pdfpix

Fill a PDF form on a Mac

Preview fills a PDF form on a Mac: click a field and type. Recent macOS versions also spot fields on many flat forms and offer AutoFill from your contact card. The fill form tool in the browser writes each answer into the form's own fields and reopens the file to check every value before the download, so the form arrives filled.

Fill PDF form

How to fill a PDF form on a Mac in Preview

  1. Open the form in Preview

    Double-click the PDF. Preview opens it and highlights the fields it can fill.

  2. Type into each field

    Click a field and type. Press Tab to move to the next one. Tick boxes and pick from lists by clicking them.

  3. Use AutoFill

    On a form with name and address fields, click AutoFill when Preview offers it to fill them from your contact card.

  4. Save and check

    Save, close the file, and open it again. The answers should still be there.

Fill a PDF form on a Mac in Preview

On a Mac or a MacBook, most forms you are sent are interactive: the boxes are real fields that take typed text. Preview fills those directly. Click a field, type, and press Tab to move on. Checkboxes, radio buttons and drop-down lists work with a click.

Recent macOS versions read the layout of a form as well. On a flat form with only printed lines, Preview often finds the fields itself and lets you type on them, and on name, address and phone fields it offers AutoFill from the contact card that has your details.

Fill out a PDF on a Mac in the browser

The fill form tool opens in Safari, Chrome or Firefox. Drag the form from Finder onto the page and every field appears in its place on the page, with a readable label taken from the printed text beside it. Type the answers, tick the boxes, and download.

It writes every answer into the form's own field layer, the place every PDF reader looks. Then it reopens the finished file and checks every value you changed is there before the download appears, so the form arrives filled on Windows, on a phone and in a government portal alike. The file stays on the Mac the whole time.

Check the form before you send it

A form is only filled if the answers are in the file. Close the PDF, open it again, and look. For a form that goes to an office running Windows, open it in a second reader as well, such as Safari or Adobe Acrobat Reader, and make sure the same answers show there.

Keep a blank copy. Duplicate the form in Finder before you start, so a typo in the wrong box is a fresh start rather than a tidy-up. In Preview, File then Export as PDF saves the filled copy under a new name.

Signing and sending the filled form

Fill every field first, then sign. Preview's Sign button places a drawn signature, and sign a PDF on a Mac covers it step by step. If the form has to be uploaded and the portal has a size limit, compress the PDF on the Mac to the exact size it asks for.

For a form that has to come back from the road, fill a PDF form on your phone covers iPhone and Android. Fill out a PDF form covers Windows and the browser in more depth, and the editing hub lists the rest of the editing guides.

Questions people ask

How do I fill a PDF form on a Mac?
Open it in Preview, click a field and type. Press Tab to move to the next field, then save. The fill form tool in Safari, Chrome or Firefox does the same and checks every answer before the download.
Can I fill out a PDF in Preview when it has no fields?
Often, yes. Recent macOS versions find the fields on many flat forms and let you type on the lines. On a form where they are not found, add a text box from the Markup toolbar.
Does Preview AutoFill PDF forms?
Yes, on recent macOS versions. On name, address and phone fields Preview offers AutoFill from your contact card in the Contacts app.
Is my form uploaded when I fill it on a Mac in the browser?
No. The fill form tool reads the PDF and writes the answers inside the browser tab on the Mac. Nothing is sent to a server.
How do I check the answers stayed in a PDF form on a Mac?
Save, close and reopen the file in Preview, then open it in a second reader such as Safari. The answers should show in both.

Do it now

The tool runs in this browser. Your file never leaves the machine, and the result is checked before you download it.

Fill PDF form

Where to go next