Navigate the ExForms Add-in

Use this guide to understand the current ExForms Excel add-in layout before you start creating template sets, mapping documents, managing teams, or configuring external destinations.

Add-on packs and extra capacity
ExForms can extend individual limits without changing your whole subscription. Add-on packs can add document-generation capacity, connector slots, connector data-transfer balance, AI tokens, or API access. They are useful when one workflow needs more room than your current plan includes, including Free-plan accounts that need a specific extra capability.

Global Layout

When the add-in opens, the PDF, Word, PPT experience loads first. The add-in keeps a fixed header at the top and switches the main work area between document generation and external destinations.

Header Bar

Main Tabs

Notes:

• PDF, Word, PPT is the default tab.
• Other Destinations is available only after sign-in.
• If a user signs out while Other Destinations is open, the add-in returns to the Documents side.

Documents Workflow

The Documents side is where template-set work begins.

1. Set of Forms

This is the default landing screen.

From here you can:

• choose the current account
• choose the current team
• browse folders and template sets in the tree
• right-click folders or sets for role-dependent actions
• open a set by double-clicking it or using Select
• browse the built-in Ready-Made Templates library folder and copy a library set into your own folder — see the Ready-Made Templates Library guide

2. Selected Set

After you open a template set, the add-in shows Selected Set.

From here you can:

• go back to the set tree
• send workbook data to the set
• download the matching workbook when the current workbook is outdated or missing the expected marker
• enter Edit Set when your role allows it

Current branch behavior:

• if the workbook version matches the selected set, Send Data To Templates Set is available
• if the workbook is outdated or missing the expected XML marker, the add-in shows Download Excel File instead
• mapping warnings can still appear when one or more files in the set are not mapped yet

3. Add New Set

Use Add New Set when you want to create a new template set from scratch.

From here you can:

• enter the required set name and description
• upload PDF, Word, or PowerPoint files
• create an HTML form
• save the new set once at least one template artifact exists

4. Edit Set

Edit Set is the maintenance screen for an existing set.

From here you can:

• change set name and description
• manage attached files
• remove mappings
• open Naming Options
• open Output Options — flatten, combine into one PDF, watermark, password-protect or archive the documents this set generates
• upload more files — PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or an image of a form (PNG, JPG, TIFF)
• create an HTML form
• jump into file-specific mapping

The file list also exposes document-specific actions such as PDF auto-map, PDF AI review, remove mapping, delete, and file-specific edit buttons — plus, per file:

• Download the file's original upload
• Replace a PDF in place (mappings for unchanged field names are preserved)
• Place fields (pushpin icon) — opens the visual field placement designer for flat PDFs and image uploads; see Fill Flat PDFs, Scans & Images
• an Output dropdown on image-sourced files (marked with a 📷 icon) to choose whether generated documents come back as images (default) or PDFs

5. File-Specific Editing Branches

When you edit an individual file, the next screen depends on the document type.

6. Output Options

The header Output Options button on Edit Set opens set-level PDF post-processing, applied after documents are filled and before they are downloaded.

From there you can:

• flatten filled fields so recipients cannot change them
• combine documents into one PDF — per record (a filing packet) or for the whole run
• add a diagonal watermark such as DRAFT or CLIENT COPY
• password-protect each record's document using a value from a parent-table column
• convert output to PDF/A-3b for archiving
• set per-file overrides for flatten, watermark, and whether a file joins the combined PDF

Only options that apply to the set's file types are shown. Word and PowerPoint have no output options yet and are always delivered as their own files. Nothing is enabled by default. See the Output Options guide.

7. Naming Options

The Naming Options path opens the Defaults area for folder and file naming.

From there you can:

• review the current folder and file naming patterns
• choose tokens and reorder them
• choose separators
• add custom text segments
• save folder or file naming rules back to the set

8. Settings

The header Settings button opens the settings area inside the Documents side of the add-in.

Current branches include:

• Users & Teams: owner-only account and team management
• Word Styles: company-level Word table-style management

Dedicated Windows

Some workflows leave the main accordion and open a dedicated window or Office dialog.

PDF AutoMap Review

The PDF auto-map flow opens a separate review surface with:

• Deterministic Map for rule-based analysis
• AI Map for best-effort AI analysis and refine loops
• Ask Eve for contextual guidance during review
• Exit dialog to close the review window

HTML Template Editor

HTML forms open in a dedicated editor window rather than inside the Documents accordion.

Current toolbar tools include:

• Save
• ExForms AI
• Ask Eve
• Mapping
• Conditional Rules
• Close

The editor also includes a dedicated mapping panel and a dedicated conditional-rules workspace.

Other Destinations Workflow

The sign-in-only Other Destinations tab is a separate workflow for connector setup and sync.

Connector workflows use connector-slot and connector data-transfer allowances. Add-on packs can extend those limits without changing the rest of your subscription, which is helpful for extra environments, temporary sync spikes, or smaller plans that only need more connector capacity.

Its main views are:

Settings and Team Management

Current owner-only Users & Teams capabilities include:

• review the current team-member limit bar
• open Manage subscription
• switch between Teams and Users
• add, edit, and delete teams
• add and edit users with team assignments
• manage connection-level permissions for users

For the detailed owner workflow, see Users & Teams Guide.

Current Word Styles capabilities include:

• create a new style
• duplicate an existing style
• delete editable styles
• set the default company style
• preview typography and palette changes before saving

AI Entry Points

ExForms exposes AI help in a few different places:

• the global Assistant button in the header
• Ask Eve inside the HTML editor
• Ask Eve inside the PDF AutoMap review dialog
• document-specific AI buttons such as ExForms AI in the HTML editor and PDF AI analysis and refinement actions

Current behavior:

• AI entry points check plan allowance and available AI tokens before they open or send AI requests.
• If AI is unavailable, the user sees a deny or unavailable message instead of a silent failure.

If the included AI allowance is not enough, AI token add-on packs can extend that balance without changing the rest of the subscription.

Linking your Excel file to a Set

Each Set of Forms is tied to one Excel workbook. When you select a Set, the add-in checks whether the currently open workbook is the one linked to that Set:

• Recognized → the Send Data to Templates Set button is available.
• Not recognized → use Download Excel File to get the workbook for that Set, fill it, and send. (Reusing an Excel file that's already linked to another Set — re-linking it to a new Set — is limited to account owners and admins.)

One-time re-download (June 2026 update): we improved how workbooks are linked to Sets. The first time you use an existing Set after this update, click Download Excel File once to get the refreshed workbook, then continue as usual. Your data and mappings are unchanged.

Related Guides

• Installation Guide
• Users & Teams Guide
• PDF Forms User Guide
• Fill Flat PDFs, Scans & Images
• Ready-Made Templates Library
• Word Documents User Guide
• HTML Forms User Guide
• Naming Output Files
• Output Options
• Other Destinations & Connectors