How to Create Fillable Forms with Content Controls in Word

The Tutoring Club hands out two forms every term: a sign-up sheet at the start and a short workbook feedback form at the end. Until now they were plain pages with underlined blanks. Families wrote phone numbers across the label, typed over the instructions, and answered Grade with anything from 5 to fifth to 5th grade (Ms. Ortiz). Counting the answers took longer than collecting them.

Content controls turn those blanks into real fields: boxes that show a hint, check boxes that tick, drop-down lists with fixed choices and a calendar for dates. In this tutorial you will build the sign-up form in a table, set each control's properties, protect the layout so only the fields change, and save it as a template the club can reuse.

Show the Developer tab

Content controls live on the Developer tab, which Word hides by default. Turn it on once and it stays on:

1. Go to File› then Options› then Customize Ribbon.
2. In the list on the right, under Main Tabs, check Developer.
3. Click OK. The Developer tab now appears on the ribbon.

Two groups matter for forms. Controls holds the control buttons, Design Mode, Properties and Group. Protect holds Restrict Editing, the same command you also find on the Review tab. The rest of the tab (macros, add-ins, XML mapping) isn't needed for this tutorial.

Choose the right control for each answer

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Rich Text

Plain Text

Picture

Check Box

Drop-Down List

Date Picker

Design Mode

Controls

Each button in Developer› then Controls inserts a different kind of field. Point at a button to see its name. Choosing well is the main design decision of the form: the right control makes a wrong answer impossible, so you never have to clean it up later.

The Building Block Gallery control lets someone pick a saved block of text, and Legacy Tools holds the older form fields and ActiveX controls. Older forms still use legacy form fields, which work differently, as you'll see in the protection section. For new forms, use content controls.

Build the form layout in a table

A table is the best frame for a form. Labels go in the left column, controls in the right column, and nothing shifts when a long answer is typed. Insert a two-column table, type the labels on the left, then format it with what you learned in the table formatting tutorial: a light header shading, no outside borders, and a fixed column width so the labels line up.

To add a control, click in the right-hand cell and click the control's button in Developer› then Controls. Repeat for each row. For a group of check boxes, insert one check box, type a space and its label (Math), then insert the next one in the same cell.

Before

Fall Program Sign-up

Student name: ______________________

Grade: ________

Program (circle): Math   Reading

Start date: ____/____/______

Guardian phone: ___________________

• ✕Underscores break when someone types
• ✕Grade answered in many different ways
• ✕Circling doesn't work on a screen

→

After

Fall Program Sign-up

Student name	Click or tap here to enter text.
Grade	Choose an item.
Program	☐ Math  ☐ Reading
Start date	Click or tap to enter a date.

• ✓Labels and fields aligned in a table
• ✓Drop-down gives one answer format
• ✓Check boxes and a calendar work on screen

Set control properties

Click a control and choose Developer› then Controls› then Properties. The Content Control Properties box has general settings for every control and a lower part that depends on the type.

The lower part holds the type's own options:

• Drop-Down List and Combo Box: click Add for each choice. Display Name is what people see (Grade 5); Value is what is stored for tools that read the form (5). Use Move Up and Move Down to order the list, and remove the default Choose an item. entry if you don't want it as a choice.
• Date Picker: choose a display format such as MMMM d, yyyy, and the locale and calendar type.
• Check Box: change the Checked symbol and Unchecked symbol, for example to ☒ and ☐.
• Plain Text: check Allow carriage returns (multiple paragraphs) for an address or a longer answer.

Edit placeholder text in Design Mode

An empty control shows placeholder text, such as Click or tap here to enter text. That hint disappears as soon as someone types. A specific hint is much more helpful: First and last name, Example: (201) 555-0148.

1. Click Developer› then Controls› then Design Mode. Each control now shows start and end tags with its title.
2. Click inside a control and replace the placeholder with your own hint. Format it in gray or italics if you like.
3. Click Design Mode again to turn it off. Always turn it off before you protect or test the form.

Student name	[Student name First and last name ]
Guardian phone	[Guardian phone Example: (201) 555-0148 ]
Start date	[Start date Pick the first Tuesday or Thursday ]

Placeholder text is not an answer. If a field is left empty, the hint still shows on screen, but it prints only in gray, if at all, and anyone reading the returned form can tell it was skipped.

