Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 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: Converting Forms to Regular Documents.

Converting Forms to Regular Documents

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 20, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


1

As you are working with forms in Word, there may be times when you want to convert the responses to your form back to regular text. (There are many times when regular text is much easier to work with than answers in forms.) To do the conversion, follow these steps:

  1. Unprotect the form. (The way you unprotect a form varies by version of Word and has been covered in other WordTips.)
  2. Select the whole document either by pressing Ctrl+A or by choosing Select All from the Edit menu.
  3. Press Ctrl+Shift+F9.

Now all the fields in the document have been changed to unlinked, regular text. You can now edit the document as you normally would.

The caveat here, of course, is that all of your fields are changed to regular text. Thus, if you had other fields in the document (such as fields for dates or sequential numbers), these are also changed to regular text by this process.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13390) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Converting Forms to Regular Documents.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Managing Comments

If you frequently add comments to cells in a worksheet, Excel provides a variety of tools you can use to manage those ...

Discover More

Different Ways of Inserting Dates

Word provides a couple of different ways you can insert the current date into a document. Which method should you choose? ...

Discover More

Detecting Errors in Conditional Formatting Formulas

If an error exists in a formula tucked inside a conditional format, you may never know it is there. There are ways to ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Working with Form Fields

You know you want to use form fields in your document (they are essential in creating forms, after all) but you need to ...

Discover More

Valid Numbers in Form Fields

When you create a form, you need to use special form fields. If you want to limit what users can enter in a form field, ...

Discover More

Handling Returns in Form Data

Word allows you to create forms and then export the data from those forms into files that can be used by other programs. ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 6 + 8?

2022-08-23 10:17:40

Steve Nellis

Hi Allen

WIll this work on Word for Mac?

If not, is there another method to complete this task?

Steve


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.