I am attempting to put Text Form Fields in a Word doc to fill out a form. When the user completes the fields, the first letter is black and the remaining letters are grey. I've tried to update the colors all to black, but it always defaults back to the first letter being black and the remaining letters grey. What am I doing wrong?

Without actually seeing the problem document, it can be difficult for anyone to diagnose the issue. Can you attach a document to a post with some representative data (delete anything sensitive)? You do this via the paperclip symbol on the 'Go Advanced' tab at the bottom of this screen.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Yes - see attached. Also notice that the font on the "return this form to" side will not keep Arial as the font - it defaults back to Calibri.

Attached Files

Test Doc.docx (23.0 KB, 7 views)

Your formfields (and other parts of your document) have had a Style named 'Placeholder text' applied to them, which sets the grey font, but someone has then overridden various properties of that Style with direct formatting. Moreover, the default text appearing in those formfields has not been set as such via the formfield properties. Rather, someone has typed that data into empty formfields, which have been unprotected before applying the 'Automatic' (black) font colour to the first character in each. A real dog's breakfast.

I don't get the 'first letter is black and the remaining letters are grey' behaviour you refer to when filling in the formfields, however. For me, the entire formfield's input is formatted as Arial, with the 'Automatic' (black) font colour.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

I added the text to the form fields after the document was locked. Even if I clear the form fields and type new information in there, the first letter of each word is black and the subsequent letters are grey (see attached a screen shot). How do I update the style formatting to do what I want it to do?

Attached Images

Capture.PNG (13.1 KB, 11 views)

I am unable to replicate that behaviour.
I'd be inclined to start off by unprotecting the document, then pressing Ctrl-A, Ctrl-Spacebar to remove all the direct formatting. If you want to use Arial, change the Normal Style's font to that - as that's the underlying Style used in most of your formfields (one cell employs the 'No Spacing' Style - which you should reset to the Normal Style).

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thank you so much! That fixed all of my issues - including the issue you couldn't replicate. Thank you so much!