A frequent reader question involves repeating text in a Word document. For example, Yassen wants to populate a combo box content control with three items. When users select an item from the control's drop-down list, Word must repeat the selected value throughout the document.
Spend some time researching repeating content and you'll likely come across some difficult solutions, from mapped XML elements to marked form fields and controls. If you are a normal user without advanced skills, you are out of luck. Fortunately, there are two ways to display repetitive data that do not require any expert skills.
I am using Word 2016 (desktop) on a Windows 10 64 bit system, but both techniques will work in older versions. The browser edition does not support content controls. You can't insert fields in browser edit, but it will support them, to some extent. You won't see the field results on the screen, but Word will print them. There is no downloadable demo file, because you won't need it. You can also repeat text on online check here text repeater.
The sample content control
We will look at two methods to achieve Yassen's goal, using the same combo box content control example in both:
Place your cursor where you want to insert the content control and click the Developer tab. If this tab is not available and you don't know how to add it to the ribbon, read Two Simple Ways to Customize the Ribbon Interface.
In the Controls group, click the Combo Box Content Control to insert the control.
Click Properties in the Controls group.
Enter a meaningful title (name) for the control in the Content Control Properties dialog box.
A copy and paste method
Now you need to paste the control in the areas where you want the selected confidentiality level to repeat. This is the tricky part because if you don't select the control correctly, Word won't let you paste it as a link, and that's what you need: a link.
To select the control, double-click it. If it is aligned with the left margin, you can also click the left margin. Press Ctrl + C to copy the control to the Clipboard. Position the cursor where you want to repeat the selected value of the control. Don't press Ctrl + V like you normally would to paste something.
Use StyleRef
StyleRef is a reference field that automatically displays text with specific style. In this example, we will not copy and paste the control as we did before. Instead we'll apply a style and then insert a StyleRef field where we want to repeat the text. Unfortunately, this field finds and displays the closest text formatted with the specified style, so it is not as powerful as the linked solution.
First, apply a style to the original sample control. Choose one that is not currently in use; you must wear a unique style. You can modify the style to meet your formatting needs or create a new style.