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How to Create Fillable PDF from Word/Excel

How to create a fillable PDF from a Word or Excel form? This article tells you how to convert a Word/Excel form into a fillable PDF step by step.

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Due to the compatible nature of the Word/Excel documents, you can either create fillable PDF from word or make use of the Excel platform to create a fillable PDF from Excel within a short period of time. Choose the best platform to design an effective fillable PDF from the Word for flawless activity.

Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor Wondershare PDFelement Wondershare PDFelement comprises mind-blowing, attractive features to handle various operations in an optimum manner. You need not have any special skills to use this tool. You will be able to create a fillable PDF form easily. It can be used to edit PDF files similar to the Word file. You can also convert the file formats within a blink of an eye.

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Steps to Create a Fillable PDF from Word

Microsoft Word allows you to create fillable forms that people can easily complete. If you need the form in PDF format, you can quickly convert your Word document to a fillable PDF in the following steps.

Step 1. Create a Fillable Form in Word

Open Microsoft Word, start with a blank document, or select a form template.

Create your form, and when you need to add a fillable form field. Click the Developer tab and select the appropriate form field from the Control sections.

There are various fillable fields available in Word: Text fields, Checkboxes, Dropdown, Combo Box, etc. Learn more in How to Make a Word Document Fillable.

create fillable form in word

Tip: If you don't see the Developer tab,

  • Go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon.
  • Under Customize the Ribbon, check the box for Developer, then click OK.

Step 2. Create PDF Fillable Form from Word

Once you've finished editing the form in Microsoft Word, go to File > Save As, then select PDF from the 'Save as type' dropdown to save your fillable form as a PDF.

create fillable form in word

Step 3. Edit a PDF Fillable Form from Word

After converting a Word form to PDF, you might notice that the form fields are not fillable. This is where a PDF editor becomes essential.

Open the PDF in a PDF editor—here, we’ll use Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor Wondershare PDFelement Wondershare PDFelement as an example. Click the Form tab, then select Recognize Form. PDFelement will automatically detect and create fillable fields.

If needed, you can manually add or adjust fields such as Text Fields, Checkboxes, Radio Buttons, Dropdowns, and more.

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create fillable pdf from word

To further customize a field, simply click on it and choose Properties to modify settings like name, appearance, and position.

edit pdf fillable form

Step 4. Save PDF Fillable Form

After your fillable form is ready, click File > Save As and share the form as needed.


Steps to Create a Fillable PDF from Excel

Step 1. Create Word/Excel to Normal PDF

Open the PDFelement tool, and on the home page, select the "Create a PDF" box to browse a Word/Excel file to open.

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create word template with fillable fields

Step 2. Change Normal PDF to Fillable PDF

The created normal PDF file will be opened in PDFelement directly, and you can add the fillable fields manually by clicking the "Form" menu and click "Text Field," "Check box," or other buttons according to your needs to make it as an interactive form. Drag to move the fields to the correct place, right-click it to change properties if necessary.

excel fillable form

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Step 3. Fill and Save the Created Fillable PDF

After setting the changes as you want, click the "Preview" switch button, and you can start to fill in the form directly.

create fillable pdf from excel

Then you can go to the "File" menu to "Save" the file. These are all the steps you need to take to Create a Fillable PDF from Word/Excel.

create fillable pdf from excel

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Apart from these features, you can also use this amazing tool to create fillable PDF forms. Just a few clicks are sufficient to create interactive PDF fillable forms. You are allowed to extract data from PDF form to Excel without much effort. PDFelement also enables you to take complete control over the PDF files with innumerable options. You can create, edit, and modify each page in the file using the fabulous controls provided in the user-friendly environment of PDFelement. Build a highly customizable PDF file using this innovative tool without acquiring any prior knowledge related to this field to handle this tool in an optimum manner.

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author avatar

Audrey Goodwin

chief Editor