---
title: How do I add placeholder or help text to guide my customers? | Paperform Help Center | Paperform
description: You can add descriptive help text either in the description of the question or as placeholder text in your question's configuration settings.
url: "https://paperform.co/help/articles/add-placeholder-or-help-text"
type: static
generatedAt: "2026-04-04T00:42:01.829Z"
---

How do I add placeholder or help text to guide my customers?
### Appearance & Theming

You can add descriptive help text either in the description of the question or as placeholder text in your Question Panel. Here's how:

### Adding a Question Description

 1. Locate the question you'd like to add help text to in your form editor.
 1. Below the text "What is your question?", locate the smaller line of text labeled "Add some help text".
 1. Click on the "Add some help text" line, and begin typing.

![A default, empty question field in the form editor.](https://img.paperform.co/fetch/f_auto,w_1400/https://d3gw2uv1ch7vdq.cloudfront.net/img/question-field.png)

You're all set! When the form is loaded for your respondents, your help text will appear just below the title.

![Example of Question Title with Help Text](https://img.paperform.co/fetch/f_auto,w_1400/https://d3gw2uv1ch7vdq.cloudfront.net/img/example-of-using-help-text.png)

### Adding Placeholder Text

 1. Click on the question field in the form editor, and navigate to the Question Panel.
 1. Locate the "Placeholder text" field, and enter the text you want to appear when no answer is entered.

> Note that placeholder text differs from a [Default Answer](https://paperform.co/help/articles/can-i-select-a-default-answer-for-my-form/), as any text entered here won't show up in your submission results.

![The "Placeholder Text" field in the question configuration window, within the form editor.](https://img.paperform.co/fetch/f_auto,w_1400/https://d3gw2uv1ch7vdq.cloudfront.net/img/placeholder-text-field.png)

That's it! Your help text is ready to be shown on the form.

## Gotchas

 - Placeholder text cannot include line breaks - this includes on fields which may accept more than one line in an entered answer.

### Related Articles
  [Can I change or edit the color of the placeholder text?  Changing the color of placeholder text is only possible on specific pricing plans with custom CSS.](/help/articles/can-i-change-edit-color-of-the-placeholder-text/)
[Can I change the placeholder of a Date question from "DD / MM / YYYY" to another format?  By default, the placeholder for a Date question is "DD / MM / YYYY." This can be set to a specific date or the current day in the question's configuration panel.](/help/articles/can-i-set-the-placeholder-of-a-date-question-to-text-mm-dd-yyyy-instead-of-numbers/)