How to make a fillable PDF from a Word document
Most small-business forms start life in Microsoft Word. The catch: when you choose Save as PDF in Word, you get a flat PDF. Even if you added Word’s checkboxes and text controls, they do not come through as fields people can type into. To get a real fillable PDF, you need one extra tool. The free route is LibreOffice. Here is how it works, step by step.
Why Word’s own PDF export comes out flat
Word has a Developer tab with content controls: plain text boxes, checkboxes, date pickers and drop-down lists. They work well inside Word, so you can send a .docx and ask people to fill it in. But Word’s Save as PDF doesn’t turn those controls into PDF form fields; they come out as printed text and boxes. Answers on Microsoft’s own Q&A forum say the same and point people to a PDF editor for PDF forms. The result looks right and does nothing when clicked. If you have ever exported a Word form and wondered why nobody could type into it, that is why.
So you have two choices: keep the form as a Word file, or add PDF form fields with a tool that can create them. A PDF is usually the better thing to publish. It opens the same way on every device, it does not need Word, and people cannot accidentally edit your questions.
The free method: LibreOffice Writer
LibreOffice is a free, open-source office suite for Windows, Mac and Linux. Writer, its word processor, opens .docx files and can export a PDF with live form fields.
- Tidy the Word file first. Replace underscores (Name: ________) with plain space or a table cell. Fields are easier to place over an empty area than over a row of underscores.
- Open the .docx in LibreOffice Writer. Check the layout. Fonts that are not installed may be swapped, which can shift lines. Fix anything that moved before adding fields.
- Show the form tools: View → Toolbars → Form Controls. Click Design Mode on that toolbar so you can draw controls.
- Draw a control for each answer. Use Text Box for written answers, Check Box for tick boxes, Option Button for one-of-several choices, and List Box or Combo Box for a drop-down.
- Name every control. Right-click a control, choose Control Properties, and give it a unique name such as
parent_phone. If two controls share a name, LibreOffice renames one on export (unless you tick Allow duplicate field names), so you end up with generic names like “Text Box 1”. - Check the tab order. The Form Design toolbar has an Activation Order option. Put the fields in the order people read the page.
- Export: File → Export As → Export as PDF. On the General tab, tick Create PDF form, then export.
- Test it. Open the PDF in Chrome or Edge and in a free PDF reader. Click every field, type a long answer, tick every box, and save a copy to check the answers stay put.
If your Word file already uses content controls, newer LibreOffice versions may carry some of them over. Do not count on it. Check each one, and redraw any that do not respond in the exported PDF.
If you already exported a flat PDF
You can skip Word altogether and add fields to the PDF itself. That needs a PDF editor that can create form fields, such as Adobe Acrobat’s Prepare a form tool (a paid plan) or LibreOffice Draw (free, with some layout limits). Our guide to adding fillable fields to a PDF covers both.
Tips that save a second round
- Use tables for layout in Word. Forms built with tables keep their shape when opened in LibreOffice better than forms built with tabs and spaces.
- Leave room. Make answer areas tall enough for a typed line at a readable size, around 10–12 pt.
- Turn multi-line answers into multi-line fields. In Control Properties, set Text type to Multi-line for addresses and notes.
- Keep the source. Save your LibreOffice version as .odt as well. When the form changes next year, you edit and re-export rather than starting over.
When it is worth paying someone
The LibreOffice method is free and works well for a one-page form with a few blanks. It gets slow for long registration packets, forms with many tick boxes, or files whose layout shifts when LibreOffice opens them. That is the job we do. Share a link to the blank Word file or PDF, and we convert it to PDF if needed, add the fields, set the tab order and test the result in Chrome and Firefox. The price is $29 for 1–3 pages or $59 for 4–10 pages, and one round of fixes is included.
New to fillable forms in general? Start with how to make a PDF fillable.
FAQ
Can Word create a fillable PDF on its own?
No. Word’s content controls work inside a .docx, but Word’s Save as PDF doesn’t turn them into fillable PDF fields. You need a tool that writes PDF form fields, such as LibreOffice (free) or Adobe Acrobat (paid).
Is LibreOffice really free?
Yes. LibreOffice is free, open-source software for Windows, Mac and Linux, downloadable from libreoffice.org.
Will the PDF look exactly like my Word document?
Usually close, but LibreOffice may swap fonts that are not installed, which can move lines. Check the layout before you add fields. When we do the job, we keep your original layout and wording.
Can I send you a Word file instead of a PDF?
Yes. Share a link to the blank .docx the same way you would share a PDF. We convert it to PDF first, then add the fields. The price is the same: $29 for 1–3 pages, $59 for 4–10.
Rather not do it yourself?
Send us the Word file or the PDF. $29 for 1–3 pages, $59 for 4–10, usually back within 24 hours with your layout untouched.