How to fill in a PDF form on your computer

First, check what kind of form you have

PDF forms come in two kinds, and they need different tools.

• A fillable form has real fields. You can click into a box and type, tick checkboxes and pick from lists.
• A flat form only looks like a form. It has lines and boxes printed on the page, but nothing to click into, because it is really a scan or an exported document.

Open Fill Out PDF and choose your form. If it has fields, they are highlighted on the page. If it has none, the tool tells you so, and you can skip to forms with no fields below. Fill Out PDF is free and needs no account.

Fill in a PDF form, step by step

1. Choose or drop the PDF form.
2. Click into the first highlighted field and type. Press Tab to move to the next field.
3. Tick checkboxes, choose radio-button options and pick from dropdown lists as the form asks.
4. Decide whether to tick Lock answers (flatten the form). See below if you are not sure.
5. Select Save filled PDF, then open the download and read through every page.

Some forms repeat a field, such as your name at the top of every page. If those fields were built to share a name, typing in one fills them all. That is how the form was designed, not a mistake.

Should you lock your answers?

Locking, also called flattening, turns your answers into ordinary page content. Nobody can change them afterwards, and the form looks the same in every PDF viewer and on paper.

Leave Lock answers off when:

• you might need to correct something later
• someone else still needs to complete their part of the form
• the recipient needs to read the answers as form data, for example to import them into their own system

Turn it on when the form is finished and you are sending it on as a record. Locking also fixes a common problem: answers that show up on your computer but appear blank on the recipient's phone.

Flattening cannot be undone, so save an unlocked copy first if you might need to edit again. The text stays searchable after flattening. To lock a form you have already filled in, use Flatten PDF.

Forms with no fields

A flat form has no fields to fill, but you can still complete it on screen:

• Edit PDF lets you click anywhere on the page and type. Use it to write on the printed lines. The White-out tool covers anything you need to hide.
• Create Fillable PDF adds real text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons and dropdowns. Use it if you send the same form to lots of people, so each of them can fill it in properly.

Some older government and business forms use a format called XFA, which only Adobe Acrobat fully supports. If a form opens with a message about needing Adobe software, ask the sender whether they have a standard PDF version.

Signing the form

Fill in the form first, then add your signature to the saved copy with Sign PDF. That way the signature goes on the finished document. The guide to signing a PDF covers drawn, typed and uploaded signatures.

Before you send it

• Check that every required field is filled in. Required fields are often marked with an asterisk.
• Look at dates and number formats. A form may expect DD/MM/YYYY where you typed MM/DD/YYYY.
• Open the saved file in a different PDF viewer, such as your browser's built-in one, to confirm the answers display properly.
• Keep a copy for your records.

Where your form is processed

The form and your answers are handled in your browser and are not uploaded to a LabAnvil server. That matters for forms full of personal details, such as tax, medical or immigration paperwork. The privacy policy covers analytics and advertising on the website itself.