Create a reusable Word template

Start with a form you can edit

Use a .docx file with editable text, such as the community registration form linked below. A scan or a photograph inside a Word file does not become editable text: this tool does not perform optical character recognition. Convert older .doc files to DOCX in Word first.

Keep an unchanged copy of the source. Automatic detection suggests fields from labels, blanks, tables and Word controls, but it cannot decide which answers your organisation needs. Review its selections before using the template.

Choose what will change each time

For a fictional workshop registration, the participant name and email change for each person, while the workshop description stays fixed. Only select the changing fields. In this example, map the name to person.full_name and the email to person.email.

1. Open Fill documents and add the community registration sample DOCX.
2. Select the document, then choose Edit fields. Review the suggested fields and their positions in the page preview, including headers and footers.
3. Select the name and email fields and review their data keys. Give different answers different keys; reuse a key only when the answer should be identical.
4. Download the tagged template to keep a reusable copy, or choose Back to Fill documents to use the current selections immediately.

Understand the placeholder

A template tag such as {{person.full_name}} marks where the value will be inserted. If you enter Alex Morgan for that key, each occurrence of that tag receives Alex Morgan. A guardian should have a separate key, such as guardian.full_name, when their name differs from the participant’s.

You can also create tags directly in Microsoft Word. Type the complete tag where the answer belongs, keep its spelling consistent, and save as DOCX. Do not change the surrounding braces when editing the document later.

Test before reusing

Reopen the saved template in Fill documents, enter fictional answers, and inspect every page. Download a completed DOCX and open it in Word to check line wrapping, tables, headers and page breaks. The browser preview is a convenience; the downloaded file is the output you should review.

Try a long name and a multiline address. If text no longer fits, adjust the source layout in Word and repeat the test. Detection and filling do not guarantee that every complex Word layout will render identically.

Try it with sample documents

Open the illustrated guide for the narrated demonstration and three downloadable fictional Word forms. When you are ready, open Fill documents.