Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Entering Calculations in a Form Field.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 12, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365
Word allows you to create all sorts of forms, and even provides form fields that you can add to your documents. These form fields—known now as legacy form fields—are how you create and design your form. Exactly how you add legacy form fields has been covered in past issues of WordTips.
You may want to define a form field to contain a calculation. For instance, you might want a particular form field to contain the sum or the product of two other fields. Let's say you have two fields in your document; one of them is named Principal and the other is named Interest. If you wanted to create another field that shows the result of the two fields when multiplied by each other, you can follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Text Form Field Options dialog box.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here:
=Principal * Interest
Now, whenever the form fields are updated, the Result field will contain the result of your principal multiplied by your interest.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7838) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Entering Calculations in a Form Field.
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