Change Prompt of a Drop-Down List Content Control in Microsoft Word

Microsoft OfficeWhile I have been using Microsoft Word for years, the most I’ve generally done with it is typing and formatting documents; I’ve rarely used the content controls which, from the Developer toolbar, allow you to add drop-down lists and so on. Well, recently, I was working with a template created by someone else which had a lot of embedded drop-down lists for the client to select answers to questions.

However, the client we were working with was getting a little confused by the prompt for the drop-down lists which said Choose an item (in their defence they were working with inventory items and the drop-down control doesn’t explicitly say to click it. Below is a mocked up example showing what I mean:

Word doc showing drop-down list example

The placeholder text of the control can be changed by placing the cursor into the control and clicking the Design Mode button on the Controls section of the Developer toolbar which allows you to replace the text in the drop-down list control with text which is a little more unique and relevant to the question:

Word doc showing drop-down list example in design mode with changed placeholder text

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