How to create a fillable PDF form from a Word document.
There are many uses for fillable forms in business — whether you use forms to collect information or want to add fillable form fields into documents such as contracts and agreements. Fillable forms improve accuracy, streamline data collection, and help to make the processing of information more efficient.
You can, of course, create a fillable PDF form from scratch in Adobe Acrobat. You can also create a fillable form from a Word document. Read on to learn how.
What you’ll learn
- Uses for fillable forms
- Benefits of fillable forms
- Steps to create a fillable PDF form from a Word document
- Other ways to create forms with Adobe Acrobat
Uses for fillable forms.
Fillable forms can be used for a wide range of purposes across various sectors and industries. Some common uses of fillable forms include —
- Registration forms.
Collect information from people registering with your business in fillable registration forms. These might include event registrations, conference sign-ups, membership applications, and so on.
- Customer service and support forms.
Know what your customers experience with your products or services by using fillable customer service forms. These might include customer feedback forms, support request forms, and complaint forms to gauge customer satisfaction and improve your products and services.
- HR and personnel forms.
Collate and collect information from your employees and your HR records with fillable PDF forms. Fillable forms used for employee records can cover initial job application forms, employee onboarding, timesheets, leave requests, performance reviews, and more.
- Business documentation and contracts.
Ensure you capture everything you need to in business documents with fillable forms. Along with the above types of forms, other types of fillable forms for business may range from lease and tenancy agreements to expense claims, purchase orders, and more.
Benefits of fillable forms.
When you need to gather and record information, fillable forms have many benefits. Just some of the benefits of fillable forms include —
- Time and money savings.
Fillable forms are easily shared by email or online. There are no paper, printing or postage costs. There’s also no need for additional data entry on receipt of a completed form. The information in fillable PDF form fields can be easily extracted directly into a spreadsheet.
- Enhanced user experience.
Providing your customers, clients, employees, and colleagues, with fillable forms that are well-designed and easy to navigate enhances their experience with your brand. Easy-to-use fillable forms also help show your professionalism and commitment to the work that you do.
- Accurate and consistent information collection.
Using fillable forms ensures that the information you are asking for is collected and obtained in every instance. Form fields can also be set as “required” to make sure that important questions and information are not missed or forgotten during completion. Being able to export the data from a fillable PDF also reduces the potential for data entry errors.
- Protected information.
The ability to apply various layers of protection to PDF forms gives both you and your recipients peace of mind that private and sensitive information is safe and secure.
Steps to create a fillable PDF form from a Word document.
To create a fillable PDF form from a Word document, first, you will need to create your Word document with form fields, and then convert it to PDF.
Step 1 — Create and save a fillable form in Microsoft Word.
- Open Word.
Create a new document in Word or open an existing document or Word template that you want to use as the basis for your form.
- Enable the Developer Tab in Word (if not already visible in the ribbon).
The Developer tab has options to insert form fields into your Word document. Go to File > Options. In the Word Options dialogue box, select Customize Ribbon. Check the box next to Developer and click Okay.
- Insert form controls into your Word document.
Click on the Developer tab in the ribbon and use the options in the Control group to add form elements to your Word document. These include elements such as checkboxes, text fields, drop-down lists, date fields and selectors, and so on.
Step 2 — Convert your Word form to PDF.
Once you've created a fillable Word form, you can convert it to a PDF using several methods.
- Print to PDF in Word.
In Word, go to File > Print. In the Printer section, select a PDF printer. Click Print.
- Save as PDF in Word.
In Word, go to File > Save As. In the Save as type dropdown, select PDF (*.pdf). Click Save.
- Convert Word to PDF Online.
Convert Word to PDF online, by simply dragging and dropping or uploading your Word doc into your browser. Wait for Adobe Acrobat Online services to convert your file to PDF, then download it back to your device or log in to keep it in Adobe Cloud storage.
- Convert Word to PDF in Adobe Acrobat.
In an Adobe Acrobat application, click on + Create and select your Word file to convert to PDF.
Step 3 — Review the form fields in your PDF.
After converting your Word document to PDF, open the generated PDF file to check if the form fields remain fillable and function correctly. If they do, your fillable form is ready to be distributed and used as a PDF document.
Step 4 — Make adjustments to form fields in your PDF.
If you need to make any adjustments to the form fields in your PDF document after you have converted it, elect Edit > Prepare a form > Create form. You can then adjust the types of form fields in your PDF, make some or all fields required, move, resize, and reposition form fields, add and delete form fields, set navigation order, add e-signature fields, and more.
Step 5 — Test your PDF form fields.
Be sure to test your PDF form fields by using the Preview button. Test your PDF form by entering data, and then exit the preview and clear it before you save and send it to others to complete.
Step 6 — Make any edits and changes to your PDF document.
If you need to make any other changes to your PDF file after you have converted it, there’s a lot you can do in Adobe Acrobat. For example, you can —
Other ways to create forms with Adobe Acrobat.
You can also create fillable PDF forms in Adobe Acrobat by starting from a blank page or scanning a document. To collect data from a fillable form on your website, try the Create a Web form tool to create an online fillable form.
Obtaining responses in PDF forms.
You can share your PDF form and track responses from within an Adobe Acrobat app and Adobe Acrobat Online services.
If you’re sending PDF forms to others as attachments, people can fill and sign a PDF online or use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to complete the form.
Related content.
Keep exploring! We’ve got other articles to help you use the features available to you with Adobe Acrobat products for your PDF files. Including —
- Gauge Your Customer Satisfaction — Create Customer Feedback Form PDFs
- Get to Know Your Customers — Create a New Client Intake Form PDF
- Create and Manage Digital Contracts and Forms with Interactive PDFs
