How To Create Help Text and Pop-Up Hover Tip Text in a Fillable Form in MS Word

[@IanBeeson-n7h]

This was fantastically helpful - thank you!!!

[@SharonSmith]

Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@sandic5544]

This is amazing! I have a couple of extremely complicated government forms that my staff need to complete and so I've highlighted help text in red (when printing in BW it looks black) and added the help text so that they can get the information they need from within the document, rather than needing to go to a help document. THANK YOU!!!!

[@SharonSmith]

I'm so glad you found this helpful and you were able to incorporate this into your form to make it more useful and easy for users to fill in! That is so great to hear. Thanks for watching and taking time to leave a comment! Take care!

[@rosearow]

That. was. awesome. I've been using Word since it first came out, and I've always wanted to know how to do a hovertip. Your video was easy to understand and well-explained, and as a software instructor myself, I really want to give kudos where they're deserved.

[@SharonSmith]

Oh, thanks so much! That is such a nice compliment. I really appreciate your kind words. Very glad you found this video helpful. Thanks for watching! Take care!

[@debbiejohnson9709]

Thanks so much for the very clear directions!!

[@SharonSmith]

You are very welcome, Debbie! Thanks for watching!

[@myrinaDM]

Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you, and thank you for the easy explanation.

[@SharonSmith]

Great to hear! Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching!

[@zawmyotun9451]

Thank you very much for this precious one.

[@SharonSmith]

You are very welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@aishamohani6905]

Hi Sharon thanks for the video it did help me to create a pop up text . However when I am converting the word doc to pdf the information under Hoover menu is not displayed I. Pdf. Is it possible to help how convert the word file pdf non loosing the pop ups

[@callyeberle2983]

This was super helpful THANK YOU! I am just wondering, if I create a pop up text from hovering over a word, how do i go back and edit that text?

[@_Sunmaker_]

is it possible to incrase the words in the popup tip? I have some complex ideas im trying to put in there.

[@bobglover3119]

Great tut, thank you for sharing. I used the 3rd solution as trying to utilize hover on a control does not work.

[@SharonSmith]

I’m glad you were able to use one of these options. Thanks so much for watching!

[@erinstehelin]

I have followed the instructions in the video and pop-up worked great. Thanks for the tip! I realized later that the pop-up text had programmed needed to be changed? How can I do this?

[@SharonSmith]

Hi Erin! Hit Alt+Fn+F9 and that makes the field code visible so you can edit it. When you are done editing, hit Alt+Fn+F9 again and it hides it back. Hope this helps! Thanks for watching!

[@narendrabs9773]

Thank you very much for the tutorial. It was indeed very helpful. But what to do if we have to edit the changes after entering the text when hovered. For eg: I have created an AutotextList for hover. Now if I have to make changes for the text how to proceed? Please reply with a suggestion.

[@hannahtilsen1466]

This was very helpful. Is there a way to configure the content control properties Title and Tag bounding box so that it is longer (more characters)? I thought it might be contained in a different video. I know you can in the legacy, but am not using the legacy tools for this form.

[@mohammedmaroof3030]

Wonderful

[@SharonSmith]

Thank you for watching!!

[@lisatanaka2399]

Thanks - this was very helpful. Is there a way to edit the text created in a popup hover text? For example, the hover text was created but after review, it is suggested that additional information should be included.

[@SharonSmith]

Hello! Yes, if you used the method in this video to create the AutoTextList field code, then you can hit the keyboard shortcut: Alt + F9 (or Alt+Fn+F9 depending on your keyboard) and this will display the field code in your document. You can edit the tip text and when you are done, just hit Alt+F9 again to hide the field code. I hope this helps! Thanks for watching!

[@pavanpawar9634]

Hi thanks for so much for valuable information. I want to change font color of some of text from drop box in fillable form. please help me

[@realbenedictik]

Great video Sharon. Can the hover effect appear when the Word document is converted to PDF?

[@SharonSmith]

Hello - I don't believe that the Word functionality will work when converted to PDF, but if you have Acrobat, you can likely insert help text in the PDF version of your document. I hope this helps! Thanks for watching!

[@realbenedictik]

@@SharonSmith Thanks

[@mjmillsut]

Thank you for this helpful information. do you have any tips for editing Pop-up Hover Tip Text if you want to edit after it was created.

[@SharonSmith]

Hello! Yes, if you used the method in this video to create the AutoTextList field code, then you can hit the keyboard shortcut: Alt + F9 (or Alt+Fn+F9 depending on your keyboard) and this will display the field code in your document. You can edit the tip text and when you are done, just hit Alt+F9 again to hide the field code. I hope this helps! Thanks for watching!

[@garrymontgomery2033]

Very informative and clear. But what are the "Styles" that could be used? For example, Can the hover over be in bold?

[@SharonSmith]

Here are some examples of what you can put in the quotes for the Style Name: Built-in Styles (from the Home Tab in Word): You can specify the name of a built-in style in Word, such as "Heading 1", "Title", "Body Text", "Block Quote", etc. These are the pre-defined styles available in Word. Custom Styles: If you have created your own custom styles in Word, you can specify the name of those styles to be applied to the AutoText entries in the list. For example, let's say you have a custom style named "ImportantText" that you want to apply to the AutoText entries in the list. The AutoTextList field code with the style option would look like this: AUTOTEXTLIST "Literal Text" \s "ImportantText" \t "Tip Text" By specifying the appropriate style name, you can control the appearance of the AutoText entries in the list based on the desired formatting or visual consistency you want to achieve. Hope this helps! Thanks for watching!

