How to Fill and Sign a PDF Online for Free

What kind of form you're dealing with

Most forms you download — rental applications, intake sheets, school slips, club waivers — are flat. That means the blanks are just printed lines and boxes, not clickable fields you can tab through. You can't type into a flat form the way you would in a fillable government form, but you don't need to: you fill it by laying your own text on top of each blank.

This editor handles both. If your form has real fillable fields, click into each text field and type, and click a checkbox to tick it; your answers are saved in the PDF you download. On a flat form, you add text on top of each blank. And if the form is a scan, you can type over its blanks the same way, or click 'Make text editable' to read its printed words with OCR first.

Step 1: Fill the form by adding text

Open your PDF — drag it onto the editor or pick the file. It loads instantly and stays on your device. If the form has fillable text fields or checkboxes, click each one to fill it in; for a dropdown or a set of option buttons (round or square) that don't respond to a click, type your answer on top instead. On a flat form, add a text box for each blank:

• Click Add text, then click the blank line or box you want to fill.
• Type your answer. New text automatically adopts the font, size, and color of the nearest printed text, so it blends in with the form's labels.
• Drag the box to line it up neatly on the rule or inside the box.
• Need a tweak? Adjust the font, size, color, bold/italic, or alignment from the toolbar — handy for matching a tight box or a small-print field.
• Repeat down the page. For checkboxes, you can drop a short text box with an X or a checkmark in it.

Step 2: Add your signature

Once the fields are filled, sign the document. Open the signature tool and choose how you want to sign.

You can also add the date and your initials the same way you filled the rest of the form — with a small text box beside the signature. If the form needs your signature in more than one spot, just sign each spot the same way.

• Draw: sign with your mouse or trackpad on the signature pad, just like signing on paper. Pick a pen color, and clear and redo it until the curve looks right.
• Type: enter your name and it's rendered in a handwriting-style script. Change the color to match blue or black ink.
• Place it: drop the signature onto the signature line and drag the corner to size it so it sits cleanly above the line.

Step 3: Save the finished document

When the form is complete and signed, download it. The text and signature are written into the PDF, so it opens correctly for whoever receives it — no extra layer, no editor required on their end.

Because every step ran in your browser, the document was never sent to a server. That matters for the kind of paperwork you usually fill and sign: leases, offer letters, medical forms, and anything with an ID number or address on it. You can even confirm it for yourself by opening your browser's Network tab while you work and watching that no file is uploaded.

A few tips for clean results

• Zoom in before placing text so you can align entries precisely on each line.
• Keep one text box per answer — it's easier to nudge and re-align than one long block.
• If an entry looks too big or too dark next to the form's print, shrink the size or lighten the color so it matches.
• Use undo and redo freely; nothing is committed until you download.
• It works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook and phones; precise placement is easiest with a mouse or trackpad.