How to sign a PDF on a Chromebook
To sign a PDF on a Chromebook, open it in Chrome with FormFill's web app, draw your signature with the trackpad or a stylus, place it on the line, add the date, then download the flattened PDF to your Downloads folder. No app install, no Adobe, and the file stays on the Chromebook.
What ChromeOS can do on its own
Depending on your ChromeOS version, the Gallery app or the built-in PDF viewer has an annotate mode with a pen and highlighter. That is enough to scribble a signature on a page.
It is less good for a real form: there is no text box for typed answers, no check mark or date tool, and a signature drawn straight onto the page at full size is hard to fit onto a small line. School permission slips, job applications and leases usually need all of those at once.
Sign a PDF in Chrome with FormFill
- Save the PDF to your Chromebook. If it came by email, download the attachment; it lands in the Downloads folder of the Files app. A PDF in Google Drive can be downloaded the same way.
- Open formfill.adelyons.com/app in Chrome and pick the PDF. It is opened by Chrome on the Chromebook, not uploaded.
- Fill in the form. Add text for each answer, a check mark or an X for boxes, and the date. Drag to move and pull a corner to resize. Use every page that needs filling.
- Draw your signature. Draw it with the trackpad, a stylus or your finger on a touchscreen Chromebook, then place it on the signature line. Add initials where a page asks for them.
- Download and send. FormFill flattens your entries and downloads the finished PDF. Attach it to your reply in Gmail, or upload it wherever the form asked.
Your first finished document is free. FormFill Pro is the same Pro as the FormFill phone app; sign in with Google to use it on the Chromebook and the phone.
Tips for a trackpad signature
- If a trackpad drag keeps letting go mid-stroke, hold the click down with one finger while you draw, and draw slowly.
- Draw large and let FormFill scale it down; small trackpad signatures look jagged.
- A touchscreen or a USI stylus gives the most natural result if your Chromebook has one.
School and work Chromebooks
A Chromebook managed by a school or employer may block some websites or downloads. If the web app or the download is blocked, ask the administrator, or fill and sign the form on your phone with the FormFill app instead.
Because the PDF is never uploaded, filling a form in FormFill does not copy it into anyone's cloud storage. The finished file is in your Downloads folder, and nowhere else until you send it.
Questions people ask
Can you sign a PDF on a Chromebook for free?
Yes. ChromeOS's annotate mode can draw on a PDF, and FormFill's web app fills and signs your first finished document free in Chrome.
Do I need to install an app on my Chromebook?
No. FormFill runs in the Chrome browser, so there is nothing to install from the Play Store.
Where does the signed PDF go?
To your Chromebook's Downloads folder, which you can open in the Files app or attach in Gmail.
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. FormFill opens, fills, signs and flattens the PDF inside Chrome on your Chromebook.
FormFill: fill and sign in your browser
Open a PDF, add text, check marks, the date, your signature and initials anywhere on any page, then download a flattened PDF. Everything happens in your browser; the PDF never leaves your computer. More about the web edition.
On your phone? FormFill is also an app for iPhone and Android, with the same FormFill Pro.
More guides: Work & create · all Adelyons guides