Docufen in Word

Docufen in Word is the official companion add-in for Docufen — the GxP-compliant digital document completion platform trusted by pharmaceutical and life sciences organisations worldwide.

This add-in helps you prepare Word documents for Docufen — scan for compatibility issues, insert pre-built GxP content blocks, and follow best-practice authoring guidelines, all without leaving Microsoft Word.

Health Check

Scan your document in one click and get a clear report of anything that may cause rendering issues when uploaded to Docufen. Findings are grouped by severity — critical, warning, and informational — so you know exactly what to fix first.

• Table widths — Detects percentage-based table widths that can render inconsistently, with a one-click auto-fix to convert them to fixed widths
• Merged-cell tables — Flags tables where merged cells combined with auto-width columns may not resolve correctly
• Floating images — Identifies images set to wrap around text, which may be repositioned or lost during conversion
• Embedded OLE objects — Flags incompatible embedded elements like Excel sheets, Visio diagrams, charts, or other objects that cannot be rendered in Docufen
• Circle instructions — Detects paper-based "circle the applicable option" instructions in GxP forms, which require specific handling for digital completion
• Content controls — Identifies legacy and rich-text content controls that may interfere with Docufen's completion layer
• Oversized images — Warns when images exceed recommended dimensions, which can affect page layout fidelity and processing speed

Quick Entries

Insert pre-formatted GxP content blocks directly into your document at the cursor position — no copy-pasting from templates required.

• Decision fields — Insert standard completion options such as Yes/No, Met/Unmet, Pass/Fail, and Complies/Does Not Comply, each with checkbox formatting ready for digital completion
• Approval table — A signature block with Role, Name, Signature, and Date columns, pre-filled with Prepared by, Reviewed by, and Approved by rows
• Revision history — A version tracking table with Version, Date, Author, and Description of Change columns
• Change control — A change documentation table with Change Control #, Date Raised, Description, Impact Assessment, and Approved By columns

Best Practices

A built-in reference of six authoring guidelines that help you create documents optimised for Docufen from the start:

1. Use built-in heading styles — Docufen uses Word's heading hierarchy to build document navigation and outlines
2. Avoid text boxes — Content inside text boxes is invisible to Docufen's rendering engine
3. Keep tables simple — Simple grid tables render most reliably across all viewers and export formats
4. Use standard fonts — Stick to common fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman to ensure correct rendering
5. Don't password-protect sections — Content protection blocks Docufen from reading document structure; use Docufen's built-in access controls instead
6. Embed images, don't link them — Linked images won't display when viewed in Docufen; always insert images inline

Built for regulated industries

Docufen in Word is designed for quality assurance teams, document controllers, and validation engineers working under GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, EU Annex 11, and TGA regulatory frameworks. It fits naturally into your document authoring workflow without requiring any change to your existing SOPs or document templates.

How to use it

1. Open any Word document you intend to upload to Docufen
2. Click the Docufen button in the Home ribbon
3. Use the Health Check tab to scan and fix compatibility issues
4. Use Quick Entries to insert pre-built GxP content blocks
5. Refer to Best Practices for authoring guidance
6. Upload your document to Docufen with confidence

A Docufen account is required to upload and complete documents. Visit docufen.com to learn more or request a demo.