How to Make a Fillable PDF Form from Microsoft Word

Fillable forms are a fast and straightforward way to collect information. They’re especially useful if you’re a business owner, or if your job involves collecting information from customers. 

Fillable forms can be shared within seconds, unlike paper forms that may have to be mailed or require a client to drive to a face-to-face meeting.

Also, when you know how to create fillable PDF forms, this can help improve workflow because PDF forms offer the following benefits:

• You can save time and money by using a fillable form.
• Reduces errors – An existing PDF document that serves as a dedicated information form streamlines information, ensuring every recipient receives the same information. At the same time, knowing how to make fillable PDFs will ensure that recipients fill out all form fields without any mistakes.
• Enhances customer experience – An easy-to-navigate, clean, and professional fillable PDF document will make your clients or colleagues feel good.
• When you know how to make a fillable PDF form, you save trees by eliminating paper documents.
• Protects information – Fillable PDFs are more secure than paper documents because you can add a password to increase security.

Use Microsoft Word to create a fillable PDF form from scratch from the ground up

You can use Foxit PDF Editor Suite to create editable fillable PDF fields with a Word document by following these steps:

1. Select File > New Document in the Microsoft Word program. You will have a blank template.
2. Create your form. Enter text and details for your fillable form. Foxit PDF Editor Suite looks for form design elements (such as horizontal lines for fill-in areas) to determine where to place fillable form fields, so you’ll need to create them yourself if your document doesn’t already have them.
3. Create a PDF file. To convert your Word document to a PDF file, drag and drop the Word document within Foxit PDF Editor Suite. You can open with Foxit PDF Editor Suite.
4. Prepare the form. Select Form > Run Form Field Recognition in PDF Editor Suite. The program will then be prompted to locate the horizontal lines to create fillable fields intelligently.
5. Save your form. Click File > Save as to save the fillable PDF form.

How to convert a Microsoft Word file to create a fillable PDF form fields

An alternate workflow, you might want to make a fillable PDF document in Word documents. If you already have a Word file created that you’d like to convert into fillable PDF forms, here are the steps to follow to add fillable form fields using Foxit PDF Editor Suite:

1. Open Foxit PDF Editor Suite, then go to File > Create > Form > From a File. Now select your Microsoft Word document and click Open.

2. A progress bar for conversion to a PDF file will appear in the lower right corner. Once the conversion is complete, the newly created fillable form file will be opened automatically in Foxit PDF Editor Suite.

3. Fix unrecognized fields. If any field in the newly created fillable fields were not converted into interactive form fields from your Word document, select a form field tool in the Form tab on the ribbon to create an interactive field on the table cell manually.

Remember that when you make static forms into interactive forms, the completion rate increases and the accuracy improves. That’s why it makes sense to convert Word documents into PDF documents.