How to fill in a PDF form online, then sign and save it

A school, clinic or landlord emails you a PDF form. You don't want to print it, write on it and scan it back. You can fill it in on screen, sign it and send it, often in less time than it takes to find a pen that works.

How you do it depends on what kind of form you have.

Fillable forms and flat forms

A fillable form has real form fields built in. Click a box and a cursor appears, so you can type. Checkboxes tick and drop-down lists open. Many official and business forms work this way.

A flat form is just a page with lines and boxes printed on it. It looks like a form, but to your PDF reader it's the same as any other page. Clicking a blank line does nothing.

To tell them apart, open the PDF and click inside an empty box. If you can type, it's fillable. Many PDF readers also highlight fillable fields in a light colour.

How to fill in a PDF form with Pagestro

PDF Forms handles both kinds of form in your browser. The form and your answers stay on your device. It's free, with no sign-up and no watermark, and it opens documents up to 100 pages.

If the form is fillable

Step 1. Open PDF Forms and add the PDF. Existing fields are found automatically and the form opens in Fill Form mode.

Step 2. Click each field and type. Tick checkboxes, pick radio buttons and choose options from the lists.

Step 3. Download the filled PDF.

If the form is flat

Step 1. Add the PDF and run auto-detect. It looks for typed blanks made of underscores, dots or dashes, and for labels like "Name:" or "Date:", and turns them into fields.

Step 2. Switch to Edit Form to check what it found. Add any fields it missed, and move or resize the rest. There are six field types: text, checkbox, radio button, dropdown, list and signature box.

Step 3. Switch back to Fill Form, type your answers and download.

Auto-detect gives you a head start, not a guarantee. Check that every blank has a field before you fill in the form and send it.

Small problems and quick fixes

Your answer doesn't fit in the box. In Edit Form mode, make the field bigger, or set the text field to run over several lines. Keep answers short where you can; whoever reads the form will thank you.

A blank wasn't detected. Add a text field by hand in Edit Form mode and place it over the line. Auto-detect looks for typed underscores, dots and dashes, so blanks drawn as plain lines can be missed.

You need to tick one option out of several. That's what radio buttons are for: picking one answer turns the others off. Checkboxes let you tick as many as you like.

The date format is unclear. Write the date the way the form shows it, for example DD/MM/YYYY. If it doesn't say, write the month as a word, like 3 October 2026, so nobody mixes up the day and month.

Adding your signature

Many forms end with a signature line. How you handle it depends on who needs to sign.

Only you need to sign. Use Sign PDF. Draw your signature with a finger or mouse, type your name and pick one of seven handwriting styles, or upload a picture of your signature. Place it on the line, add the date with the text tool, and download. Like PDF Forms, it runs in your browser, and Pagestro doesn't keep your signature after you close the tab.

Sign PDF places a picture of your signature on the page, the way you'd sign on paper. It isn't a certificate-based digital signature. Our guide on how to sign a PDF online goes through the options.

Someone else needs to sign too. Send the document through Contracts. Each signer gets an email link and signs online without needing an account, and you get an audit trail of who signed and when. Sending for signature needs a free Pagestro account, and the document is stored in your account so the signers can open it. The number of signature requests depends on your plan; see pricing for the current details.

E-signatures are recognised for most agreements in many countries, including under the ESIGN Act and UETA in the US and eIDAS in the EU. Some documents still need a handwritten signature or a specific type of electronic signature, so check what the person who sent the form accepts. Our guide to electronic signatures explains the differences. This is general information, not legal advice.

Saving and sending the filled form

• Check your copy. Open the downloaded file in another PDF reader and scroll through it. Make sure every answer shows up where it should.
• Know that answers stay editable. Pagestro saves what you type into the form fields, so the file is still a fillable form. The person you send it to can read your answers in any PDF reader, and could also change them. Keep your own copy of exactly what you sent.
• Name the file clearly. "2026-10-permission-slip-jane-smith.pdf" is easier to find than "form(3).pdf".
• Send it the way they asked. If the form came with instructions, such as uploading to a portal or emailing a set address, follow them.

When another approach is better

• The form shows a message instead of fields. Some forms open with a note asking you to use a particular app. Follow that instruction, since the fields may not appear anywhere else.
• The form must be signed in ink. Print it, sign it, then photograph the pages with Scan to PDF to send them back.
• You send the same form to many people. Make it fillable once with PDF Forms, then send that version every time, so nobody has to print it.

Frequently asked questions

Can I fill in a PDF form without printing it?

Yes. Open it in PDF Forms, type into the fields and download the filled PDF.

How do I fill in a PDF that has no fillable fields?

Run auto-detect to turn blank lines and labels into fields, or add fields yourself in Edit Form mode. Then fill them in.

Is my information uploaded?

No. PDF Forms runs in your browser, so the form and your answers stay on your device. Sending a document for signature through Contracts is different: that document is stored in your Pagestro account.

Can I sign the form as well?

Yes. Use Sign PDF to add your own signature, or Contracts to collect signatures from other people with an audit trail.

Will the filled form open on other computers?

Yes. Pagestro uses standard PDF form fields, which common desktop, browser and phone PDF readers can show and fill in.