How to fill in and sign a PDF form on your phone
Open Fill in a form in your phone’s browser, type your answers in the boxes it lists, and press Fill it in. Tap Then, choose Sign, sign with your finger, and send the finished form straight to WhatsApp or email.
Fill in a formFree. Nothing is uploaded.
How to do it
- Get the PDF onto your phone as a file, then open Fill in a form and add it.
- Type your answers in the list of boxes, and tick Seal the answers for the final copy.
- Press Fill it in, then tap Then and choose Sign.
- Draw your signature with a finger, tap the page where it goes, and press Place the signature.
- Tap Send and pick WhatsApp, Gmail or another app, or Save to keep it.
Getting the PDF into the browser
The form has to be on your phone as a file first. From email, download the attachment. From WhatsApp, open the document once so it is stored on the phone, then tap the drop zone on the tool page and find it among your files. If you have installed this site from your browser’s menu, Foolscap also appears when you share a PDF from another app, and its Open a file page suggests what to do with it.
Typing answers on a small screen
You do not have to pinch and zoom around the page to hit tiny boxes. Fill in a form reads the form’s own fields and lists them as ordinary boxes, one under another, each with its name, so the phone keyboard works as it does anywhere else. Ticks are tick boxes and lists are drop-downs. If a field has a set length, the box says how many characters it takes.
Type dates and numbers exactly as the form asks, such as DD/MM/YYYY, because each answer goes into its field just as typed. A field called Text7 tells you nothing: put a test word in it, press Fill it in and see where it lands. Your original never changes, so trying costs nothing.
Signing with a finger
In Sign, draw slowly and larger than you would on paper; the signature is trimmed and fitted when you place it. If it comes out shaky, tap Clear and draw it again. Blue ink is chosen at first. Pinch to zoom in on the signature line, tap where the signature goes, then drag it into place and drag its corner to size it. If the form wants the date beside it, tap Then once more and use Add text.
Forms with no boxes to type in
If the tool says the PDF has no fields, the form is a printed page saved as a PDF. Write on it with Add text instead: type an answer, tap just above its line, and repeat. Zoom in before tapping, and choose Small for narrow lines. If you only have the form on paper, photograph each page with Scan first.
Saving answers for next time
Tick Also save my answers as a file, and a small .json file comes out beside the filled form. Next time the same form arrives, add it, choose Fill it from saved answers, and pick that file: the boxes fill themselves. It is handy for forms that come back every year, such as a school’s details form or an insurance renewal. The file holds only what you typed, so keep it as private as the form.
When that answers file comes out too, the result holds two kinds of file, so Then is not offered. Save the filled form, then open Sign and add it yourself.
A worked example
A school sends a fillable consent form on WhatsApp, to be returned signed tonight. Priya opens it once in WhatsApp, opens Fill in a form, adds it, types her child’s name, class and her phone number into the listed boxes and ticks the boxes that apply. She ticks Seal the answers and presses Fill it in. She taps Then, chooses Sign, signs with her finger in blue, taps the parent’s signature line and presses Place the signature. She taps Send, picks WhatsApp and the class teacher’s chat, and the signed form goes back as a document.
Questions people ask
Do I need to install an app?
No. It works in Chrome, Safari or any current phone browser. Installing the site from the browser’s menu is optional.
Is the form uploaded while I fill it?
No. Your answers and signature are written into the PDF in your phone’s browser; nothing is sent to us or anyone else.
Should I seal the answers before signing?
For the copy you send, yes: sealing makes the answers part of the page so nobody can change them later. See flatten a PDF form.
Where does the filled form go?
Save puts it in your phone’s Downloads. Send hands it to another app without saving first, on phones that can share files.
Can I do this on an iPhone?
Yes. Open the site in Safari; everything works the same way, and saved files go to the Files app.
Your file stays on your device. Foolscap does the work inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is nothing for anyone to keep. How you can check