Microsoft Word – Creating Forms

This guide will show you the process of creating forms in Microsoft Word, which allow only sections of the document to be filled in/edited.

Alternatively, online forms can be created using Microsoft Forms.

Step 1

Open Microsoft Word.

Step 2

Once opened, you will need to set up the “Developer” tab. To do this left click “File” on the top left of the page, then from the menu that appears, click “More” and then “Options”.

Step 3

“Word Options” menu will appear. Go to “Customize Ribbon”, select “All Tabs” from the drop down menu, click on “Developer” and then press add. Once this has been done, as shown in the GIF below, select “OK”.

Step 4

Once done, a “Developer” tab will appear at the top of the page. Select this and use the icons highlighted in the image below to create the sections of the form you want to be editable.

Creating a drop-down box:

Once you have selected the drop-down list from the icons highlighted above, select the box and go to properties. From here you are able to edit the drop-down list.

Step 5

Once you have created the form and are ready to send, click the “Restrict Editing” icon in the “Developer” tab.

Step 6

In the menu that appears on the right of the screen, tick “Allow only this type of editing in the document:” box and select “Filling in forms” from the drop-down menu.

Once done, press “Yes, Start Enforcing Protection”.

You will then be prompted to create a password for the document, this is to allow you to edit the document in the future whilst keeping it locked for other people.

The form is now ready and can be sent out

Please note, this will only work if the recipient is also using Microsoft Word.