Create custom forms in Word that actually work: Here’s how
While Microsoft Word is hardly the first tool that comes to mind for creating surveys and forms, the Office productivity application comes with a rich set of features for creating electronic fillable forms. These forms are relatively easy to create, customize and share with others.
Creating a form in Microsoft Word
Compared to online survey creation tools like Google Forms and even Microsoft Forms, the key advantage of creating forms in Microsoft Word is that they can be created, shared, and completed without internet access. Microsoft Word itself is a worthy alternative to Google Forms.
There are two ways to create a form in Microsoft Word. You can use a form template or design your own form from scratch.
Create a form using templates
Microsoft provides hundreds of templates for creating forms. To create a form using one of these templates, click on File tab and select New.
You can use Search for templates online box to search for different templates such as order forms, job applications, surveys, etc. Select the template you prefer and click Create open in Word.
Create a form from scratch
To create your own form from scratch in Word, you’ll need a new document (Ctrl + N) with all the necessary form details. The Developer tab contains the form controls you need to design a fillable form, but it’s hidden by default. You can enable it by going to File > Options > Customize Ribbon > Main Tabs and selection Developer checkbox.
with Developer active, you can add different elements to the form by selecting them from Controls group. There are up to ten control options to choose from, which are described in the table below:
|
Content control |
Function |
|---|---|
|
RTF content management |
Allows users to enter multiple paragraphs of rich text |
|
Controlling plain text content |
Allows users to write a single paragraph of plain text |
|
Image content control |
Displays an image or allows the user to insert an image into the document |
|
Content check check box |
Allows you to insert checkboxes that the user can select by toggling |
|
Combo Box Content Control |
Allows users to choose from a list of options provided or enter their information |
|
Controlling the contents of a dropdown list |
Users can select one or more options from a drop-down list |
|
Checking the contents of the date selection |
Allows users to select a date from a calendar |
|
Older tools |
These field types are available for compatibility with older versions of Word |
|
Checking the contents of the building block gallery |
Used for more complex documents and inserting built-in equations, quick parts and auto text |
|
Recurring Section Content Review |
It is used to repeat parts of a form and collect different versions of the same data |
All content controls have properties that you can modify. For example, Date selection the control offers different format options for displaying data.
Setting up a fillable form from scratch
Now let’s see how to create a fillable form in Microsoft Word using various form controls. To get started, you need a document with all the details readers need to fill out, basically a skeleton form.
As an example, I created a custom gym registration form for new members interested in joining Big Joe’s Gym. Form fields are nested within a Word table, which helps keep them neatly organized.
With the structure ready, I can start inserting the form controls. I can choose from ten content controls depending on the desired user input. For example Name the field needs a plain text control as a fillable data field, Sex could do with checkboxes and Birthday would use a date picker. Most form items will be filled with plain text and checkbox controls.
This is what our gym registration form looks like after the content controls have been properly placed:
I can further customize the registration form and change the default prompt that appears for each content control. To do this, you must be in Design mode (Developer > Controls > Design Mode). I can also disable some of the checkboxes from the dropdowns. After inserting a dropdown list content control, you can add items to the list by going to Features (Developer > Controls > Properties > Add).
Saving and sharing your own form
Before sharing a form, you should lock it to prevent users from changing form fields and compromising the integrity of the information you need. With a single command, you can block editing of the form content by anyone other than you.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Open the form you want to protect.
- Go to Developer > Restrict Editing (in Defend group).
- AND Limit edits a pane appears on the right. Switch to Allow only this type of modification check box under Editing restrictions.
- Next, click on the drop-down box and select Filling out forms.
- Click on Yes, Run protection enforcement. If this button is grayed out, make sure you’re not there Design mode.
- You can enter a password in the pop-up window or leave it blank. Click OK.
- Now the document is locked and users can only edit the data entry form fields.
Select to make the document editable again by anyone Stop protection and enter the password. If you choose to restrict the form with a password, be careful not to forget it, as it cannot be retrieved.
A faster way to protect form content is to select the entire document (Ctrl + A) or just the form section and use Group option (Developer > Group > Group) to limit editing to content controls.
Don’t forget to test the form before submitting. Open the form, fill it out as a user, then save a copy. You can use general styling practices for Word documents to ensure that your form looks attractive and professional.
There you have it. The simplest electronic, fillable form. With a little precision and patience, respondents can manually fill out a Microsoft Word form created with underscores, but using the right form controls makes for a much smoother job.