How to sign a PDF on a Samsung phone or tablet
Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets come with Samsung Notes, which can import a PDF and let you write on it, signature included. It's the quickest free way on a Galaxy, especially one with an S Pen. Here's how to import, sign and save the PDF, the catches to know, and how to collect a customer's signature on a Galaxy instead.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 3 min read
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Sign with Samsung Notes
These steps follow Samsung's support guide. If an option is missing or grayed out, update Samsung Notes from the Galaxy Store first.
- 1
Save the PDF to your phone
Download the attachment from your email app, so it sits in My Files, usually in Downloads.
- 2
Import it into Samsung Notes
Open Samsung Notes, touch and hold the Create note button at the bottom right, and tap Import PDF. Or tap Create note, the Insert (plus) icon, then PDF. Choose the file.
- 3
Sign with your finger or S Pen
Pick the pen, a dark color and a fine tip, zoom in on the signature line, and sign. Switch to typing to add your printed name or the date on blank lines.
- 4
Save it as a new PDF
Tap More options (the three dots), then Save as file, then PDF file, and pick a folder. That PDF is the one to attach to your reply.
Two catches
Importing makes a copy, so the original PDF stays unsigned; send the exported file, not the one in Downloads. And if your notes default to landscape, a portrait PDF won't go in, so start the note in portrait to match the document.
Samsung Notes adds your writing on top of the pages; Samsung says the PDF's existing content can't be edited. That's fine for signing, but you can't fix a typo in the document itself. For a form with real fields, Adobe Acrobat Reader's Fill & Sign or the Google Drive app is a better fit; see how to sign a PDF on Android.
Signing on a Galaxy, with somebody else's name
Galaxy Tabs are a common sight on job sites and at front desks, where it's the customer who signs. A signature drawn in Samsung Notes proves nothing about who drew it, and handing over your tablet with Notes open shows them everything else you've written.
Collect signatures on a Galaxy with SignMaster
There's no SignMaster Android app; it runs in Samsung Internet, Chrome or any browser on a Galaxy, and everything works there. Each send is an envelope: one or more documents going to one or more signers.
- 1
Upload from My Files
Start a new envelope and choose the PDF, or a photo of a paper page, which becomes a PDF.
- 2
Add the customer
Add their name and email, then yourself with Add me if you countersign, and set the order.
- 3
Place fields
Tap a field type, then tap the page: signature, initials, date signed, text, checkbox. Each belongs to one signer.
- 4
Send or sign in person
Send a link they open on their own phone, or open the envelope, choose Sign in person and hand them the Galaxy. They can sign with a finger or the S Pen.
When signing in person in the browser, you confirm the handback before your account comes back. Once everyone has signed, each person gets the signed PDF by email, with a certificate of completion listing who signed, when, and from which IP address.
Questions? Answers.
Does Samsung have a built-in PDF signing tool?
Not a dedicated one, but Samsung Notes can import a PDF and let you write on it with a finger or S Pen, then save it again as a PDF.
Do I need an S Pen to sign in Samsung Notes?
No. A fingertip works. The S Pen just gives a finer, more natural line.
Why won't my PDF import into Samsung Notes?
Check the note orientation. Samsung says a portrait PDF can't be inserted into a note set to landscape, and the reverse. Updating Samsung Notes also helps.
Is there a SignMaster app for Samsung?
No. SignMaster works in the browser on Samsung phones and tablets, including sending, signing and in-person signing. Signers never need an app.