and elements to create a fillable form in Word 2010/2013/2016. Of course, there is no need to apply all contents.

Step 1: Prepare to insert the controls you need

Click the place where you want to insert the control. Head to the Developer section and locate the Controls group. Then you can click the Design Mode option besides.

Step 2: Insert contents to create a fillable form with Microsoft Word

Insert a text control in a fillable form in a word:

Choose Rich Text Content Control or Plain Text Content Control options. Both of them have similar Aa icons.

Add a picture control in a fillable form in a word:

Find and click Picture Content Control besides Design Mode, which looks like a picture icon.

Add a building block control in a fillable form in a word:

Choose Building Block Content Control or Building Block Gallery Content Control in the second line of nine different icons.

Insert a combo box or a drop-down list in a fillable form in a word:

Click Combo Box Content Control or Drop-Down List Content Control. Choose Developer in the content control. Later, click Properties in the Controls group on the top. If you want to create a list of choices, you can select Add under Drop-Down List Properties. Then fill in the required information in Display Name and other options.

Insert a date picker in a fillable form in a word:

Click Date Picker Content Control that looks like a calendar. Then you can choose the date just like surfing an airline booking site.

Add a check box in a fillable form in a word:

Find and click a square icon with a check inserted Check Box Content Control. For instance, you can add a check box before a text to make an easy choice.

Note: You can set or change Properties after choosing any content control. Just as steps of inserting a drop-down list to create a fillable form in word mentioned above.

People Also Read:

• How to Insert PDF to Word
• How to Convert Pages to Word
• How to Change PDF to Word

Microsoft Word is the one of the important apps most of us use on daily basis for creating documents. However, do you know that it is easy to create editable forms in Microsoft Word? You can use the forms for various purposes like applications or information collection purposes. In this article, we will explain how to create fillable forms in Microsoft Word with Microsoft 365 version.

Usage of Word Forms

There are numerous ways you can make use of the forms in Word. The best example includes an application form that you receive in emails to fill and send back. In this case, the form controls are applied to control what the receiver can edit or select in the form. It is also important the user should not delete the content of the fillable form or change the formatting.

On other hand, there are pre-printed forms like the applications you can see in banks. These forms are first created in Word and pre-printed with necessary details. Users can fill other personal details manually and submit for processing. It is just matter of few minutes to reprint the form when required. It is also easy to modify some fields in the form to create a variation before printing.

Creating Forms in Microsoft Word

There are two straightforward ways to create a form in Word.

• Download the form template from Office library and modify the content as per your need.
• Create a custom form from scratch.

1. Creating Form from Template Library

This is the easy option to save your time. However, it may not always work as the pre-defined templates may not match your requirements.

• Open Word app and when you are in the backstage view, you will see default templates next to “Blank document” template.
• Click “More templates” link to explore all free templates available for you to download from Microsoft.

• Use the search box to enter the keywords like form or volunteer form to filter the relevant templates.

• When you find the template, click on it and then click “Create” button to start downloading the template.

• After downloading the template will be applied in your document. You can start modifying the content and print after finishing the work.

This method has lot of problems that most of the templates do not actually use the form controls. For example, all the checkboxes you see in the above “Volunteer Form” are simply square symbols. This means you cannot check or uncheck the items Word. The primary usage in this case will be to print out the form physically and the users need to manually fill out the details like the bank applications.

2. Creating Editable Forms in Word from Scratch

This is the correct approach when you want to have an editable form in Word. However, you will not see any form elements like checkbox or list in the default Word menu. you have to enable “Developer” menu to make them visible. When you are in Word app, go to “Files > Options”. Navigate to “Customize Ribbon” section and enable “Developer” option under “Main Tabs”. Now you will see a “Developer” menu in the ribbon showing form control icons.

The “Design Mode” will show additional instructional text which you can use if needed. Otherwise, you can simply click on the required form elements and start creating your form. After adding an element, you can click on the “Properties” to set needed controls. For example, after adding a list or combo box, you can setup the options in the properties section. You can also lock the filed, apply colors and protect it from deletion in the properties section.

Form Controls

Here are the form controls you can use with Word:

• Text controls – there are two text controls available – rich text and plain text. While both controls allow you to add text boxes, you can format the text like bold and italic with rich text option.
• Picture control – though there are not much use of pictures in the form, you can insert your logo and lock the item from deletion.
• Building block gallery content control – you can use this control to insert any building blocks from Quick Parts and other gallery of blocks.
• Checkbox – insert a checkbox where needed on your form. Note that you can click on the box to check or uncheck without any additional formatting.

• List controls – you can insert combo box control allowing users to select an option from the list or enter own value. Similarly, dropdown list will force users to select a value from the list.

• Date picker – insert a date picker for selecting a date.
• Repeating control – clicking on this icon will add a + icon to the selected control. You can click the + icon to duplicate the control easily.
• Legacy tools – it contains legacy form controls and ActiveX controls. These controls are useful to insert  radio button or apply shading on form elements.

Note that the legacy and other controls will work differently on the form. For example, you can insert a “Check box content control” and enable the checked option by simply clicking on the icon. However, if you insert the “Check Box Form Field” from legacy tools, you need to double click on the icon and select “Checked” as your default value.

