What is a fillable PDF form?

A fillable PDF form has fields you can type into or pick from: text boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, drop-down lists and lists. Tax forms, job applications, rental agreements and visa forms often come this way, so you can fill them in on screen instead of printing them, writing by hand and scanning them back in.

Tool description

This tool opens a PDF form in your browser and lists its fields page by page, with any answers already in the PDF filled in. Type your answers and watch each one appear in its place on a preview of the page. Click a field on the preview to jump to it. When you are done, download the filled PDF, or flatten it first so the answers become part of the page and can no longer be changed.

Features

  • Fills text fields, check boxes, radio buttons, drop-down lists and lists
  • Shows every answer where it goes on the page
  • Draws the answers so every PDF viewer shows them the same way, including Greek, Cyrillic and Polish text
  • Can flatten the form, so nobody can edit the answers
  • Runs in your browser, so your form and your answers never leave your device

Tips

  • Fields are named after the tooltips the form gives them, or after their field names when there are none.
  • Text in a script this tool has no font for, such as Chinese or Japanese, is still saved. Your PDF viewer draws it, and those fields stay fillable when you flatten the form.
  • XFA forms, made with Adobe LiveCycle, can only be filled in with Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
  • Password-protected PDFs need the password removed first.