Undesired Font in Form Fields

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 16, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Doug notes that he has a Word form and the form fields are set up as 9-pt Arial. After the form is protected, when the fields are filled in by users they display as 14-pt Arial Bold. He wonders why Word would change the formatting.

Quite honestly, this should not happen. There are a couple of things you should check, however. First, understand that when you insert a form field into a line of text, the form field adopts the formatting of the characters that surround it. Thus, if the field is inserted into a line of text that uses larger characters, then the form field will adopt that larger font. You'll want to explicitly change the formatting of the form field in this manner:

Select some text that has the same formatting characteristics you want applied to the form field.
Press Ctrl+Shift+C. This copies the formatting to the Clipboard.
Select the form field you want to format.
Press Ctrl+Shift+V. This pastes only the formatting to the form field.

Second, you should check to make sure that someone isn't inadvertently changing the formatting of the form field. For instance, if you insert the field and then format the line on which the field appears, the formatting that you apply to the line affects the field, as well. Thus, if you apply a 14-pt format to the entire line, the 14-pt format will override the 9-pt format you previously applied to the form itself.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7424) 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

Removing All Text Boxes In a Document

Text boxes are a common element of many types of documents. At some point you may want to get rid of all the text boxes ...

Discover More

Making Common Functions Available to Others

When you use macros to create functions, you might want to share those functions with others, particularly if they ...

Discover More

Attaching Specific Files to Mail-Merge E-Mail Messages

Want to add attachments to each e-mail message created in a mail merge? Word doesn't include the capability to do this, ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Entering Many Items In a Drop-Down Form Field

One of the controls you can add to a Word form is a drop-down form field. This field is similar to drop-down lists used ...

Discover More

Field Calculations in Locked Forms

When adding form fields to a document, you may want some of the fields to be automatically calculated from other fields. ...

Discover More

Stopping Enter from being Pressed In a Form

If you create a form using Word, chances are good that you don't want a user to mess up the layout of the form by ...

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 two less than 9?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.