How to Fill Out a PDF Form You Received by Email
A school, landlord, employer or government office emails you a PDF form and asks for it back today. You do not need a printer, a pen or a scanner. You can type your answers into the PDF, sign it and email it back from your computer or phone. Here is how, whether or not the form has boxes to click.
Save the form first
Download the attachment rather than filling it inside the email preview, which often cannot save your answers. On a computer it goes to Downloads; on an iPhone, tap the attachment, then Share and Save to Files; on Android it goes to Downloads.
Fillable forms: type into the boxes
Open the saved file in Fill PDF Forms. If the form was made with fields, the tool finds them and shows blue boxes: click one and type. Checkboxes, radio buttons and drop-down lists work the same way.
Flat forms: type on the lines
Many forms are just a picture of lines, often a scan of a paper form. Nothing is clickable, but you can still fill them: choose Text and click where each answer goes, and use the tick and cross tools for boxes. Zoom in so your answers sit neatly on the lines.
Sign, lock and send
Add your signature by drawing or typing it, and add the date where asked. Then run the finished form through Flatten PDF so the answers become part of the page and cannot be changed. If the email bounces because the file is too big, Compress PDF will shrink it. Reply to the original email and attach the completed PDF.