How to sign a document sent with Adobe Acrobat Sign

What you're being asked to do

Acrobat Sign gives each recipient a role, and the role decides the button at the end. Most people are a signer and add an electronic signature. An approver or acceptor approves or accepts without signing, a form filler only fills in fields, and a certified recipient just confirms they've received it. The email and the signing page tell you which you are.

Sign it, step by step

1. 1

   Open Review and sign

   In the email, click Review and sign. The agreement opens in a new browser window.

2. 2

   Verify yourself, if asked

   By default the email address is your identity. A sender can add a password, a code sent to your phone, knowledge-based questions or a government ID check. Follow the prompt; if you don't have a password the sender set, ask them for it.

3. 3

   Fill in the fields

   Click into each field and type what it asks for. The bar along the page counts the fields left and has next and previous arrows, so you don't miss a required one on page 12.

4. 4

   Create your signature

   Click the signature field and a panel opens. Depending on the sender's settings you can Type your name in a signature font, Draw it with a mouse, finger or stylus, upload an Image of your signature, or use Mobile to draw it on your phone.

5. 5

   Apply, then Click to Sign

   Click Apply to place the signature, check the date and any last fields, then click Click to Sign at the bottom. If a cookie banner appears first, deal with it, then click Click to Sign again.

When you're done, the sender is notified and you get the agreement by email. Once every party has signed, the final copy arrives with all the signatures on it. Save that one; it's the version that counts.

The Options menu

The signing page has an Options menu. It only lists what your role and the sender's account allow, but these are the ones that matter:

• Read agreement opens a view-only copy, handy for reading a long contract before you start on the fields.
• Decline to sign refuses the agreement. Adobe's help is blunt about it: this ends the agreement, so tell the sender why.
• Delegate signing passes your role to someone else, such as a manager who should sign for the company. They get their own email.
• Download and history options, where shown, let you save a PDF or see who has signed so far.

When something doesn't work

• The signature won't stick. Place it with Apply first, then press Click to Sign; clicking only once in the signature box doesn't sign.
• There's no Mobile or Draw option. The sender's account limits the signature types. Type works just as well as a signature.
• The Mobile link didn't work. It expires after five minutes. Choose Mobile again to get a fresh one.
• You're the wrong person. Use Delegate signing if it's there, or decline with a note naming the right signer.

If you send documents yourself

Acrobat Sign suits companies already paying for Adobe. If you run a trade or a small business and just need customers to sign, SignMaster gives your signers the same no-account email link, adds signing in person on your phone, and has a Free plan with 3 envelopes a month. See SignMaster vs Adobe Acrobat Sign.