Protect the form so only the fields change

Without protection, anyone can type over your labels, delete a row or break the table. There are three ways to protect a form, and the right one depends on which fields you used:

To use Restrict Editing, open Review› then Protect› then Restrict Editing (or Developer› then Protect› then Restrict Editing). In the pane, check Allow only this type of editing in the document, choose the type, set any exceptions, and click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection. Word asks for an optional password. While the form is protected, Word can highlight the areas you may edit, and Find Next Region I Can Edit jumps between them.

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Restrict Editing

Protect

If only part of a long document should be a form, such as a worksheet page inside the Course Workbook, the simplest option is to keep the worksheet in its own file and protect that file. If it must stay inside the workbook, use Group on only the worksheet's text and controls: the rest of the workbook stays editable, and the grouped part can't be changed except in its controls.

Save as a template, test and share

A form is used over and over, so save it as a template: File› then Save As, Word Template (*.dotx), as you learned in Templates and Quick Parts. Each family's form then starts as a new, empty document, and nobody fills in the master copy by mistake.

Then test it the way a family will use it:

1. Double-click the template to create a new form.
2. Fill in every control. Try to type over a label, delete a row and type in the drop-down. Each attempt should be blocked.
3. Leave one field empty and check how the placeholder looks.
4. Open File› then Print and look at the preview. Control borders don't print, so check that the answers still line up with their labels.
5. Save the test copy with a family name and reopen it to check the answers stayed.

Run Review› then Accessibility› then Check Accessibility too. Give every control a Title, use a real table header row, and keep the form in a logical reading order, as you learned in the accessibility tutorial.

Common mistakes

Practice

Practice

Turn the paper sign-up sheet into a fillable form

Guided practice

Download the example file above. It contains the club's sign-up sheet and workbook feedback form as plain text with labels and underlined blanks. You will rebuild it with content controls, protect it and save it as a template.

1. Developer tab: turn it on in File› then Options› then Customize Ribbon if you haven't already.
2. Table: under the sign-up heading, insert a two-column table with one row per label. Move each label into the left column and delete the underscores.
3. Text fields: add Plain Text controls for student name, guardian name and guardian phone. Allow carriage returns for the address.
4. Choices: add a Drop-Down List for grade (Grade 3 to Grade 8), two Check Boxes for Math and Reading, and a Combo Box for How did you hear about us? with School, Friend, Library and Other.
5. Date: add a Date Picker for the start date with the format MMMM d, yyyy.
6. Properties: give every control a Title and turn on Content control cannot be deleted. In Design Mode, replace the placeholders with helpful hints, then turn Design Mode off.
7. Protect: select the whole form and use Developer› then Controls› then Group› then Group. Try to type over a label to check it is locked.
8. Template and test: save as Fall Program - Sign-up Form.dotx, double-click it, fill in a test form for the Park family, and check the print preview.

Independent challenge: The feedback form with Restrict Editing

Build the workbook feedback form from the second page of the practice file: a drop-down for the most helpful unit (Units 1 to 6), check boxes for too easy, about right and too hard, and a Rich Text control for comments. This time protect it with Review› then Protect› then Restrict Editing: No changes (Read only), with the controls added as exceptions for Everyone, and a password the coordinator keeps. Test it, then stop protection and compare how this felt with grouping.

Reflect: which questions on your own paper forms get the most inconsistent answers, and which control would make a wrong answer impossible?

Check your understanding0 of 4 correct

Pick an answer to see whether it's right and why.

1. 1. Families should pick their child's grade from a fixed list and nothing else. Which control fits?

   • Combo Box
   • Plain Text
   • Drop-Down List
   • Rich Text

2. 2. Your form uses only content controls. Which is a recommended way to stop people from editing the labels?

   • Group the form with Developer > Controls > Group
   • Restrict Editing with Tracked changes
   • Mark the document as final
   • Check Contents cannot be edited on every control

3. 3. You want a field's hint to say First and last name instead of the default text. What do you use?

   • Restrict Editing
   • The Tag property
   • Legacy Tools
   • Design Mode

4. 4. Which property should every content control have so screen readers and Design Mode show a clear name?

   • Tag
   • Title
   • Show as None
   • Contents cannot be edited

You're ready to move on when

Tick each one off as you go. Your ticks are saved in this browser only.

• The Developer tab is on and you know which control fits each kind of answer
• Your form is laid out in a table with labels on the left and controls on the right
• Every control has a Title, cannot be deleted, and shows a helpful placeholder
• The form is protected with grouping or No changes plus exceptions, and you tested it
• The form is saved as a .dotx template and you checked the print preview