Let Us Create a Simple Form

To make the appearance of the form looks beautiful, first go to “Insert” menu and add a text box. You can also choose one of the built-in text box templates. This will help you to easily add background to your form and move all form fields easily.

After adding a text box, go to developer menu and start adding your fields inside the text box. Let us add the name and phone number which are plain text controls. Then a “Sex” field with Male and Female as two checkboxes both unchecked. A date picker for selecting the date and finally a combo box for selecting multiple interests. The form will look like below on your document:

As you can see, we have applied background and some text formatting to the text box to make the form looks appealing. When clicking on the interests field, it will show options for users to select as shown below. Since it is a combo field, users can also enter values on their own.

Protecting Your Form in Word

It is necessary to protect your form or fields so that users will not edit or modify the content. In addition, the formatting also needs to be protected to keep the form readable. Word offers multiple options to protect your form. As you can see in the properties screenshot above, you can choose the following options for each field.

• Content control cannot be deleted
• Contents cannot be edited

To protect the entire form, click on the “Restrict Editing” option. You have the possibilities to set two types of restrictions:

• Formatting restrictions – enable “Limit formatting to a selection of styles” option and click on “Settings…” link just below that. On the pop-up that appears you can select the styles that you want to apply the restrictions.

• Editing Restrictions – first select “Allow only this type of editing in the document” option. Then select the option to allow from the list. You can allow commenting, tracking changes, filling in forms or do not allow any changes by making the document as read only.

After selecting the restrictions, click on “Yes, Start Enforcing Protection” button and apply the password to protect your document. Remember, setting restrictions will apply throughout the document and is useful if you only have a form in the document. In case, if your form is part of a long document then you can create sections and apply protection for the section that contains the form.

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How to Create a Fillable Form In Word for Windows

Use Word to make custom interactive forms

Updated on January 3, 2021

What to Know

• To add a fillable object, place the cursor where you want it and go to Developer tab > control type > click on page.
• To add the Developer tab, go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon > Main Tab > Developer > OK.

This article explains how to create a fillable form document in Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010.

How to Add the Developer Tab in Microsoft Word

The form data you create can include the option to choose a date, mark a checkbox, select Yes or No, and more. Before you can configure these controls, you must add the Developer tab to Microsoft Word as they are called. You can create and configure any form data using this tab.

1. Select File from the top menu.

2. Then, choose Options.

3. Select Customize Ribbon.

4. In the right pane of the dialog of Customize Ribbon part, choose Main Tabs.

5. Check the box for Developer.

6. Press OK.

How to Create a Fillable Form in Word with a Checkbox

There are several types of fillable form options in Word. These are called “Controls”. The options are in the Controls group on the Ribbon. You can include a checkbox, date selection box, a combo box with choices you create, drop-down lists, and more. These controls are on the Developer tab.

To create a basic fillable form in Word by providing a checkbox:

1. Type the text to apply the checkbox. Examples include:

   • “Opt into promotional emails”.
   • “I agree to the terms stated in this document”.
   • “I have completed all tasks”.

2. Select the Developer tab.

3. Place your cursor at the beginning of the sentence you’ve written.

4. Select the Check Box Content Control that adds a check mark. (It has a blue checkmark on it.)

5. Choose somewhere else in the document to apply it.

To remove any fillable entry, right-click it and choose Remove Content Control. Then use the Delete key on the keyboard to delete anything remains. In some instances simply clicking Delete will suffice.

How to Make a Form in Word with a Date Control

You add a Date Control from the Developer tab to enable users to select a date from a pop-up calendar that appears when they click the control.

To add a Date Control fillable form entry:

1. Place your cursor in the document where you’d like to add the Date Control.

2. Select the Developer tab.

3. Choose the Date Picker Content Control entry for inserting a date control.

4. Select somewhere outside the new entry to apply it.

How to Make a Form in Word for a Combo Box

If you want to have users choose something from a list that you provide, you use a Combo Box. After you create the box using the Developer tab options, you then access the Properties options for it to enter the available choices. In this example you will create a drop-down list for a party invitation, with options including Yes, No, Maybe.

To create a Combo Box to Make a Form in Word:

1. Write a sentence that will precede the options you’ll provide. Examples include:

   • “Will you attend the party?”
   • “Will you be bringing a dish to the party”

2. Select the Developer tab.

3. Place the cursor in the document where you want the options to appear.

4. Select the Combo Box Content Control icon. (It’s generally located to the right of the blue checkbox icon.)

5. On the Developer tab, in the Controls section, choose Properties.

6. Press Add.

7. Type Yes, and press OK.

8. Press Add.

9. Type No, and press OK.

10. Press Add again.

11. Type Maybe, and press OK.

12. Make any other changes (if desired).

13. Press OK.

14. Select somewhere outside the box to apply it; select inside the box to see how it works.

There are other types of form options you can create in Word. When experimenting with these, you’ll generally work in this order:

1. Type an introductory sentence or paragraph.

2. Place the cursor where you want the new control to go.

3. Choose the control from the Controls group on the Developer tab (hover your mouse over any control to see its name).

4. If applicable, select Properties.

5. Configure properties as necessary for the control you’ve selected.

6. Press OK.

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