How to Insert a Placeholder in Word document

Placeholder is also called as dummy text or filler text. It is a character, word, or string of characters that temporarily holds the place to the final data.

Example: In the below screenshot, Email or phone is a placeholder.

Create a Placeholder in the Word

Method 1: Using References Tab on the Ribbon

Follow the below steps to create a Placeholder in the Word document –

Step 1: Open the new or an existing Word document.

Step 2: Place cursor in the document where you want to insert a Placeholder.

Step 3: Go to the References tab on the Ribbon and click on the Insert Citation drop-down menu in the Citations & Bibliography section.

Step 4: Click on the Add New Placeholder option from the drop-down menu.

Note: In this method, we add a citation placeholder in the Word document.

Step 5: A small Placeholder Name dialog box will appear on the screen. Enter the Placeholder that you want to insert and click on the OK button to insert a citation placeholder.

The screenshot below shows that Placeholder is inserted to the Word document.

Method 2: Insert an image placeholder in Word document

Follow the below steps to insert an image placeholder in Word document –

Note 1: Make sure the Developer Tab is visible on the Ribbon.

Note 2: If the Developer Tab in not visible on the Ribbon, then go to File -> Options -> Customize Ribbon -> Tick on the Developer checkbox in the Main tabs section and click on the OK button at the bottom of the screen.

Step 1: Open the Word document.

Step 2: Place cursor in the document where you want to insert an image placeholder.

Step 3: Go to the Insert tab on the Ribbon and click on the Table option in the Tables group.

Step 4: An Insert Table dialog box will apper on the screen. Select a single row and column (1 Table) from the Table dialog box.

Step 5: Adjust the length and width of the table based on your requirement.

Step 6: Place the cursor inside the Table, click on the Developer tab on the Ribbon, and click on the Picture Content Control option in the Controls section.

Step 7: A Picture Content Control (image Placeholder) is added inside the table. Resize the Picture Content based on your requirement.

Step 8: To insert the image in placeholder, click on the center of the image icon. Browse the image that you want to insert and click on the Insert button at the bottom of the screen.

The screenshot below shows that the selected image is inserted in the placeholder.

Change a Placeholder Picture

To change the placeholder image, click on the image to select the image and click on the Change Picture icon, as shown in the below screenshot.