How to sign a PDF without printing or scanning it

On iPhone or iPad

It’s built in. Following Apple’s iPhone guide:

1. Open the document. If it arrives in another app, such as Mail, open it in Files and tap Save.
2. Tap an empty field to type. If the form has no fields, you can add a text box.
3. Tap Add Signature, sign with your finger and tap Done.
4. Drag the signature into place and resize it with the blue handles.
5. Share the filled document, or save it.

The signature is saved for next time, and you can keep several, such as your name and your initials. In apps such as Notes and Photos, the same option is in the Markup toolbar.

On a Mac

With Preview, which comes with every Mac:

1. Open the PDF in Preview and show the Markup toolbar.
2. Click the signature button and create yours in one of three ways: with your finger on the trackpad, with the camera, holding your signature on white paper up to it, or with a nearby iPhone or iPad, signing with a finger or Apple Pencil.
3. Click the signature, drag it into place and resize it.

With iCloud Drive, the signature shows up on your other Macs too. To send the signed PDF back, Apple suggests opening the attachment from Mail, signing it, and choosing File › Save › “Reply to…”.

On Windows or Android

The free Acrobat Reader has a Fill & Sign tool. Adobe’s steps:

1. Open the PDF and click the Sign icon, or choose Tools › Fill & Sign.
2. Fill the fields: Reader detects them for you.
3. Click the Sign icon again and choose signature or initials.
4. Type it, draw it or import an image of your signature, and click Apply.
5. Click where the signature goes, then save.

With Save Signature ticked and signed in to Adobe, the signature is stored in Adobe’s cloud for use on other devices.

Does a signature like that count?

For most everyday documents, yes. In the European Union, the eIDAS regulation says an electronic signature can’t be denied legal effect just because it’s electronic or isn’t qualified (Article 25). In the United States, the federal ESIGN Act says a signature or contract can’t be denied legal effect solely because it’s in electronic form. Other countries have their own laws; if the document matters, check yours.

What a drawn signature doesn’t prove is who placed it: it’s an image on the page and can be copied onto another document. That’s why government offices and some banks ask for a certificate-based signature instead. That’s a different thing, and it works on a phone too: how to sign a PDF with a digital certificate on iPhone.

Two cases to be careful with

The PDF already has a digital signature

A contract the other side has signed with a certificate can break without anything showing. In our test of November 4, 2026, filling one field and saving in Preview on a Mac was enough for the first signature to stop matching its bytes, with no warning. You need an app that appends changes to the end of the file: how to sign a PDF without invalidating the existing signature.

“Sign PDF free” websites

They work, but to sign you have to upload the document to their server, and it’s often a contract with your name, ID number and address on it. Signing on your own device avoids that: what happens to the files you upload.