How to Fill Out a PDF Form Online for Free

PDF forms come in two kinds. Fillable forms have real fields you can click into; flat forms are just a picture of a form with lines and boxes. PDFkitt handles both: fillable fields are typed into directly and saved back into the PDF, and flat forms are completed with text boxes, check marks and a signature placed on top.

Filling a fillable form

1. Open the form. Drop it onto the upload card. Fields the editor recognises are drawn on the page, ready to use; no tool needs to be selected.
2. Click a field and type. Text fields accept typing straight away. Tick check boxes by clicking them. Use Tab to move to the next field.
3. Add anything the form did not provide a field for. Choose Text → Add text to type elsewhere, Insert → Today’s date for a date, and Insert → Signature to sign; see the signing guide.
4. Download. Click Download, then Download PDF. Your entries are written into the form fields, so a recipient opening it in Acrobat or a browser sees exactly what you typed.

Filling a flat (non-fillable) form

1. Open the form and zoom in. Use the + button or Ctrl and + so the boxes are large enough to click accurately.
2. Choose Text → Add text. Click the first blank line and type your answer. Adjust the size in the small toolbar above the box so it fits the line; 10 to 12 pt suits most forms.
3. Repeat for each field. Click the next line, type. Boxes can be dragged by their handle if they land slightly off.
4. Tick boxes. Choose Insert → Check mark (or Cross) and click each box that applies.
5. Date and sign. Insert → Today’s date, then Insert → Signature.
6. Download. The completed form is generated on your device and saved to your downloads folder.

Tips

• Consistent size and font. The editor keeps the last size and font you used for new text boxes, so set them once at the start.
• Long forms are autosaved. If you close the tab by accident, reopen the site and choose Restore to carry on where you were. The autosave lives in your browser only.
• Copy to every page. An inserted image (such as a signature you upload) can be copied to all pages from its toolbar, handy for initials on every page.
• Check the result. Open the downloaded PDF once before sending it. If a recipient’s viewer does not show the field values, download again with the Compress option ticked: that flattens every page to an image, which every viewer can show.

Frequently asked

Will the recipient be able to edit my answers?

With fillable fields, yes, unless you protect the file. Add a password on download to prevent changes, or tick Compress to flatten the form; see password protection and compressing.

The form asks for an attachment. Can I add pages?

Yes. Open the pages panel and click Merge PDF to append another PDF, or insert your attachment as an image on a blank page; see merging PDFs.

Is anything sent to a server?

No. The form, your answers and your signature stay in your browser tab.