Working with the Developer tab and form controls

The first step is to set up your Word 2019 environment to create forms. By this, we mean that the Developer tab must be visible as a tab, along the ribbon:

1. Click to select File | Options from the list provided. Then, click the Customize Ribbon icon down the left-hand side.
2. On the right, under the Customize the Ribbon option, make sure that the Main tab is selected, then locate Developer and ensure that the checkbox is activated to the left it. Click on OK to confirm this.
3. This will add the Developer tab to the existing ribbon. 

Content controls are located within the Controls group on the Developer tab. There are two main types of controls – content controls and legacy form controls. There are more content control options than legacy controls, and they do not require any type of protection to make them active for user input.

Legacy controls need to be protected using the restrict editing option so that they are active for user input. Legacy controls are also sometimes preferred for complex documents. The reason for this is that when using the legacy controls, the form can be protected using the Filling in forms feature, which stops users from editing that particular area of the form:

In addition, macros can be used to refine input and create computations. You will learn how to protect a form later in this section. 

Let's create a basic form using some of the controls located on the Developer tab.