Review & data · guide
What Fill PDF forms does
Fill PDF forms reads the fields in a PDF form, such as text boxes, checkboxes, dropdowns and radio buttons, lets you fill them in, and saves a copy whose answers show in every PDF viewer and when printed, not only in Adobe Reader, as long as they use Western European letters; Cyrillic, Greek, Chinese and letters such as ł or ř are saved as question marks. Tick Flatten when saving to make the answers part of the page so they cannot be changed. XFA forms are refused rather than half-filled. Nothing is uploaded.
How to fill PDF forms in your browser
- Choose a PDF form Select a PDF with fillable fields. Its fields are read and listed in this browser tab, with any answers already in them; nothing is uploaded.
- Fill in the fields Type into the text fields and set the checkboxes, dropdowns and radio buttons. Read-only fields are shown but cannot be changed. A list that allows several choices is shown with only its first choice selected, and saving keeps only that one even if you do not touch the list, so fill such lists in Adobe Reader. Tick Flatten when saving if the recipient should not be able to change your answers.
- Save the filled form Select Fill the form, open the result to check every answer appears, then save it. Keep an unflattened copy if you may need to change it later.
Worked example
Complete an ordinary fillable form and keep an editable copy.
- Starting point
- Choose an AcroForm with visible text fields, boxes or other supported controls.
- What to do
- Fill the fields, export an editable copy, and use flattening only if the recipient needs a non-interactive reading copy.
- Result
- Expect a filled PDF that displays the entered values when reopened. Check all pages and selected options.
If the result is not right
If fields are absent or the tool reports an unsupported form, retain the original and open it in a compatible form editor. Do not flatten a blank or incomplete form.
Limits worth knowing
- XFA forms and unsupported field features may need the application specified by the form issuer.
Questions and answers
Why do my answers disappear when I open the form in another app?
A filled field holds a value and, separately, a picture of that value that viewers draw. If a tool saves only the value, Adobe Reader redraws it on opening and hides the problem, but browsers, Preview and printers show an empty box. Filozy redraws each field's picture when it saves, so the answers show everywhere. The exception is any character outside the Western European set: Cyrillic, Greek and Chinese, and also Latin letters such as ł, ř, ş, ő and č. The answer is stored, but its picture shows a question mark in place of each one, and flattening makes them permanent. Saving here redraws every field you can edit, including fields you did not touch and answers typed in another app (read-only fields are left as they are), so fill a form that needs these letters in Adobe Reader instead.
Why won't my form fill in?
It is probably an XFA form, a format some government and tax forms use in which the real form lives in hidden XML that other software ignores. Browsers cannot fill XFA reliably, so these forms are refused rather than saved half-filled; open them in Adobe Acrobat or Reader instead.
What if the PDF has no fillable fields?
Then there is nothing to fill, and the page says This PDF has no fillable fields. That is usual for scanned forms and forms printed straight to PDF, where the boxes are only lines on the page. Use Edit PDF to type into the boxes as text and tick them with its check stamp.
Why are the fields listed with names like Text1 instead of the questions?
The list shows each field's internal name, chosen by whoever made the form, in the order the form stores them. Well-made forms use names like Surname; others use Text1. If the names do not tell you which box is which, fill one in with something recognisable, save without flattening and look at where it appears; the saved form opens here again with your answers in place, so you can carry on.
Can I sign the form here?
Not in its signature box. Signature fields, like buttons, are listed as Not a fillable field and are not filled. If the form already carries a certificate-based digital signature, saving here rewrites the whole file and that signature stops validating. With Flatten ticked, signature fields and buttons are removed along with the other fields, so a signed form is no longer signed. Save the filled form, then open it in Sign PDF to place a drawn or typed signature where it belongs; that is a visible signature, not a certificate-based digital one. If the answers should be locked as well, flatten before you sign.
Why don't totals or dates fill in automatically?
Calculations, automatic dates and other form scripts only run in apps that execute the form's JavaScript, such as Adobe Acrobat and Reader. Here each field holds exactly what you type, so work out totals yourself and enter them. A calculated field that the form marks read-only cannot be typed into here.