How to fill out a PDF form on a Mac

2 min read · 7 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Short answer

Open the PDF in Preview, click a field and type. If nothing happens when you click, the form has no real fields: click the Form Filling Toolbar button, choose the Text Box tool and place text where it belongs. Add your signature with the Sign button and save with File, Save.

Many forms arrive as PDFs that are meant to be printed, filled in by hand and scanned. On a Mac you can skip the printer. Preview fills in proper form fields directly, and it can put typed text and a signature on top of forms that are only a picture of a page.

Menu names are from recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings.

Step by step

  1. Open the form in Preview

    Double-click the PDF. If it opens in a browser or another app, Control-click the file and choose Open With, Preview.

  2. Click a field and type

    In a form with real fields, the fields are highlighted, and the Tab key jumps to the next one. Tick boxes are clicked.

  3. Use AutoFill for your details

    Click the AutoFill button above the form, or click into a field, and choose your name. Preview enters your address and other details from your card in Contacts. With Choose Other you fill in the details of another contact.

  4. If the fields do not react

    Click the Form Filling Toolbar button and choose the Text Box tool. A text box appears. Type, then drag the box onto the line where the text belongs. Add one box for each entry.

  5. Add a signature

    Click the Markup Toolbar button and then the Sign button. Create a signature once, with the trackpad, by holding a signed sheet of white paper up to the camera, or on your iPhone or iPad. Then choose it from the list, drag it into place and resize it with the handles. More detail: how to sign a PDF on a Mac.

  6. Save

    Choose File, Save. To keep the empty form as well, use File, Duplicate first and fill in the copy.

  7. Send it back

    Attach the saved PDF to an email. If the form came by Mail, Preview offers to reply to the sender with the completed form.

Good to know

Forms from authorities that use special techniques (XFA forms) show only a notice in Preview. They need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free.

To stop others from changing your entries, print the finished form to a new PDF: File, Print, then the PDF menu and Save as PDF.

A form that is far too large to send can be shrunk: how to make a PDF smaller on a Mac with Preview.

On a phone: how to scan a document with an iPhone.

In short: Preview, click fields and type, AutoFill for your details, Text Box tool where there are no fields, Sign, File, Save.

Sources
  • Apple Support: Fill out and sign PDF forms in Preview on Mac

Rules and prices change. Check the official source before you act.