How to make a fillable form in Word
Turn on the Developer tab, put content controls where the answers go, then restrict editing to filling in forms so people can type only in the fields. A Word form stays a Word form: saving it as a PDF does not make PDF form fields.
15 October 2026 · 6 min read
Turn on the Developer tab
The form tools are on the Developer tab, which Word hides by default. On Windows: File, Options, Customize Ribbon, and tick Developer in the list on the right. On a Mac: Word, Preferences, Ribbon & Toolbar, and tick Developer.
Put a content control where each answer goes
Content controls are the fields of a modern Word form. Put the cursor where an answer goes and choose one from the Controls group:
- Plain Text for a name or a short answer, and Rich Text where the answer may need formatting or several paragraphs.
- Check Box for yes or no.
- Drop-Down List for a fixed set of choices, and Combo Box for choices plus an answer of the person’s own.
- Date Picker, which drops down a calendar and writes the date in the format you choose.
- Picture, for a photograph or a signature.
Properties sets each control’s title (shown on its frame), its list items and its date format, and can lock a control so it cannot be deleted. Design Mode shows where every control starts and ends, and lets you turn the grey placeholder into an instruction, such as “Your full name as on your passport”.
Legacy Tools holds the older form fields of Word 97 to 2003. They still work and some organisations’ templates use them, but they take input only once the form is protected, as below.
Lay it out with a table
A table with no borders keeps labels and fields in line, and keeps them in line when somebody types a long answer. Put each label in the left column and its control in the right.
Restrict editing to filling in forms
Review, Restrict Editing, tick Allow only this type of editing in the document, and choose Filling in forms. Then Yes, Start Enforcing Protection, with a password if you like. Now the fields are the only places that take typing, and Tab moves from one to the next.
The password guards against slips, not against anybody determined: it is not encryption, and the protection can be taken off with other tools. Anything that must not be changed is better sent as a PDF.
Sending it out and getting answers back
Save the form as a Word document, or as a Word template (.dotx) if you will fill it in yourself often. Each person fills in a copy and sends it back, which suits a handful of answers. For dozens or hundreds, an online form such as Microsoft Forms or Google Forms collects the answers into one table and is less work to read.
If you need a fillable PDF
Word’s Save as PDF writes what the fields show as ordinary text, so the PDF has no fields to fill. To make a fillable PDF, open that PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro and use Prepare Form, which finds the blanks and makes fields of them. Or build the form in LibreOffice Writer with its form controls and export it with Create PDF form ticked, which turns each control into a PDF field.
Our own product, disclosed
Where our own software comes into this
We make Rutba Office, a free desktop suite for Windows whose Documents app has made and filled forms as Word does since version 1.50. Its Developer tab puts rich text, plain text, picture, check box, combo box, drop-down list and date picker controls at the cursor, and Legacy Tools has the form fields of Word 97 to 2003, with Form Field Shading and Reset Form Fields. Design Mode and Properties work as they do in Word, and the values are saved as Word saves them.
A document protected for Filling in forms takes nothing but its fields, and Tab walks them, so a form made in Word can be filled in Rutba Office and sent back to somebody who uses Word, and the other way round.
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