I recently had to create a mailmerge file in MS Word that updated checkboxes based on the incoming data.  After quite a bit of digging, I was able to find a solution that works pretty well.

The original document contained FormFields for each checkbox.  I looked into running a macro to update the checkboxes, but that takes a lot of code and my final solution is a lot easier.

I deleted the FormFields altogether and substituted some mergefield code.  The checkboxes are created using Wingdings:

 

IF { MERGEFIELD FieldName } = “Some Data” “þ” “o”

 

Select Insert, Field into a Word document.

Highlight the field and toggle it until you can see the code.  Then change the code to match the code above.

Use Insert, Symbol to select the Wingdings for the checkbox and the unchecked box.

You may need to select Insert, Field to insert the FieldName into the MergeField code.

 

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