[@UNIVERSESCIENCE]

How do I place the popup text box in the Legacy dropdown form field?

[@chao.m]

This is extremely helpful; thank you very much. How can I make the AutoTextList (at 5:51) show up in a PDF document after I create it in Word and then print it to PDF? Or, is this not possible at the moment?

[@kamelkgb618]

Thanks. I created a fillable form with legacy tools and used the feature of repeating the same field in diferent places in the form. however the font is sometimes bold and sometimes small or big. 🙃

[@SharonSmith]

Hello! If you used REF fields to repeat the same field in different places, you can actually control the formatting of the REF fields using a field switch \*Charformat. I have a video on this topic coming out very soon. Hope it will help you out. Thanks for watching my videos!

[@kamelkgb618]

@@SharonSmith thank you for your reply. I will be waiting. the bell is always on 😊

[@SharonSmith]

Hello! Here is the video I mentioned: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3bZaWSKh8x5eMk This will show you how to change the formatting on those repeated fields. Hope this helps!! Thanks for watching!

[@kamelkgb618]

@@SharonSmith Many thanks 🙏 I will watch and try to apply it. I really appreciate your time and efforts in making these tutorials ❤️

[@SharonSmith]

Glad to help!

[@manojraturi1977]

Nice

[@SharonSmith]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@kevinchin2841]

Hey Sharon, Thanks a lot for sharing on the pop up notes; much appreciated. I notice there is a max to the number of text that can be inserted. Is there a way to overcome this? Thanks Best regards, KC

[@syedikramullah1114]

😍😍😍 nice

[@SharonSmith]

Thank you for watching!!

[@TheRodkjaer]

Great Video! When I try to use the AutoTextList option no "Litteral text" shows up (pressing F9 does not seem to solve it). Any idea why the code is not workning for me? I am using Office 365. Thanks.

[@rocket3215]

How do you remove or edit these messages after adding?

[@SharonSmith]

Hello! To edit or remove help text on a legacy form field, you can navigate back to where you entered it by opening the form field properties, clicking "Add Help Text" and then you can either edit or delete the help text and click OK. If you inserted pop-up hover text as field code, you can hit Alt+F9 (or Alt+Fn+F9) on your keyboard to display the field code and edit it. When you are done, hit Alt+F9 again to re-hide the field code. I hope this helps! Thanks for watching!

[@christophersmith2804]

I've followed the instructions to the letter, but no popup window is appearing? I've tried a similar technique with a hyperlink screen tip, but no popup shows up for that either despite checking the relevant options in the advanced settings. Anyone know what I'm missing?

[@AliMohamed-jg6bv]

hi. thanks for your great videos. how to make these pop-ups work on pdf. like when I'm finishing editing my word file, I need to save it as a pdf and want these pop ups work on pdf. can you help please

[@learedders9257]

Hi Sharon, I’ve created a fillable form with multiple table sections. Is there a way of generating a status bar illustrating the overall percentage of the form which has been completed, i.e. there are 10 tables in the form and each table equates to 10%, if 3 were completed it would state at the top of the form 30% completed.? Thanks, keep up the great word.😀

[@SharonSmith]

Hi Lea! Thanks so much for watching my videos! I'm not aware off hand how to do this in Word. If I come across a way, I will let you know. You may be able to do something like this with an Excel form. I have a video on how to create fillable forms in Excel you may find helpful: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZiaaWlphc-BpNU You also may want to consider a solution like JotForms (there is a free version) that may be able to do this for you. Here is an affiliate link if you are interested in that solution: www.jotform.com/pricing/? Good luck with your form and thanks again for watching!

[@learedders9257]

@@SharonSmith great, thanks so much, I’ll shall look into your suggestions 👍

[@abdsal96]

Is there any way to tell the user that he left some necessary fields not filled before saving the form? And thank you for making this awesome content. 😍❤

[@jordanaallard2875]

When adding a hover field tip text, how can I simply get just a question mark symbol to appear, rather than a word? I tried putting in just the symbol (?), but it didn't work. Someone told me to put an apostrophe in front of the question mark, but then the apostrophe shows up.

[@SharonSmith]

Hi Jordana! Are you referring to time stamp 05:51 in this video? If so, you can use this in the field code and it should work so that when you hover over the text, the pop-up will just show a question mark (replace "Insert Text" with whatever word(s) you wand displayed in the document for users to hover on): AUTOTEXTLIST "Insert Text" \s "NoStyle" \t "?" I use Microsoft 365 and this worked for me. Hope it works for you too. Thanks for watching!

[@nkap08]

How do you update or eliminate a pop up hover tip text?

[@nkap08]

I found my answer. When in document. Choose File, Options. Display, uncheck display pop up text. Love you presentations. Thanks

[@SharonSmith]

Thanks so much for sharing this tip, Nathan! Thanks for watching my videos and for subscribing to my Channel. Glad you find my videos helpful. Take care!!

[@sarahsardella2927]

How can we enter longer help text? It seems to be the only option to input data for screen readers with a locked form. To get longer phrases read to the individual, you'd have to create unnecessary form fields and break up the phrase based on the character length = horrible experience for those using screen readers.

[@a.a.8632]

I have a question please, i did the same but when i saved it as a PDF file it does not work there. How can i make it work saving it as a pdf file please?

[@SharonSmith]

Hello! There may be some features in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC that will allow you to do this in a PDF. This video covers how to use this in Word, but often Word form features may not work when the file is converted or saved as a PDF. Thanks for watching my videos!