Entering Calculations in a Form Field

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 28, 2021)

Word allows you to create all sorts of forms, and even provides form fields that you can add to your documents. Exactly how you add 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:

Make sure the Forms toolbar is displayed.
Insert the result field as you normally would. (You would use the Text Form Field tool.)
Select the form field you just entered and click on the Form Field Options tool on the Forms toolbar. Word displays the Text Form Field Options dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Text Form Field Options dialog box.

Using the Type drop-down list, choose Calculation.
In the Expression field of the dialog box, enter the following expression:

     =Principal * Interest

In the Bookmark field of the dialog box, enter the name for this field (Result).
Click on OK.

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 (1455) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Selective Formatting in Searches

Need to search for text that has different formatting within the search term? Word can't handle something this complex, ...

Discover More

Selecting a Word

There are a few editing tricks you can apply in Excel the same as you do in Word. Selecting a word from the text in a ...

Discover More

Header and Footer Data Codes

When creating headers and footers in an Excel worksheet, you can use special codes to add or format information. This tip ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Locating Locked Fields

A field can be locked or unlocked, and its condition controls whether it is updated automatically or not. If you want to ...

Discover More

Updating Calculated Fields in a Form

When creating a Word form, you use special form fields to collect information from users. You can even perform ...

Discover More

Inserting the Date Your Document Was Last Printed

Word keeps track of each time you print your document, and you can automatically insert the last printing date anywhere ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is five minus 2?

2017-02-14 05:55:07

Naeemah

How can I apply this to calculate number of days form Date field?

for example each field got a date

the calculation field to count the days.

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.