How to automate a Word template without uploading it anywhere

Published 26 September 2026 · Updated 4 October 2026 · Automating Word templates

If you copy last month's letter and hunt for every name and date to change, this guide is for you. It takes about ten minutes for your first template.

1. Pick a document you draft often

Start with something you produce at least weekly: an engagement letter, an NDA, an offer letter. Open your best recent version in Word.

2. Replace the details that change with tags

Select a detail that changes, such as the client's name, and type a tag in curly braces instead: {client_name}. Use the same tag everywhere the same detail appears. Use letters, digits and underscores, and choose descriptive names; Clausery guesses the question type from them, so {start_date} becomes a date picker and {retainer_amount} a money field.

This Agreement is made on {effective_date} between {client_name} and {firm_name}.

3. Make optional paragraphs conditional

Wrap text that only sometimes applies in a section: {#has_retainer} before it and {/has_retainer} after it. Clausery asks a yes/no question and removes the paragraph when the answer is no. For the opposite case, use {^has_retainer}…{/has_retainer}.

4. Repeat lists

For parties, attorneys, deliverables or line items, wrap one item in a loop: {#attorneys}{name}, {role}{/attorneys}. The questionnaire lets you add as many as you need. In a table, put the opening tag in the first cell of a row and the closing tag in the last cell.

5. Save as .docx and drop it into Clausery

Open Clausery and drop the file on the Templates page. Every tag becomes a question. Rename questions, add help text and group them into sections in the designer, then click New draft.

6. Generate the document

Answer the questions and download the finished .docx, or print to PDF. Your formatting is kept exactly, and nothing was uploaded at any point.

Want to see a finished example first? Open one of the free templates, or read the full template syntax.

More on automating Word templates

• Conditional clauses in Word: include or remove paragraphs automatically
• Repeating lists and table rows in Word templates
• Mail merge vs document automation: which one do you need?
• Client intake without a portal: collect answers by email, privately
• Choosing document software when client confidentiality matters: a checklist

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